You've finished your draft and revised it once, twice, three times, maybe.

You know it isn't ready for prime time—not for a line editor, not for an agent, and definitely not for publishing. But you're so inside the characters, the plot, and the setting (as you should be!) that you can't see what you need anymore.

That's where an editorial evaluation comes in. Send me your complete manuscript as a Word doc, and I will upload it to my Kindle and read it as if it were any other ebook in the world. The difference is, I'll be taking careful, chapter-by-chapter notes and highlighting passages—the great and the not-so-great—so that I can send you 6-10 pages of notes, depending on the length and state of the manuscript.

One of the most frustrating things for authors just starting their publishing journeys is that so many aspects of publishing are hard to predict. How much will it cost to publish a book myself? It depends. How long will it take to publish my book? It depends. How long will it take to find an agent? It depends. I'd like to take at least one bit of guesswork out of the black box that is publishing, both indie and traditional.

Editorial Evaluation Rate Sheet

Books up to 75,000 words: $1,000

This includes a full evaluation of your book for narrative arc, character development, theme, setting, organization—all of those big-picture, high-level questions that are hard to answer when you as the author are deep inside the book. It also includes three hours of coaching via phone after the evaluation so that we can address your revisions and questions about the publishing process, both traditional and indie.

Books 75,001 to 100,000 words: $1,250

Same deal as above, but your book is longer, so it will take me more time and probably involve more plot lines to follow and characters to develop. Still includes three hours of coaching.

Books 100,001 to 150,000 words: $1,500

Again, same as the first rate, but books in this range tend to be in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. In addition to the usual concerns for fiction, world building will get special attention from me. And you still get those three hours of coaching as you revise.

Specialties

• Historical Fiction
• Narrative Nonfiction: memoir, biography, popular science, history, automotive
• Fantasy: mythology-based, folktale-based, fairy tale-based; any culture from around the globe
• Works in Translation: any source language to English
• Books in English including foreign or created languages

Let's make good books.

My goal is to help make sure that the books being published—no matter how they are published—are great books worth a reader's time and money. I also want to make sure my services are worth your time and money. I have been editing novels for indie and traditionally published authors since 2006, and I love helping authors find the book they're struggling to write inside the completed draft they've already got.

Email me at khg@kristenhallgeisler for more information.