but they don't have to be.
If you have a proposal that's in good shape and you're serious about getting an agent, I'm here to help you get off to a head start. If you want to collaboratively work together with someone as you venture into uncharted territory, this is for you.
This 3 month package includes:
Two live 60-minute Zoom calls — ideally spaced to be towards the beginning and end of our time together
One developmental edit of your proposal, with the option for a second light edit that is exclusively line edits and proofreading prior to pitching agents
One round of edits on your agent query, plus the option for me to research on your behalf and compile one (1) list of prospective agents currently accepting queries in line with your work
Weekly email check-ins for accountability (note that I keep M-F 10a-5p hours for these, and you are not guaranteed a response right away, especially if you are emailing me outside of that time)
Together, we will finish and polish your proposal and sample chapters til they sparkle in a literary agent's inbox!
Please note:
I do not do full manuscript edits. It is an edit for your book proposal, including your sample chapters.
I require four weeks to turn around the first round of developmental edits, two weeks for the line edits/proofread, and one week for the agent query and prospective agent list. Signing up for this 3-month commitment indicates that you can responsively do your own edits within that kind of time frame. Which is to say...
You are fully responsible for doing your work in a timely fashion in order for me to do mine. If this means that, understanding my turaround times, we do not get to a particular part of this process because of your working (or not working), any "unfinished" inclusions (like the agent query) are no longer my responsibility. This also means that you may not want to book this intensive package with me if you are a very slow writer, or if you are someone who has a very busy period of work/travel coming up.
Writers who have an existing book proposal in decent shape, with sample chapters that are polished (or in that pre-polish but "really getting there!" stage).
Writers who are ready to put in the time to revise their proposal to a finished product — AND who are ready to seriously start querying.
Writers who want eyes on their proposal and query before venturing into an agent's inbox.
Writers who want the accountability and ongoing emotional support to help get them over the finish line of "done."
I love figuring out how to sell a book.
The business side of the publishing industry is one of my favorite parts of being an author. Maybe it's because I've owned several businesses (including retail) myself; maybe it's because I used to work in content & marketing for tech startups. But the blurred line where art and commerce is one of the things that most excites me.
Doesn't mean it isn't hard. It took two separate proposals over two years to sell my first book, Heretic: A Memoir (HarperCollins) — but when I finally did sell it, it was at auction for six figures.
Over the course of that time (and in the years and projects since), I learned a lot about book proposals. At this point, I've helped dozens of friends and students
figure out how to articulate what the heck the argument is at the core of their memoir
uncover the stakes of their spiritual, meditative prescriptive nonfiction
learn the difference between marketing and publicity — and understand and PREPARE for their role in that process
research and deep-dive into who, exactly, their audience for the book is
and so much more
Feeling intimidated and clueless about proposals is the main thing that kept me from trying to publish a book. With Jeanna's deeply informative lessons by my side, I wrote my book proposal in three months and had multiple offers of representation from major agencies within two weeks of submission. Every agent I spoke to said my proposal was one of the most polished they'd ever seen. Jeanna gave me all the knowledge I needed to write a killer proposal — but what I'm still carrying with me, every day, long after the proposal did its job, is Jeanna's unyielding faith in me and my writing.
After you purchase, you'll receive an automated confirmation email. I will personally reach out to you over email within 24 hours to get started, so I can get a handle on where you are in your project and what an ideal schedule might be for us over the next 3 months.
Please note two important things:
If, for some reason, the kind of help you're looking for with your nonfiction project is highly specific and beyond the scope of my expertise (e.g. you're looking for subject matter editing in, say, biomedicine), then I will cancel the package and refund you.
I live in New York City (Eastern Standard Time) and my consulting hours are generally between 11am and 4pm my time. Please keep this in mind if trying to book a coaching session that includes a live consultation. If this isn't doable for you, I recommend doing my independent study of How to Write a Book Proposal.
Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that you will sign with an agent!
I can guarantee that your proposal will be in the best possible shape by the time you start querying, and that you'll have the kind of language you need to talk to agents about your book and your career.
There is no refund for this coaching package. Once you book, you have effectively reserved a limited spot, which means I am not accepting other clients for this.
With these 60-min consultations, you can rebook up each consult up to 3 times (within a 24-hours prior time frame; beyond will be regarded as a miss) OR have 1 no-show. If clients miss/forget a second session, or try to cancel/rebook more than 3 times, then that consultation is forfeit. Its success is contingent on your commitment to your work. You cannot lump them together for one 2-hour consult.
As stated above, in order for me to do my work in a timely fashion, you have to do yours. This means that if you send me a draft of an agent query on the very last day we are working together, with a request for me to do agent research on your behalf... then it's not happening. Let's be reasonable adults about this.
If you have a life emergency that prevents you from working on the book before sending it to me, or from doing the live consultation, absolutely no worries. Let me know, and I'll reserve time for you later in the year. We can also discuss a partial refund until that time.