Sometimes when you've spent hours and hours in front of a computer monitor writing a manuscript, your eyes start to miss the small mistakes. Things like using "it's" instead of "its" or "there" instead of "their." Perhaps your dialogue is choppy or stiff, or the main characters just aren't quite making the impact you want them to make. Maybe you've got commas out of place and your family isn't much help when it comes to reading for grammar and usage.

You want your manuscript to be as polished as it can be before you send it to your publisher, though. This is where I can help you.

Writing Coach

This is where I will read your mansucript as if I were an acquisitions editor at a publishing house. I will send you a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the book, as well as a list of suggestions where you might improve the story. I'll also point out any of the typographical and mechanical errors listed below that I find. My goal here is to help you bring out the very best book you've got in you. I will look at partial manuscripts and synopses, as well, to help guide the development of your story. $5 per page.

Sometimes you don't need a full-on coach, but you do need a pair of experienced, careful, and thorough eyes to read over your manuscript. Proofreading and copyediting involve looking for the typographical and mechanical errors an author might have missed, and checking for things like awkward transitions and continuity errors, like if a character's name changes spelling midway through the book, or something that is supposed to happen at night is happening in the daytime, or your World War II hero is carrying an iPod. I will find and mark these passages for your attention. $3 per page.

Scheduling Your Manuscript Project

Please contact me via email to discuss when I will be able to work on your project. Proofreading and copyediting projects have the fastest turnaround - usually within one week - because I'm not reading for character or plot there. Coaching projects are much more involved and I want to give you the very best analysis that I can, so please allow two to three weeks for those, depending on the length of the manuscript you send.

How to Send and Pay for Your Manuscript Project

For proofreading, copyediting, and coaching projects, I prefer a Word document of your manuscript sent as an attachment. I will make grammatical and mechanical corrections (commas, typos, and such) directly in the manuscript using the Track Changes feature, and I will add comments and questions in the margins using the Comments feature. You will then have the option of accepting or rejecting the changes when you receive the document.

If you do not have Word, I will require a hard copy of your mansucript that I can write on (please leave ample margins), and a SASE for the return of the manuscript when I'm finished. Payment for proofreading and copyediting is expected up front; for coaching projects, please pay half when you send the manuscript to me, and half when I return it to you. I'll share my mailing address via email.

Thanks very much! I look forward to working with you.
Roxyanne Young

Feedback from W.I.N. 2006 Critiques:

"Thank you for your thoughtful critique of my picture book W.I.N entry- Jingle Bells for Fuzzy. I am in the process of revising it using your feedback. I appreciate your input." - Gloria Carlson

Client feedback:

“I don't know how to thank you!  I am thrilled with your comments and finally feel like I have been given some real direction...I have been hesitant to have my work reviewed by a ‘coach’.  I guess I was afraid I'd be wasting my money, as you know we aspiring writers don't have all that much, but I must tell you, your honest critique of my work has been manna to my hungry soul. Thank you!” – Deb Cleveland

"Thank you so much for your critique. You have given me some extremely valuable feedback about my manuscript! You were very kind. :-) I ordered both of the books you recommended and I'm looking forward to reading them. I have a lot to learn about poetry. I'm not tied to the rhyming text, and in fact I should probably stay away from rhyming until I learn more! All of your comments will help me take the story in a better direction." - Dawn Coleman

"Thank you so much for your help. Your enthusiasm gives me much to think about." - Lois Feister-Huey

"...I appreciate all your notes, and am sticking with about 99.9% of them. You mentioned things that hadn't occured to me, and I'm so grateful for that..." - Lauren Rifkin

"Thank you for your critique and comments. I found them very useful...I also like your idea about incorporating Pilar in Matilda's reunion with her family. Your suggestion for the end of the story is wonderful too..." - Rosalie Simrock

"Thank you for everything...as not only did you edit the document, you provided some excellent advice.  I would love to send the complete manuscript your way when it is finished." - Shelley Bueche

"I consider your advice valuable, and I look forward to a long, mutually rewarding relationship." - Alan Jordan

"Thanks again for your honest critique and edit job on my manuscript. I hope I will be able to do it justice and find a publishing home for it one day. I will stay in touch." - Brenda R.

A comment from a manuscript critique that I did at the 2004 SCBWI conference in Los Angeles, as sent to critique coordinator Kim Turrisi:

"Kim - < EM>I just wanted to mention that my manuscript consultation with Roxyanne Young was focused, responsive and helpful. I hope she’ll be able to help other aspiring writers at future conferences. Thanks, Janet Messenger"