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| You know the plot progression in your novel isn’t working, but you’re not sure how to fix it. Or perhaps your main character is a bit flat and you need some clear suggestions on how to make her more emotionally complex. Maybe the tone is off, or the point-of-view is too distant.
We have two pieces of good news: you’re not the first person to confront these challenges, and we can help.
Whether you are writing your first book or your fifth, whether you are working on a novel or a collection of stories, the Iowa Wordwrights manuscript services are designed to help you move from a first or second draft to a publishable manuscript. |
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| |  | Initial Analysis: The Initial Analysis (IA) is the starting point for most of our fiction manuscript services. Manuscripts submitted for an IA will be reviewed by one of our experienced editors who will evaluate the book’s strengths and weaknesses, generally looking at plot development, characterization, narrative structure, dialogue and writing style.
The report will also assess the manuscript’s commercial and literary potential and recommend which Iowa Wordwrights book doctoring or editing services, if any, would be appropriate in helping move the manuscript toward publication. As with all Iowa Wordwrights manuscript services, the IA includes a follow-up phone consultation with the editor. $1.75-$2.00 per page. |
| |  | Manuscript Critique and Revision: These are our higher-level analytical services which focus on major developmental issues in your manuscript. |
| | | (i) | Comprehensive Revision Strategy: The Comprehensive Revision Strategy (CRS) is our most in-depth manuscript revision service. It will focus on all areas identified in the initial analysis as needing attention or revision.
The editor with whom you work will produce a highly detailed report analyzing shortcomings in the manuscript, providing examples of each such issue, and offering specific recommendations on how to revise the manuscript to ameliorate these elements. Where appropriate, multiple strategies for addressing structural or developmental issues will be suggested.
In general, our clients can expect the CRS to consider, where necessary, the following elements:
| •Plot progression | •Scene construction | •Pacing | | •Narrative structure | •Character development | •Dramatic roles / character selection | | •Voice | •Dialogue | •Setting | | •Writing Style | •Writing mechanics | |
A typical CRS runs 50 double-spaced pages, and it provides a highly detailed road map for authors revising their manuscripts. The CRS, of course, includes a follow-up phone consultation with the editor. $2000 and up; firm quotations provided. |
| | | (ii) | Single Issue Revision Strategy: Where the Initial Analysis indicates only one major element in need of substantive revision—or where an experienced author knows exactly what he or she needs assistance with—a Single Issue Revision Strategy, rather than our Comprehensive Revision Strategy, is generally most appropriate. $900 and up; firm quotations provided. |
| | | | • | Characterization: The characterization analysis focuses on ensuring that the characters who populate your novel or stories are fully-realized, believable, distinctive and memorable. The report will consider the dramatic roles that key characters play in your story and whether these characters are fulfilling those functions to the highest and best degree. The report will then look at character development issues, considering such elements as credibility, motivation, individuality, archetype and complexity. The editor’s report will provide specific recommendations to improve the development, functioning and integration of characters throughout the manuscript. |
| | | | • | Dialogue: The dialogue analysis considers the content, delivery and functions of verbal exchanges in your manuscript. Your editor will evaluate whether your dialogue is conveying significant information and, more importantly, whether it is contributing adequately and appropriately to dramatic action, characterization, theme and other literary functions. Where dialogue is functioning below the optimal level, the editor will provide copious examples and specific recommendations for improving its effectiveness. |
| | | | • | Plot: Not every successful story is driven by plot, but every successful story must have a plot. Our plot analysis focuses on evaluating and improving the progression of dramatic action in your story. Your editor will consider the nature and sufficiency of the conflict in your story, how that conflict is developed and driven forward by the desire and fears of your characters, and how effectively it is brought to a climax and ultimately resolved. The report will highlight recommendations for improving the narrative structure, tension or suspense, pacing, and other elements affecting the overall development of dramatic action in your story. |
| |  | In-text Editing |
| | | (i) | Copy Editing: Sentence-by-sentence editing for typographical errors, spelling, grammar and punctuation. The editor will also correct instances of unclear or inconsistent language, verify internal cross-references, and ensure conformity to industry-standard style considerations. $4-$8 per page depending on manuscript needs; firm quotations provided. |
| | | (ii) | Line Editing: An editor will go line-by-line through your manuscript to implement revisions to structure, content and style. This is generally our most time-intensive service. It is designed for writers who prefer to have their editor undertake manuscript revisions rather than to do it on their own. The service generally involves substantial rewriting and reorganizing of the manuscript, and it includes copy editing. Cost varies considerably; typically $8-$18 per page; firm quotations provided. |
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| |  | Research: The believability of—and the reader’s interest in—historical novels, novels set in unfamiliar locales and novels dealing with highly specific topics (e.g., artificial intelligence, impressionist painting, gold mining, Jewish mysticism) are greatly enhanced by accurate factual information and descriptions. Trained researchers or researchers with knowledge of your subject gather facts, photographs and other written or visual information and compile them in a highly usable form. $60 per hour; estimates provided. |
| |  | Consultations: Follow-up consultations by phone are included in all Iowa Wordwrights manuscript services. Stand-alone consultations on unrelated topics or manuscripts are available by phone or, where available, in person. $0.70 per page reading fee for materials to be discussed plus $75 per hour for consultation time. |
|  A novel is a piece of architecture. It’s not random wallowings or confessional diaries. It’s a building— it has to have walls and floors and the bathrooms have to work.
- John Irving |
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