WritersMama Editorial Services
WritersMama Editorial Services
Updated 7/1/2020: WritersMama Coaching Services:
Recently, I updated my list of published authors who I’ve worked with through the publication of their books. After ten years a freelance editing, I’m pleased with the work I’ve done so far.
Writing a recent newsletter to subscribers got me thinking about themes. I’ve read enough first chapters to know that many writers approach editors prematurely.Though I encourage writers to use critique groups before hiring an editor, I know many do not feel comfortable in them or don’t have the time. With this in mind, I’m offering a WritersMama Coaching Services for writers in need of feedback and platform building ideas as they edit their manuscripts.
Since 2003, I have offered workshops at California writing conferences. In that time, I’ve noticed patterns that this coaching service addresses. Your work should be vetted by eyes better than yours before you write checks for developmental or copy editing. At the price point I’m offering this coaching service, it’s a good investment in shaping your manuscript before you hire a developmental editor. For some writers, working with me via coaching may be all you need before you’re ready to pitch.
Consider investing in your work-in-progress. Answering in the ‘affirmative’ may indicate you are ready to be coached.
WriterMama Coaching Services:
- Do you think -with significant work- you have a sellable project that is in a ‘near’ pitching stage?
- Do you accept the fact that it may not organized or written in the way it should be except you don’t know where else to go with your manuscript or book proposal idea?
- Provided you feel confident that you found the right editor, are you open to new ideas? If you answered “yes” to all three, coaching may be the answer for you.
WritersMama Coaching Services Overview:
Read & Critique of the manuscript with assessment of the draft’s current developmental stage. With fiction, I pay close attention to all characters, narrative through lines, subplots, voice and dialogue; in nonfiction, the writer’s expertise to not only write the book but hook readers with content, storyline and voice is where I zoom in. In addition, writers will receive sixty minutes/one hour of coaching sessions by phone/ZOOM/Facetime after I have sent your written critique and within a reasonable period of time after our initial work. During our discussions, platform building ideas tend to flow as a natural consequence of the story moving forward.
Need Query Letter help? I no longer offer this service free but writers can find about 200 Quick Query Critiques here organized into several playlists on my youtube page. My rate: $75.00 which includes a video of me reading and critiquing your query letter. It also includes a follow up phone/ZOOM/FaceTime conversation about your letter and my feedback, 15 minute maximum.
Need content (developmental) editing? My skill set includes ‘finding story’ whether buried in a query letter or a 125,000 word manuscript, See my BOOK page for more details and email marketingthemuse@gmail.com for more information.
Need to talk story? Have too many questions and not enough answers? ZOOM/ telephone consultations include review of synopsis and/or first 5 pages of story. Rates: 30 minutes/$60.00
TESTIMONIALS
Extracted from a memoir’s Acknowledgment page
I had been working on my memoir for almost three years when I stumbled upon Marla’s Quick Query Critique service with a Google search for “how to write a query letter.” I learned so much about what a query letter was from watching her videos but then when I tried to write one for my memoir, I still found it incredibly difficult. I submitted it for her critique and after she read it, she said “What is this memoir about?” I could not answer. I knew I was telling what happened to me and I knew there was a story in there, but I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. Marla worked with me on Skype and by email, helping me to find the central theme in my memoir and then encouraging me to take the lump of clay I had written and sculpt it into a story with universal appeal. I am still sculpting it as I write this, but have found her insight, advice and encouragement simply priceless. She will not waste your time or money and working with her has been a delight.”
