Go to Making Light's front page.
Forward to next post: A little bird tells me…
Subscribe (via RSS) to this post's comment thread. (What does this mean? Here's a quick introduction.)
I figure that, since my beloved bride has hung out her shingle (and placed her sheepskin on the wall), that it’s appropriate to post it here: Editorial and Critique Services: Debra Doyle, Ph.D.
Hello. My name is Debra Doyle. I have an earned Ph.D. in English from the University of Pennsylvania (1981).For business, I write. About the only thing I’ve ever done for money besides writing—if we don’t count a stint working in the dishroom of the cafeteria while I was in college, which, really, let’s not—has been teaching: Freshman composition (under the various trendy names it’s gone by over the past two or three decades), which wasn’t really that much fun; and fiction (yearly at the Viable Paradise workshop since 1997), which was and is considerably more enjoyable.
Along the way, I’ve become a published author. I’ve written or co-written around thirty novels and around thirty short stories. I’ve written, and been paid for, non-fiction essays. I’ve edited myself and my co-author, I’ve been edited by the best, and I’ve edited other peoples’ works. I’m good at it.
Now-a-days, lots of folks are self-publishing. I’m doing it myself. If you’re planning to self-publish, and if you haven’t yet heard the advice that since you’re now a publisher you need to hire an editor, well, you will.
Other folks want to learn to write. A one-on-one session with an experienced teacher can teach you to fish. If you know what I mean.
Therefore: I am putting my writing and teaching expertise up for sale.
What I will do: Critique and line-edit your novel. A critique generally runs 3-5 pages, and covers structural and developmental issues. If I think that your novel has reached or can reach a level which makes it suitable for submission, I’ll tell you so. If I don’t, I’ll be honest about it and tell you that, as well.
What I won’t do (because no one can): Guarantee that your novel will be commercially published. Guarantee that your novel will be elevated by my services to publishable quality—I’ll only undertake to make it a better novel than it was before, and to provide you with what I hope will be a learning experience in the process. Think of the whole thing as a private tutorial, if that makes more sense.
Fields I’ll work in: Fantasy; science fiction (I only undertake to vet the fiction part; you’re on your own with the science half); historical fiction, alternate-historical fiction, and historical fantasy; mystery; dark fantasy and paranormal. I have experience with both YA and adult fiction.
Fields I don’t work in: Contemporary mainstream; literary mainstream; experimental fiction; nonfiction. If that’s the kind of manuscript you have, I’m not the editor/teacher you’re looking for.
What I will charge: for a typical (e.g., 80,000-100,000 word) novel, $1000, paid in advance via check or PayPal. Rates for shorter works and for doorstops are negotiable.
If you’d like to get in touch with a satisfied customer, just ask.
Contact me at doyledebra@earthlink.net if you’re interested.
To give you an idea of who she is and where she’s coming from: In addition to being my beloved bride and long-time co-author, Doyle wrote the essays The E-Pub Revolution as Gold Rush , Doyle’s SF Genre Rant, and The Girl Cooties Theory of Literature
This is a good measuring stick. I'll know I'm on the verge of being on the verge of pre-success when I can budget for that!
A critique *and* line edit? From *the* Debra Doyle? I think she is undercharging. :)
Doyle has started a blog for this at http://drdoyleeditorial.com/
I remember a few years ago when Jim Macdonald was offering this same deal himself. At the time I wasn't able to take advantage of it, but I'm delighted to get another chance.
--Milton
Not to try to edit the esteemed Dr. Doyle, but is that an offer to both critique and line-edit a novel for $1000, or is it an offer to either critique and/or line-edit a novel, with more details and a price of $1000 for the critique, and the line-edit price left unspecified? I initially assumed the latter, but Evan Goer at #3 above made me realize that it's not explicit.
Ah, fame!
Stacia Kane (a lovely author; buy all her books) mentions Doyle's Deal.
Jeremy Leader@6: It's a flat fee for the critique/line-edit combo.
They just keep coming, don't they?
Comments containing more than seven URLs will be held for approval. If you want to comment on a thread that's been closed, please post to the most recent "Open Thread" discussion.
You can subscribe (via RSS) to this particular comment thread. (If this option is baffling, here's a quick introduction.)
HTML Tags:
<strong>Strong</strong> = Strong
<em>Emphasized</em> = Emphasized
<a href="http://www.url.com">Linked text</a> = Linked text
Spelling reference:
Tolkien. Minuscule. Gandhi. Millennium. Delany. Embarrassment. Publishers Weekly. Occurrence. Asimov. Weird. Connoisseur. Accommodate. Hierarchy. Deity. Etiquette. Pharaoh. Teresa. Its. Macdonald. Nielsen Hayden. It's. Fluorosphere. Barack. More here.