Editing, Coaching,
& Consulting
All Genres & Manuscript Lengths • All Types of Editing •
Coaching • Publishing & Query Letter Consultations • Beta Reading
Sometimes the best thing you can do for your manuscript - whether it's a short story, an essay, a novel, a memoir, or scholarly paper - is to seek feedback.
As writers, editors, instructors, and creative coaches, we've had years of experience working with authors and helping them take their manuscripts to the next level.
We offer one-on-one manuscript consulting, coaching, and editing services tailored to you and your manuscript.
When you're ready, we offer 2-hour editing / coaching packages that can be directly purchased on this page. All editing / coaching packages are priced at each editor / coach's individual hourly rate. These 2-hour sessions can be any mix of editing and coaching, but are limited to two hours of the editor / coach's time.
While all accomplished authors and editors, we do have different approaches, backgrounds, special focuses, and hourly rates, so feel free to browse bios (below) to get a sense of who might be the best fit for you and your project.
Two-Hour Editing
and/or Coaching Packages:
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Editing (2 hours): Your editor / coach will review approximately 10 - 15 double-spaced pages* in standard formatting, and offer margin and line comments, and a brief written and/or bulleted overall feedback on what's working well and what could work better. (* Refers to prose pages, in standard formatting. For poetry and/or hybrid work, your editor will let you know the equivalent page/word limit.)
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Coaching (2 hours): Your editor / coach will meet with you over Zoom (or phone) for two separate hour-long sessions to talk about your writing and creative goals; any questions you have on craft, process, and/or the industry; and/or anything else related to writing that you'd like to discuss and/or learn! In some cases, coaching time can also be used to look at short sections of your writing together, on the spot, though this depends on the editor / coach. Please note: If both hours are used for coaching, then no work will be reviewed by your coach outside of the session.
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Combination (2 hours): Your editor /coach will spend approximately half of the session (1 hour) reading approximately 10 pages*, then meeting with you on Zoom (or phone) for the remaining hour to discuss your work. While your editor / coach may choose to still leave line comments on your work, this should not be expected and all feedback will be delivered verbally, rather than written. (* Refers to prose pages, in standard formatting. For poetry and/or hybrid work, your editor will let you know the equivalent page/word limit.)
What does an editor do, exactly? What should I expect?
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If you are a new writer seeking an editor, please know that it is not a shortcut for doing the work yourself and becoming, over years of study and practice, a better writer. No editor can take a writer who is new to the craft and make their work publishable. Editors work with the ideas and thoughts and sentences that you have on the page. While we sometimes offer sentence-shaping line-edits, we are not ghost writers nor content creators, nor can we fix all the problems that a piece may have. However, our feedback can be very helpful to a writer's process: The fundamental role of an editor is to be a rigorous reader of your work and to clearly let you know our experience as readers. We can let you know what is working and why, where we’re confused, what isn’t clear, and at times we have thoughts on how to fix something, although editors do not always offer prescriptive feedback. Editors are more able to help you with your work if the work itself is farther along and if you have already taken it through as much revision as you can, on your own. Similarly, if you are a writer committed to growing your craft and skills, as well as spending the revision time necessary to take the work to the next level, then working with an editor will be very helpful!
New to editing and coaching at PVWW? Here are the details and what happens after you pay:
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Coaching packages are priced at each editor's individual hourly rates, and the minimum amount of time you can book with each editor / coach is two hours (the 2-hour package).
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After signing up for a session, you are all set! You can read through the handout you'll receive upon checkout, on what to expect. Your editor / coach will also reach out to you (via the email address you provided upon checkout) within seven days in order to learn more about how you'd like to use the session (either editing, coaching, or some combination of the two) as well as to schedule your session.
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PVWW editors have different styles and ways of working, and all editing and coaching work is tailored to your needs. When your editor / coach reaches out to you after purchase of a session, make sure you and your editor/coach are on the same page about what you're hoping to get from the session, before work together begins! If
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Please note that the number of pages listed above is an estimate, and that may vary slightly based on your editor, depending on factors such as the density (roughness or smoothness) of the prose, the kind of editing needed, and whether or not writers follow standard formatting. While your editor will do their best to fall within or near this range, editors are not expected to go outside of the time parameters, if they have already spent the full amount of time on your work.
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If you have a longer manuscript and/or project: All new clients MUST begin editing / coaching work with a 2-hour package. If you are interested in editing of a longer manuscript, we require that you begin with the purchase of a 2-hour package first, where you and your editor/coach can begin to look at your longer manuscript. We require this in part to make sure that you and your editor are a good fit before a greater investment is made.
For Returning Clients:
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If you want to continue working with your editor / coach after your initial session, you can book more time with them, either another 2-hour package, or you can talk to them about a longer session (which can also be booked and payed for here, via the Make a Payment link at the bottom of this page, though this must be something you first discuss and agree upon with them. All coordination must happen first with your editor. In essence, if you would like review and/or editing of a longer manuscript project, you must receive an estimate (and a green light to pay) from the editor you are working with before payment is made.