Charles D. Martin:
- “I have known Marla for over a decade. She is a brilliant professional writer. Recently I hired her as a consultant during the writing phase of my new novel, a sequel to Provocateur, the one I published last year. Her critical review and input were extremely valuable in my efforts to complete the book.” Charles D. Martin Author of Provocateur, The Little Black Book, Sea Stories www.provocateurbook.com
Cat Tyson:
- I met Marla about four years ago at the Southern California Writers Conference. I took one of her classes and I liked her right away. She was straight forward and very comfortable in her own skin, which I really admire. I had a gut feeling that she would one day play an important role in my life. I didn’t know how, why or when, but I was very sure of it. I kept up with Marla through her website and signed up for a Quick Query Critique of my almost completed memoir. She gave me some wonderful advice and I felt that she really understood where I wanted to go with my memoir. When she told me that she would take on the project of editing my labor of love I was thrilled. I sent Marla more than 120,000 words of a jumbled story. She sent me back a 72,000 word narrative with lots of promise. Despite the massive trimming, she asked me to shave off another 7,000 words. I’ll admit I found myself asking if I’d picked the right woman for the job at first. After putting my ego in the drawer, I stood back and took a serious look at her edits and her suggestions and with her help I now have a cohesive story with a beginning, a middle, and ending with a nice arc, if I do say so myself. I will be forever grateful for her editor’s eye and her no-nonsense approach. If you are afraid of killing your darlings or you are one of those people that others are always calling sensitive, you’d better put your big girl panties on before handing over your manuscript. As the saying goes, no pain, no gain. www.catyson.com
You send a query letter and I put it on the list-which is long. If you’d like to consult via SKYPE or telephone, my rates are posted in every muse letter. I will also post them on the Editorial Services page. Thanks for your inquiry.
Marla
Hi Marla,
I met you at the San Diego Conference in February. I loved your pitch witches and first two pages seminars. I believe I have an excellent story to tell but need an editor to go over the book with me. Do you provide that type of service? If not, could you refer me to someone who does. I will be contacting you about writing a query letter, but wanted to ask this question first.
Sincerely,
Garletta Carter
Hi Marla, I attended your workshop at the Santa Barbara conference this summer and met the gal who edited the manuscripts for that last afternoon. I was thoroughly impressed with her but cannot remember her name. Could you please refresh my memory?
Judy Howard
she’s all over my site-:) Tiffany Yates Martin
Here’s the video of the talk Tiffany gave about editing: https://vimeo.com/71717905
Thanks Lisa for the filming/video & your expertise! NinetyDegreesMedia ROCKS!
Hi Marla,
I tried emailing you at marketingthemuse@gmail.com but it keeps coming back as a delivery failure. I’d love to take you up on your offer for the free query critique as a new subscriber–am I doing it wrong?
Thanks,
Adrienne
hi
Try again-that’s my email and I get plenty of emails daily to confirm it’s working…:)
I think it went through this time 🙂
Thanks!
Adrienne
Dear Marla,
I again want to thank you for all your help with my query. With this new query, I’ve gotten a full request within two days of sending the letter. I know that’s just the first of many steps, but I’m more than thankful to just get my foot through the door based on only the query. This particular agency asked for nothing else but a letter. That’s a first for me: where the letter did it’s job and didn’t need help from sample pages.
Fingers crossed.
Again, thank you, thank you, thank you for your spot-on advice on all your videos and your help on my query itself. I thought you should know what a difference your help has made.
ahhhh….that’s music to my ears, thank you, Donnie. And thanks for hanging out @ my quick query critique channel on YouTube-you really can learn how to write your own if you listen to enough of these and take notes! I’m so glad you have done just that-I love to help good writers get closer. Keep me posted.
HI Marla,
I am a first time author of a memoir that I believe has a huge audience that will not only be entertained but also enlightened by my memoir .It is inspired by the nine cats I have had as feline friends over four decades of my life. Cat 9 is still amidst the living and a part of my life. It is titled…Nine Cat’s Lives and Mine….A memoir of Tails.
I have copy and pasted the Preface for you as a little taste for this delicious memoir…..Approximately 60 000 words or more.
NINE CAT’S LIVES AND MINE
(A memoir of tails about how the nine cats I have had in my life have enlightened me.)
Preface:
We have all heard sayings about cats…….Bad luck proceeds if a black cat crosses your path….Not in my case! Cats have Nine lives….I hope so! There are many ways to skin a cat? OMG Yuck! Not enough room to swing a cat. How horrible! Curiosity killed the cat. Dogs get into more mischief than cats and for sure if a cat is into mischief, 9/10 times it will escape with agility and presence of mind to get back to harmony. Witchcraft and cats go hand in hand and I assume for a good reason.
That’s why I am writing this memoir because I know that the majority of humans have had an interaction with a cat that made them think that little bit deeper and with more presence of mind. It is what cats emit and then they hypnotize you into a relaxed state. Unless they are in stealth attack mode and then watch out!
I am a firm believer that domesticated cats are a treasure beyond Gold and Silver or any other material treasure we know of. Why, well because they do exactly what I stated in the above paragraph, they bring us into the NOW with an awareness of watching or observing.
