Coaching

Coaching

[callout]”Sylvia Taylor worked every single hour of every day at the Willamette conference and then delivered a fantastic workshop on Platform building the last half of the day on Sunday to rave reviews. I considered her a right-hand-man at the conference. …I hope you know that I thought you did a WONDERFUL JOB, and I am so happy that you were part of our inner circle at the conference. You worked tirelessly everyday, coaching, supporting, educating, and managing, and your workshop scores were EXCELLENT.”- Mary Andonian, Programming Coordinator, Willamette Writers Conference, Portland,OR [/callout]

  • Over 100 book manuscripts edited
  • 70% of book manuscripts now in print
  • 3 books edited were #1 Amazon best sellers in 2011-2012
  • Facilited clear, creative communication in all genres, from business to memoir
Literary Judge
  • Judged over 60 writing competitions (essays, short stories, books) in Canada/USA
  • One of 5 national judges for a Canadian book contract competition
  • One of 3 national judges for a Canadian book award

Fees & Edit/Coaching Services

In my writing & publication coaching services, I work on a flat hourly rate of $60, no matter what the project, genre,  purpose and draft stage.

Depending on where their project is on a continuum from inspiration to publication, authors can choose:

  1. A consult session to discuss their project and next best steps (when little or no written text exists)
  2. A detailed point-from content evaluation report covering Strengths, Challenges, Recommendations & Considerations ~ no markup or corrections on hardcopy (often in early to mid-draft phases)
  3. An extensive mark-up with corrections and notations on printed hardcopy ~ no written report (usually for final draft before publishing or pitching)
  4. Both an extensive mark-up and written report
  5. Successive edit/coach/rewrite sessions to project completion
  6. Consulting & coaching through the process of acquiring agenting, seeking a publisher, or self-publishing

All editing/evaluation approaches conclude with a 1.5 – 2 hr debriefing meeting, in-person or by phone or Skype ( if out of Lower Mainland)

To give you a sense of estimated costs, a mid-stage draft of an 80,000 word novel, with a 5-8 page detailed evaluation report and no hardcopy notations and corrections is approximately  $500-$700 including the 2 hr debriefing meeting.

The average fee for an 80-90,000 word manuscript, mid-draft level, with written evaluation & extensive hardcopy corrections and notations is approximately $900 to $1400.

It’s important for writers to work at, and be knowledgeable about, as many different facets of the writing experience as possible. We need to stay connected with all aspects of writing and publishing to make the  best decisions for our writing and ourselves

Make friends with your inner engineer and your inner artist so they can work together. Be businesslike. Continue to move forward, to keep up with advancements once you’ve learned the fundamentals of good writing. Cultivate a sense of community with other writers. Join groups, do volunteer work. You’ll get support and be part of a thriving, productive community. Come out of your cave and into the village!