Services and FAQ

Services

60-Minute Consultation: $275

Phone calls/email correspondence/texts: $40/hr

Manuscript Assessment and Consultation: $1,500 (to read the entire manuscript, assess its viability, and discuss it with you for up to two (2) hours by Zoom/phone.)

Ghostwriting: Starts at $70,000 for 200-250 pages (50,000-75,000 words then incrementally more as the word count increases)

Rewriting:
25% usable existing content (75% rewriting): $52,500
50% usable existing content (50% rewriting): $35,000
75% usable existing content (25% rewriting): $17,500
Post-approval from client: $0.65/word

Editing: Included as part of your total book writing package or $.05 per word otherwise

Developmental editing: $.08/word

Proofreading: Included as part of your total book writing package or $.03 per word otherwise

Blogging: $350-$500 per post (up to 500 words; depending on amount of research/technical work)

Recipe Development: $200-$300 per recipe, depending on complexity and length

Recipe editing: $50 per recipe, includes formatting and ingredient ordering

Coaching: $150/hour or $3,950/30 days (not to exceed 25 hours every 30 calendar days.)

Writing (articles, interviews, non-investigated features, op eds, product reviews, miscellaneous copy): $1/word; $1.25/word for rush jobs.

FAQs

(1) How are ghostwriting fees determined?
Fees are based on a writer's experience, and industrywide range from $10,000-$100,000 and up. I have 23 years' experience in the field, and a full-length ghostwriting project will take at least one year of my life...and yours. If you shop around, you'll find my rates are competitive, and you'll be working directly with me and my editing team.

There aren't any "middleman" agencies that take the lion's share of your fees and leave you with a new writer who has two years of listicle writing experience and nothing more. Writers who work through agencies need three to six projects a year just to earn a meager living.

You'll have my undivided, dedicated attention and time. Each project is unique, and I'm always happy to consider your budget and do my best to work within it, but please don't bother with insultingly low offers or expect me to engage in pre-assignment, unpaid "tests" to prove my skills.

(2) Are your ghostwriting fees all due at the start of the project?
No.

Depending on the size of the book project, I offer two payment plans:
(a) For full-length books written from scratch, I charge 10% up front and the remaining 90% in equal installments over the next 12 months.
As an example: for a $70,000 manuscript:
$7,000 due when the contract is signed
$63,000 remaining due, which equals $5,250 per month for 12 months, each monthly payment due on the first day of each month

(b) For smaller book projects, I split the overall fee into four equal installments and am paid at evenly spaces milestones in the writing process. For this payment option, 25% of the total fee is due up front.

(3) What do I receive for my ghostwriting fees?
You'll receive a fully edited manuscript that's ready to self publish, or to send to agents or hybrid/traditional publishers.

(4) Can I pay you a lower fee if I promise you royalties on my book?
No. I will not accept royalties or any potential earnings from the sale of your book or project, nor will I accept shared profits. I offer a payment breakdown of four payments for book projects as well as a reduction in fees if a client provides usable notes or written drafts that I'm able to include in the manuscript. My fees are well within the industry standard for all services offered.

(5) Can you publish my book?
No, but I can refer you to a professional, boutique publisher whom I've worked with for several years. She can answer your questions about self/hybrid/traditional publishing and ready your manuscript for any one of those options.

(6) Will my book become a best-seller?
That's the $64,000 question. All books have the potential to be best-sellers! It's a matter of the universe aligning, really. Network, market, and do whatever you need to do to get the word out. Traditional publishing houses generally prefer manuscripts about/by well-known names, whether they're celebrities or established authors. With social media and other platforms, there are options for writers that never existed even a decade ago.

(7) Will I need a book proposal if I already have a manuscript?
Most likely, if you are seeking a traditional agent and publisher. A book proposal is a detailed report that summarizes your book, your bio and expertise as the author, the book's target audience, platform and publicity ideas, competition, a Table of Contents (ToC), and a sample chapter or two. Agents and publishers usually prefer to see book proposals before they'll even look at a full-length manuscript, but each has unique submission guidelines which can be found on their websites.

(8) What is the difference between proofreading, copyediting, line editing, and developmental editing?
Proofreading is simply a review of existing materials for typographical/grammatical errors as well as punctuation errors. Copyediting is a further review of materials for tense consistency, flow, story/character arcs, fact checking, and reasonableness. Line editing is geared toward the creative side of a manuscript at the line, sentence, and paragraph level: How do you use language to convey your story to readers?
Developmental editing focuses on the "big picture" of a manuscript, and in many cases, can be more time-consuming than writing a book from scratch. If a manuscript has major breaks in continuity, character development, organization, direction, or sense (just to name a few) then developmental editing comes in to play, if not an entire rewrite of the book. For memoirs/novels, DE focuses on characterization, conflict and tension, plot structure, plot development, and writing style. For non-fiction works, DR focuses on clarity, established authority, categorization, marketing, structure, organization, and the use of special features, such as exercises and anecdotes.

(9) Other than ghostwriting, what services do you offer?
I offer writing coaching, blogging, long/short form articles, VIP interview features, content development, newsletter design/redesign, recipe development and editing, just to name a few. If your project involves a specialty that's not listed, just email me or call and we can discuss your project in greater detail.