There is a growing philosophy of just how proactive that can be for mankind. The observer mentality is key to living with more Consciousness. There are a number of books you can read and many great documentaries to watch for more information about this.
Some may disagree with some or all of the above notions and that’s okay……What I would like, is for people to read my memoirs and be entertained by my stories of the interactions I have had with nine cats over the course of 4 decades.
Each cat has its own chapter where I share its life story entwined with mine and the enlightenment I got from this feline friend. I have also written a little sonnet for each of them to summate the precious experience in rhyme.
I know, just from writing the Preface to this memoir, how much fun I am going to have recounting the lives of nine cats and mine. It’s going to be the Cat’s Meow of a memoir!
Chapters/ Cats
Cat 1… Bullet, A black/brown Burmese who found us.
Cat 2… Omi, A grey, and white kitten, my new step pet.
Cat 3… Sox, A black and white fluffy cat I boarded with.
Cat 4… Maxwell, A black kitten I bought for 20$
Cat 5… Costa, aka Cossy wossy woo woo. A ginger Persian.
Cat 6… Raja, another all-black lean, mean fighting machine.
Cat 7… Shanti, A silver snakeskin-like sleek Arabian Nights cat.
Cat 8… Brodie aka Mr Brodoski, Our Angel.
Cat 9…Tiga our Bali cat who made us stay in the right place!
not sure what you expect?
Marla Miller was the one who, at the Southern California Writer’s Conference, took my book under her wing and created buzz all over the conference about it. She personally introduced me to a publisher who immediately published a short story from the book in an anthology, and talked me up to an agent who ended up taking me on and shepherding my book to becoming a NY Times bestseller.
It was Marla who made that happen, with her unstoppable enthusiasm and positivity. I don’t think I even k ow what she looks like without a big smile on her face.
On top of that, she’s a brilliant teacher and advisor.
A person would be crazy not to take every bit of Marla’s expert advice to heart and do it!
If you wanted to become an Olympic gymnast, would you insist that you can figure it out yourself and get upset when a top coach gives you the benefit of decades of experience and success? Of course not.
So authors should see their journey in a similar way. Marla Miller is that coach who can lead you on to great things and teach you so very much about writing that you feel like you’ve been through a college course.
I very highly recommend her – whether it’s her advice, classes, or editing services, she’s the best. Hang on her every word because they are pure gold!
Thank you, Marla, for believing in me and sticking your neck out for me and making me feel welcome in the world of authors. You made doors fly open and I will never be able to thank you enough for changing my life! Love, Stacey O’Brien, author of “Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl”, Simon and Schuster, NY Times bestseller and worldwide bestseller in several languages.
I’m very touched by this Stacey, thank you for taking the time & It’s been a pleasure knowing you and your work!
Marla Miller! It’s me! Jane Howatt from the Dark Ages of the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference, other writer’s conferences, gallons of coffee, splashed of wine, gossip about dogs, places, people and books. I have news! And would love to hear from you. Send an email! I can’t wait. Momdog
Send me an email. marketingthemuse@gmail.com
Dear Marla…The old cliche “A voice from the past certainly applies to us. Only the past is not usually twenty plus years. Bottom line – time doesn’t matter. What does is the relationship we had during those fabulous Barnaby Conrad, Shelly Lowenkopf, Lisa Leonard Cook years…I could go on and on. You and I celebrated the day Lynn Price took Killer, Cop and Me on for Behler (I remember it well), but for lots of reasons, that project took flight.
Fast forward to years when I worked with Renni Browne – the master herself – and learned volumes. The writing improved, my marketing awareness zoomed, and the story got richer, but when Renni decided the way forward for lots of first time writers was self-publishing I said, no.
Fast forward to today. After over seventy submissions to agents and publishers and with the help of a well-connected friend, I found a terrific publishing house, signed contract and are looking at a July roll out.
I’m writing to you because my next plan, aside from marketing my muse, is to attend the SBWC. Of course, I’d love to meet up with you again.
I’d also enjoy touching base and finding out what you’re up to.
I so, so look forward to seeing you, laughing with you and of course, some wine in between.
Let’s do it!
Best always,
Jane Howatt…..website: janehowatt.com
Thanks Jane, congrats & let me know if you’ll be at SBWC 2024!
I plan to attend the SBWC and yours will be one of the first writer friends from years past I’ll look forward to seeing again.