Interested in an editing / coaching session but unsure how you'd use the time? Here are the options!
Sign up for a
Two-Hour Editing
and/or Coaching Package
Browse through our available editors below and choose who you'd like to work with.
Joy Baglio
Hourly Rate: $200
Consults On
Short fiction, flash fiction, novel, memoir, genre fiction, speculative fiction, publication & submissions process, querying / agents, concepting/outlining.
Areas of Interest
As a former literary magazine editor, I'm constantly reading and assessing short fiction on both a micro level (word choice, grammar, syntax, sentence-level mechanics, etc) and a macro level (characters, plot, story logic, big-picture themes and ideas), and I bring this same attention to craft to my one-on-one consulting work. I love dissecting stories from a technical, craft-based perspective in order to help writers understand what's working, what could be working better, and what the story is trying to be. I love a wide array of styles and genres, though I'm particularly drawn to speculative fiction as well as writing that boldly embraces plot, stakes, and has some sense of innovation, daring, and risk-taking to it. I also love helping writers better understand the world of literary magazines and the process of submitting their work, as well as all the other aspects of publishing and career.
About this Editor
Joy Baglio is the founder and director of Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop. Her short stories have appeared widely, in journals such as The Missouri Review, Tin House, American Short Fiction, Conjunctions, The Iowa Review, TriQuarterly, Gulf Coast, New Ohio Review, and elsewhere. Recent honors include fellowships, scholarships, and grants from Yaddo, The Elizabeth George Foundation, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Sewanee Writers' Conference, The Speculative Literature Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, Ragdale, Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, and The Kerouac Project. Joy holds an MFA from The New School and is currently at work on both a collection of short stories and her first novel. She's represented by Peter Steinberg at United Talent Agency (UTA). In additional to her role at PVWW, she has served on admission boards at Bread Loaf Writers Conference and Vermont Studio Center, as an associate editor for the literary magazine West Branch (where she is currently a contributing editor), and a fellowship judge for Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. Follow her on twitter at @JoyBaglio or visit her online at www.joybaglio.com.
What others writers are saying
"Joy [Baglio] provides invaluable feedback! She has a knack for interpreting a writer's intentions. She knows the story you're trying to tell. She knows its strengths and its weaknesses. Her expert advice will help you fix things in your story that are broken, as well as things you didn't even know needed fixing. She is a brilliant mind, a great communicator, and a very sweet person. I'll definitely be sending my future projects her way."
-Drew Rogers
Would you like to work with Joy?
Sign up now
for a 2-hour session
with Joy Baglio
for consulting, editing, and/or coaching.
After booking Joy will contact you to schedule your session.
Leonora Desar
Hourly Rate: $125
Consults On
Flash fiction, short stories, novellas, novels, personal essays, memoir, journalism, line and big picture edits, defeating writer’s block and developing a writer’s practice, coaching with generative prompts.
Areas of Interest
I love creating a supportive environment and helping writers grow. I edit works in progress as well as help writers generate new work. When editing, I’ll ask you to describe your intention, or what you are trying to say, and help you translate this to the page. I will help you to craft killer sentences. I have a background in flash, where every word and image has to hold its weight. I am also passionate about big picture issues—characterization, pacing, interiority and dialogue, emotional resonance—that sense of wow, or connection with a work.
About this Editor
LEONORA DESAR’s fiction has appeared in places such as River Styx, Passages North, The Cincinnati Review, and Columbia Journal, where she was chosen as a finalist by Ottessa Moshfegh. She has been selected for The Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, and the Wigleaf Top 50. Her journalism has appeared in Psychology Today, WomansDay.com, Parenting magazine, Business Insider, and others. She holds an MFA in fiction from NYU and an MS from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Would you like to work with Leonora?
Sign up now
for a 2-hour session
with Leonora Desar
for consulting, editing, and/or coaching.
After booking Leonora will contact you to schedule your session.
Carolyn Zaikowski
Hourly Rate: $125
Consults On
The novel, short fiction, poetry manuscripts, hybrid and experimental texts, short and book-length nonfiction, project planning.
Areas of Interest
As a reader and writer, I am steeped in many forms, and I love helping people attain depth and three-dimensionality in their work. For short fiction and novels, I am especially interested in lyrical prose, voice, character building, and the psychological elements of narrative. I’m also well-versed in, and very enthusiastic about, hybrid/cross-genre methods and both classic and experimental forms of poetry. Finally, I love personal and sociopolitical nonfiction of all lengths, with a background and special interest in gender, disability, social justice, trauma and healing, meditation and spirituality, travel, animals, and death studies/thanatology.
About this Editor
CAROLYN ZAIKOWSKI writes and publishes in all genres. She is the author of the hybrid novels In Dream, I Dance by Myself, and I Collapse (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2016) and A Child Is Being Killed (Aqueous Books, 2013). Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Denver Quarterly, The Rumpus, PANK, West Branch, DIAGRAM, Everyday Feminism, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics and is also a death doula.
