The "Write As We Go"
Writing/Coaching Program
What It Is:
Want to write a novel? Have one started? Or finished?
If you want professional help at any stage in your fiction writing process, consider my professional--yet personal--"Write As We Go" coaching program.
With this approach you send me a segment of your novel-in-progress, you get back my suggestions that you can then apply to the next segment before you send it. Then you send that second chapter or segment and we do the same thing again. In the end, you'll have a stronger novel overall by us having "worked through" the book together.
If you are just starting your book, you can work at your own speed, knowing I'll help you through to the next chapters. You write as we go and you pay as we go, too! NO long term commitments, NO contracts. Just send what you have when you wish to and pay at that time.
If you have already finished your book, use this method by just sending a segment at a time—then use my suggestions to strengthen the remainder before you send it!
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NEW CLIENTS:
Please email me FIRST to describe your project, its length and your needs, as I am currently booked for up to 3 months in advance to take on new clients. However, I can provide a sample edit (described below) in a couple weeks. The info below describes the overall process.
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How It Works:
- You Complete and Send My Request Form
- This form gives me the basic info I need
- I prefer to use MSWord’s Tracking or Revise feature to mark suggestions on your file. If you are unfamiliar with that method, just click this page and ask me to email to you a one-page file that you can use to actually try out this method for yourself. If you don’t like it, just let me know and we’ll use an alternative technique.
- Send the opening 2,400 to 3,000 words of your manuscript (to the end of a scene, chapter or segment) in an attached file (preferably in .doc or .docx format). Don’t know how to send an attachment? Just let me know and I’ll step you through it.
- My fee is 1-1/4 cents a word with a $30 minimum. Just multiply .0125 by the number of words you are sending. For instance, if your chapter 1 ends at 2,800 words, send $35.00.
- Only if you have it already, also attach any outline or synopsis as this will help me grasp where the story is heading. Don’t worry about it being “letter perfect” –I’ll only be reading it for my own reference.
- You can pay with Paypal or by a mailed check or through my secure Internet credit card provider.
- I Acknowledge Your Request
- I’ll let you know I received your material
- I’ll give you an approximate time when I’ll have the sample done.
- You Get My Critique
- I’ll email you a detailed, specific and thorough comprehensive edit of your sample file.
- I mark up your file as well as send a separate critique letter that explains the marks. Be prepared: this is usually a long letter, but I will be covering lots of info that you and I will then be able to use and build on as we continue later.
- If, for some reason, I don’t feel we are a match as writer/editor, I will tell you at this point. Some genres I simply don’t edit (like horror and pure romance) so please don’t send them. And occasionally I may feel a writer would benefit more from another editor. But I guarantee you will have already gotten more than your sample fee’s worth of solid and useful information.
- You Respond
- You write back and tell me which of my ideas you particularly liked and which one didn’t work for you. That way I know how to approach the next segment.
- If you decide to make a change that will then influence the rest of the outline, let me know so I can adjust my copy too.
- Ask any questions! I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what you need.
- You’re The Boss!
- Tell me approximately how many more words you want to send at a time (it can be any amount from here on out) and how often. There is NO contract, NO writing in stone. I just appreciate at least a tentative schedule to be fair to all my other writer clients too.
- Aren’t sure how often you can send something? Tell me that too. In that case I’ll work your file in as soon as I can whenever you send it.
- We’re On Our Way!
- I’ll tell you my current schedule and we go from there!
- You send a segment, I critique it, you tell me how my ideas are working for you, you send more, etc. … and before you know it … you have a finished book!
- In the process, you may wish to extensively revise a chapter or scene we've already gone through. If you decide you want me to re-review a segment, when you send it, you would use my 1-1/4-cent per-word fee. However, if that rewrite requires little time to review, and my hourly fee ($30/hour) works out to be cheaper for you, when I return the edit, I'll tell you that you have a credit of so much towards your next submission.
- Afterwards
- Need a query or synopsis to market your finished novel? These are pesky buggers for any writer! And they are more labor intensive than writing or editing the book itself (both for you and for me!). Send me what you have and I can review/edit/revise these items at $30 per hour. Once I receive your file, I’ll give you an estimate of the time involved before I start on it, which you can approve before I begin.
- Then … start another book and I’ll be there to coach you again!
Any questions? Write me, Sandra Haven, at Bristol Services Intl. by clicking services@bristolservicesintl.com
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