The Helping Hand
(Short Fiction/ Essays)
This service is geared to authors writing short fiction or essays.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
A pre-evaluation meeting (45 minutes) during which we discuss your artistic goals for the stories/ essays so I can my ensure feedback is most useful. We might talk about themes, inspiration, and literary influences.
A thorough and close read of three stories or essays of approximately 4K words each (or approximately 12K words total). If your stories/ essays don’t conform to these word counts, we can discuss a different configuration.
Comments in the margins, perhaps to highlight strong passages, note confusion, raise questions, or suggest revisions.
Detailed notes on each piece (1-2 pages per story/ essay). Feedback is divided into three sections: what I think the story/ essays is about/ what it appears the piece is trying to accomplish; strengths; and areas for improvement. Feedback might revolve around pacing, voice, tense, characters, dialogue, plot, story arc, etc. While feedback is specific to the work under consideration, clients find much of what I say is broadly applicable to other short fiction or non-fiction they are writing.
Follow up meeting (1 hour) to discuss the feedback.
NOT INCLUDED
Although I will highlight issues like tense confusion or awkward word choice in the margins, I don’t offer copy editing. It’s not very useful to get mired in grammar and spelling at the developmental edit/ substantive revision stage.
MORE INFORMATION
PROJECT FEE
$1,200 + HST paid as follows:
$250 deposit paid upon signing contract.
remainder paid once feedback has been sent.
Note: HST is calculated based on where the client lives.
“Sharon’s empathetic guidance and meticulous, thorough, clear critique gave me many ideas for how to make the work shine, and the confidence that I can make it happen. She is worth every penny!”