Would you like to work with Carolyn?
Sign up now
for a 2-hour session
with Carolyn Zaikowski for consulting, editing, and/or coaching.
After booking Carolyn will contact you to schedule your session.
Neil Richard Grayson
Hourly Rate: $80
Consults On
Short stories and novels, essays and memoirs, idea-driven pieces and odd, conceptual forms, speculative and slipstream stuff, writing process/accountability, thematic and continuity problem-solving, structure, submitting to lit mags.
Areas of Interest
I love talking about thematic undercurrents, psychological trappings, and the lyricism and rhythm of sentences. I think I tend to abide by that Anton Chekhov line about how art doesn't answer big questions, but instead, tries to ask them in their fullest complexity. More than anything, whether I'm working on a supershort story or a book-length epic poem, I'm always on the hunt for the piece's emotional and intellectual core--the handful of ideas that feel most urgent to the piece, and whose interactions form a sort of engine that propels it. I love to read work that feels like it's in urgent conversation with the present day--right now, I'm really excited by writing about maleness, about whiteness, and especially about America.
About this Editor
NEIL RICHARD GRAYSON was raised in the woods of upstate New York. Since then, he’s been a schoolteacher, video game designer, rock climbing instructor, bartender, and cross-country hitchhiker. He holds degrees in English & Education from SUNY Potsdam, and an MFA from Ohio State University. His fiction, essays, and poetry have appeared in CutBank, HOBART, StoryScape Journal, Fiction Southeast, among others. He’s been awarded fellowships from The Kenyon Review, Community of Writers, and Martha’s Vineyard Institute for Creative Writing, and was recently nominated for a Pushcart.
Would you like to work with Neil?
Sign up now
for a 2-hour session
with Neil Richard Grayson for consulting, editing, and/or coaching.
After booking Neil will contact you to schedule your session.
Gemma
Leghorn
Hourly Rate: $100
Consults On
The novel, short fiction, CNF, graduate school and residency application essays.
Areas of Interest
As an editor, it’s my goal to help distill the essence of what a writer most wants to say, and find a way for the narrative to say it, too. I'm particularly interested in stories that grapple with the complexities (and fickleness) of the human experience--relationship stories, family stories, and stories of the self. I enjoy working with people in all stages of the writing process, but especially writers who have hit a point in their manuscripts where they feel stuck, unsure, or doubtful. In addition to providing manuscript consultations, I coach writers who want ongoing creative support. I also consult with writers who are gathering their materials for graduate schools or residency programs. I truly love getting to know other writers through editorial partnerships and have great appreciation for the deep, trusting collaboration these partnerships require.
About this Editor
GEMMA LEGHORN earned her MFA in fiction at UMass Boston and her B.A. in English at Bowdoin College, where she also studied poetry, creative nonfiction, and journalism. She worked at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown for a decade and has spent eight years working as a freelance editor and writer. Her work has been published in magazines and journals including Provincetown Arts, Art New England, and Topography, and she helped establish the Cape Cod Poetry Review. She is currently working on a novel.
Would you like to work with Gemma?
Sign up now
for a 2-hour session
with Gemma Leghorn
for consulting, editing, and/or coaching.
After booking Gemma will contact you to schedule your session.
Gail
Thomas
Hourly Rate: $100
Consults On
Poetry chapbooks and full-length manuscripts, poetry publishing, residency and fellowship applications; also works with young writers.
Areas of Interest
I enjoy helping writers revise and polish their poems with an eye to assembling a body of work. Whether poems are narrative, lyric, formal or experimental, there are elements of craft and formatting that can be used to make the work stronger. I am an experienced teacher and writing coach with a deep understanding of the publishing process. I also have been a screener and judge for national poetry contests. I frequently teach and speak at conferences and poetry festivals, as well as read my work widely in community and academic settings.
About this Editor
GAIL THOMAS is the author of five books of poetry. Trail of Roots won a Seven Kitchens Press chapbook prize, and Odd Mercy, chosen by Ellen Bass, won the Charlotte Mew Prize of Headmistress Press. Waving Back was named a Must Read by the Massachusetts Center for the Book and Honorable Mention by the New England Book Festival. Her work has appeared in many journals and anthologies including The Beloit Poetry Journal, Calyx, The North American Review, among others. Gail has been a fellow at The McDowell Colony and Ucross.
Would you like to work with Gail?
Sign up now
for a 2-hour session
with Gail Thomas
for consulting, editing, and/or coaching.
After booking Gail will contact you to schedule your session.
Sara
Rauch
Sara is currently not accepting new clients.
About this Editor
SARA RAUCH's prose has appeared in Hobart, Gravel, Split Lip, So to Speak, Luna Luna, and more. She holds an MFA from Pacific University, and her debut story collection, What Shines From It, is forthcoming in early 2019 from Alternating Current Press. She lives with her family in Holyoke MA. Find her online at www.sararauch.com.