Consultations for writers and manuscript evaluations
In
a consultation you get to sit down with a professional from the publishing
industry to get your questions answered or to get immediate concrete help with
a writing project of yours. Perhaps you want an experienced publishing
professional to bounce ideas off of. Or maybe you’d like a writing coach. Or you
might want to discuss the direction or scope of your project.
Or
perhaps you'd like some help with a query letter. Brian has seen hundreds of them and knows how to fashion a query that will get an
agent’s or editor’s instant attention.
If so, you can arrange a consultation with Brian Henry.
If so, you can arrange a consultation with Brian Henry.
Consultations
are brief – usually about one hour – and can be done in person (at a convenient
Starbucks for example) or over the telephone. The rate is $75 per hour,
pro-rated to the actual length of the consultation. To arrange a time (subject
to Brian’s availability of course), email brianhenry@sympatico.ca
Manuscript evaluations
It’s an editor’s job to help
writers. That’s what editors are
trained to do. They work with all kinds of authors in all genres on all sorts
of books. Editors don’t just know what works and what doesn’t; they know why it
works or why not and can explain how to make a manuscript better.
What’s more, editors
understand the business from the publisher’s side of the fence. They have a
broad knowledge of the whole industry and the contacts you need to get ahead.
Unfortunately, when you
submit a manuscript to a literary agent or an editor at a publishing house,
they’re seldom helpful. If your
manuscript is less than wonderful, they won’t explain what’s wrong or how to
fix it. They don’t have time. They’ll just return your manuscript with a
standard rejection letter.
When that happens, you may
decide to revise without guidance. Maybe you'll improve your story; maybe you
won’t. Without advice from someone with
the broad knowledge of an experienced editor, trying to revise is a crapshoot.
In any case, it's too late to
resubmit your manuscript. The publisher
or agent has already given it all the time it’s going to get. They’ll refuse to read it again.
Maximize your manuscript’s chances
Before you submit your manuscript, it pays to have it
critiqued by a professional editor. Each
book is the product of an author’s unique vision, and what makes it succeed –
or what needs to be changed to make it succeed – differs from one book to the
next. This is why a professional editor
looks at literally hundreds of different elements when he reads a manuscript.
A manuscript evaluation will discuss your work’s strengths and weaknesses and will explain what you
need to do to develop it to its full publishing potential. In addition to the evaluation itself, your manuscript
will be marked-up with detailed comments in the margins and on the backs of
pages so that you can see exactly where you're doing something right and where you're doing something wrong and how to fix
it. Also, if your manuscript is actually
ready, Brian will recommend you to an appropriate literary agent or book publisher.
For
short works, to 51 pages
$50, plus $5 per page.
$50, plus $5 per page.
For
example, three 5-page short stories would cost:
3 x $50
+ 15 x $5 = $225 + 13% hst = $254.25
For
longer works, over 51 pages
$210 + $1.90 per page.
$210 + $1.90 per page.
For
example, a 200-page manuscript costs
200 x $1.90
+ $210 = $590 + 13% hst = $666.70
Note: Rates
are based on standard length manuscript pages of 250 words.
To calculate the number of standard size pages, multiply your word count
by 4 divided by 1,000. Eg.: a
100,000-word manuscript is 400 standard length pages; a 50,000-word manuscript is 200 standard pages.
The
easiest and cheapest way to send your manuscript is to email it as an attachment
and mail your cheque separately, adding 10 cents per page (includes hst) for printing
your manuscript and for return postage.
Brian
Henry is generally available to do evaluations only in the summer and his time
fills up months in advance. However, he can recommend highly
experienced colleagues who can get to your manuscript in a much more timely
manner.
To arrange an evaluation,
email brianhenry@sympatico.ca
