For Writers Only!

Deborah Brodie, editor

I had the great good fortune to meet one of children's literature's most devoted, experienced and passionate editors last week at NCTE. Over breakfast I interviewed her. If you want to pursue your dream of publishing then you are so lucky that Deborah recently went to a freelance career. It's an investment, but consider it tuition for a one-on-one class with the best!


1. Writers are SO lucky that they can get such an expert opinion now that you’ve put out your freelance editor shingle. No need to wait to be plucked from the slush pile just to get editorial and revision advice! What can a writer expect from your services?

Thank you, Tracie! I feel lucky to be doing this work. I never anticipated that, after 30 years of working in publishing houses—small and becoming medium-size, big and getting even bigger—I’d be so happy outside the “system.” I have traded most meetings and paperwork for more time to focus on writers and their work. What could be better?!

Much of my work falls into the category of book doctoring, but I also do freelance editing for publishers and literary agents. All of it is about seeing, nurturing, and realizing potential, the potential of the author as well as the particular manuscript in front of us.

I can’t guarantee my clients will be published or even publishable, but our work together will definitely bring them to the next level—or even beyond. I try to help them say what they really mean to say and to sound like themselves.

First, I ask to see a Word document (sent to ManuscriptHelp@aol.com), just to get a sense of the work and pin down how I can be helpful. Then, if we both decide to work together, I set a schedule and determine the fee.

My fees are commensurate with my thirty years’ experience as a working editor and creative writing teacher. The amount depends on the length and complexity of the manuscript, how many rounds of revising I anticipate, and how much e-mail and phone contact we both expect.

The most extensive work involves my making detailed notes throughout the text of picture books, novels, and nonfiction manuscripts. Plus, I provide a multipage editorial letter highlighting the strong points of the piece and giving specific suggestions for parts that need strengthening. My fees for this in-depth editorial work for novels and nonfiction projects start at $3,000. For a second round of revising on the same project, fees start at $1,000; this includes light copyediting and editorial polishing.

For picture books and, in some cases for longer works, I offer an alternative to the most intensive editorial work: a phone or in-person consultation at an hourly rate, usually $200/hour, plus a reading fee. This is for general comments about voice, audience, format, and market.


2. Can you help train a writer to overcome her weaknesses?

Of course, weaknesses are important to identify in order to work with and around them. But I find it most effective to focus on a writer’s strengths and how we can build on those strengths.

I look for ways to highlight the writer’s voice: cut out filler dialogue that reveals little about character and doesn’t further the plot, create consistency in point of view, and deepen the characterization to show growth and a change in awareness.

Sometimes I use writing exercises to help writers explore character, refine plot, develop dialogue and highlight setting. I try to tailor these exercises to the individual writer and the specific manuscript, whether picture book or novel.

I hope our work together will help the writer reach for the next rung of the ladder in her ongoing career. And also, that it will give her tools she can use in working on her next book.

I think all this applies to any genre or age group, including books for adults, which I also edit.


3. Which books about writing would you recommend for your authors? Other resources?

If you’re about to head off to the proverbial desert island, I’d suggest packing Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. The title refers to her brother, ten years old at the time, up against a deadline for a school report on birds. Their father advised him: “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.” Lamott’s subtitle has two parts, both valuable, both beautifully and helpfully laid out in this book: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.

For writer’s block: On Writer’s Block: A New Approach to Creativity by Victoria Nelson. Supportive suggestions for turning a stumbling block into a building block.

For writing exercises: What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers, by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter, gives a variety of ways to approach creative issues and their solutions.

For good tips, rather like sound bites, from a best-selling adult author: How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author, by Janet Evanovich, with Ina Yalof.

Other resources: joining the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. SCBWI helps both the published and the not-yet-published become more professional, even as they create a community of writers for inspiration and support.

Taking classes and writing workshops can bring everyone to a new level. I teach an intensive summer course at the New School in New York City for the first three weeks of June. Even in that short time, if the students do the work, they can make huge progress. They revise and revise, and end up with a strong grasp of their own strengths and a sense of what they may want to work on next.



4. After a writer is finally published, what can she best do to support her book? Do you offer services for post-publication as well?

Editors in publishing houses always hope to do more than buy one book; they really hope to acquire an author and have an ongoing relationship. And yet, published authors are asked to do much more to help themselves than ever before in the history of publishing.

So I help my clients look ahead at the big picture in planning for a career. I work with them to prepare proposals (usually for teen nonfiction and adult fiction or nonfiction), give marketing suggestions, and talk to them about the care and feeding of editors and agents (lots of respect and a big present every December! Just kidding. Well, half-kidding, anyway).


We also discuss opportunities to communicate with their readers and promote their books—speaking in schools and libraries, maintaining a Web site, participating in targeted Listservs, appropriately augmenting their publisher’s efforts. Many writers keep blogs. I’m not sure how people have time to read so many blogs, but I’m glad they’re reading this one!

THANKS for taking the time to share with us, Deborah! It was lovely meeting you finally in NYC!!!

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