The pitch
If you have at least one round of self-editing under your belt and you’re ready for another pair of eyes, you can pitch me your project via my contact form. Pitches can vary, but should always include:
- Genre
- Page and word counts
- A brief summary of your work
- The type of review you’d like to get out of our collaboration
I do not accept poetry or children’s book submissions, and any nonfiction or academic work may be declined if I know that the subject matter goes way over my head. You wouldn’t want the advice of a rube, right?
I do welcome fiction. Suspense, historical, fantasy, realistic, urban—you name it!
Please allow at least one week for me to respond to your pitch. Regardless of whether or not I’m able to take on your project, I will let you know. No ghosting here.
Formatting
If I like your pitch, then it’s time to hit me with your best shot. I’ll ask you to submit your manuscript as a Word document so I can use Track Changes for my suggestions and comments. And please, for the sake of my overworked eyeballs, Times New Roman font and 12-point type only.
Beyond that, every project is different, so I’ve provided some more specific guidelines here. If you have any questions, just let me know before you send anything my way.
Query letters, resumes, and synopses:
- Query letters should be no more than one page, single-spaced.
- Synopses can be as many as five pages, single-spaced. If you have this much to say about your work, then first, I’ll insist on a virtual high-five. Then, I’ll help you pare it down for a cleaner presentation.
Partial page projects, short stories, articles/essays, and manuscripts:
- Even partial pages need to start at the beginning of your entire manuscript, unless otherwise discussed by you and me beforehand.
- Submissions should either be double-spaced or formatted so that each single-spaced paragraph has a blank line separating it from the next one.
- No need to include title pages or tables of content, especially if you opt for a partial page edit or a general read-through on full-length manuscripts, where page count determines rate.
And we’re off! Generally speaking, you can expect a turnaround of at least seven days for shorter projects like query letters and synopses, and a minimum of two weeks for partial page or full-length manuscript submissions, but we can adjust the timeframe as needed. This schedule kicks in as soon as I have your formatted project—as well as a signed mutual NDA and statement of work, which I will provide after we discuss your pitch—in hand.
I defer to the Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster, but if you have other preferences, please let me know while we’re hammering out the specs and before I start editing. And don’t worry; creative license always has the final say in works of fiction.
K. Watkins 