Mentoring offers a combination of editing and developmental guidance over the course of a book or anthology project. When an author is mentored, generally it is for a period of 6, 9 or 12* months and the project?s goals are outlined between the author and the mentor (who is always someone with a strong teaching/editing background). The author submits their work in segments with additional notes/charts/synopsis that are helpful to the mentor in reading and outlining next steps. Mentoring is best for a project that is new, or one that has had significant roadblocks in its development and the author is looking to do an overhaul in stages to help solidify the vision of the work.
The Writing Consultancy?s mentoring is modelled after the Gold Dust UK model where mentors have a 50/50 split of their time between reading and commenting on the author?s work and meeting with the author about their work?s structure and next steps. The mentor will deliver the annotated text a few days in advance of the scheduled meetings to allow ample opportunity to ask questions at the meeting.
Additional information:
- 1-2 hours of reading & editing per month by the mentor of the author?s selected work (1 hour= limit of 5,000 word submission, 2 hours= limit of 10,000 word submission)
- 1 hour meeting per month/5 weeks (in person or via skype/face-time) to offer feedback and discuss next steps and for the author to ask questions. Often during this meeting additional resources will be sent with exercises to help stimulate revision.
- E-mail follow-ups from the mentor to check-in and see how the author is progressing.
- Mentoring does involve making either a 6*, 9 or 12 month commitment to the project (or a group of projects) and setting firm dates well in advance of meeting so that the mentor and author are sufficiently able to use their time productively.
- As this is a serious commitment of time and resources it is important to ensure that you can make the sessions you book with your mentor and are sufficiently committed to the project you?re working on to both meet regularly (at least every 4-6 weeks) and to keep the appointments you make with your mentor.
If you are interested in mentoring, please use this contact form and fill out as much information about your project as possible. It is helpful if you can copy and paste a synopsis or give background regarding your project?s scope and sequence (especially if it is a non-fiction book). Unlike booking an edit of your manuscript, mentoring has a flat fee structure which depends on the number of sessions you wish to book in advance and the word-count of reading/editing desired.
*mentoring for shorter pieces or blocks of time (or hourly) is possible. A sample will need to be submitted in order to provide a quote.