Deborah offers comprehensive written editorial critiques and consultations for your partial or full-length children’s or young adult novels as well as on picture books. She provides constructive feedback on plot, story structure, character development, voice, dialogue, and setting, as well as advice about finding an agent and getting published. Consultations are designed around your individual writing needs, and are done in person or via phone, email, and video conference, depending on your location and schedule.

Consultation Fees

Please read these notes carefully before contacting me. In particular, please check to see if I do the kind of editorial work you seek. You can then email me to see if I am available.

I schedule projects on a first-come, first-served basis, and around a variety of short and long-term work commitments. Sometimes I am available immediately, and sometimes I am booked weeks or months out.

Services: All forms of editing, including:

• manuscript evaluation and critique (of children’s, young adult, and adult fiction and nonfiction; academic papers and theses; magazine and journal articles)
• developmental editing (editing for structure, style, and content)
• rewriting, to line-editing (editing at the sentence level)
• associated researching and writing tasks, including copywriting. Note that although I am willing to do copyediting and proofreading, my rates are more than double the norm, so you would do well to look elsewhere for such services.

I work with new and experienced authors, and I provide strict confidentiality.

Fees: My fees are hourly, though I set a minimum fee of $150 for editing and a one-hour minimum for consulting; multiple manuscripts or projects can be grouped together towards the minimum, if necessary. You can find people offering similar work for less than I charge: I set my rates at the levels I do because with my experience and skills I believe I am worth it—and because I am not willing to cut into my limited available time for less. Generally, I charge a higher rate for more substantial editing and for rush jobs.

Critiques: These are my most basic and least expensive service. My rate is $120 per hour; you will receive an editorial letter covering a manuscript's strengths and weaknesses and general suggestions for improvement. I will not make on-manuscript notes. I will give you a firm estimate on seeing your manuscript, but you can expect critiques to require 1-2 hours for a picture book, 4 or 5 for short fiction or nonfiction, and at least 6 for a novel of 100 pages or more (this will of course vary depending on the length).

Initial Manuscript Critiques: If you would like to see how I work and whether my feedback is what you need to complete your manuscript, I will critique the first 20 pages of your manuscript, offering for a fee of $195. This fee can be applied to a full Critique.

Developmental and/or line-editing: Developmental editing gives you more detailed comments than a critique, specific suggestions, and on-manuscript notes and sample line-editing as needed. My rate for this is $120 per hour, and most projects will require at least 4 hours of work, or $480. Line-editing is time-consuming, so as part of a developmental edit, I do not do it on every page unless this is agreed ahead of time. A manuscript that is nearly ready to go may only need line-editing, so I provide that as an option.

Consulting: For work other than on manuscripts, such as book concept development, help with cover and query letters, publisher suggestions, and comments on where a manuscript fits in the market, I charge $150 per hour; the actual consulting may be in writing, over the phone or Skype, or in person. This is subject to a one-hour minimum if a free-standing project; there is no minimum if this is included in a larger project.

Other services: Editorial or writing work that doesn't fit in the above categories is generally subject to my $120/hour rate.

For rush jobs, I charge a premium of 25 to 50% on top of my standard fee, depending on the deadline.

Estimated costs: I will provide a written estimate in a letter of agreement before starting work on a project. As a rule of thumb, more pages generally means a higher total fee. For example, I can read and take notes on 30-40 pages of a novel per hour, and then need an additional two to three hours to write up an editorial letter. Thus a novel of 200 pages will likely take me at least 7 hours to critique, or $700. Developmental editing is slower, so will cost more than a critique for a project of the same length. Consulting projects will vary depending on the project; my hourly rate is higher, but consulting may only take up an hour or two, as a free-standing job or add-on to another project.

Getting started: Please contact me by email (see below) with a short description of your manuscript and an explanation of what you want me to do. If I am available and think that it sounds like a good match for me, I will ask you to send me the manuscript; I prefer to see the project before settling on terms. I then briefly evaluate it, and if I think I can be of help I propose terms and send a short contract to you, setting out what I will do and what I expect from you. I do not proceed until the contract has been signed, and, for new clients, a deposit has been paid.

Payment: Payment is due within 30 days of the completion of the project or at agreed-upon intermediate stages. For most projects, I also require partial payment at the beginning of the work. I will invoice: please advise of elements required by your accounting system. Payment can be made by check or money order in US dollars or UK pounds. I do accept other currencies, but payment must be made in full in advance, and include an additional 10% to cover bank charges. I can also invoice you via PayPal if you prefer that method.

For additional information, or to schedule a project, please contact me by email: deborah@deborahdavisauthor.com.