"Ten years ago I began to write my first novel in a vacuum. I almost
quit in exasperation until I heard about writing coach and editor Mike
Sirota.
I'm a firm believer in training. Writers are seldom born; most work hard
to develop their craft. The learning curve is sped up, and pleasure
in
the learning process vastly increases by taking advantage of this kind
of training. Mike's coaching and critique groups optimize the learning
environment, and all efforts are directed toward improvement of craft,
regardless of genre. I cannot emphasize enough the benefits anyone will
receive from Mike’s expert instruction.”
- Judy A. Bernstein, author of the acclaimed They
Poured Fire on us From the Sky (Public Affairs Books, 2005)
"While writing my novel I heard dozens of well meaning, yet non-helpful
versions of 'It's great. I like it' from my friends and family members.
Finally I found Mike Sirota, who gave me the straightforward, professional
advice that I needed to get my novel published. His invaluable feedback
prevented the dreaded rejection letters from agents. Instead, he helped
me get a great agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, which led
to an auction for my book, Always the Bridesmaid (Berkley
Publishing,
Spring 2004), and resulted in a two-book deal. Mike is the secret ingredient
that every novel needs!"
- Whitney Lyles
Mike will read your non-fiction or fiction book-length manuscript and provide you with a comprehensive evaluation, including many suggestions for revisions. This review will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the work, including style and content.
For a novel, the evaluation will focus on strengthening key areas. Does it grab a reader's attention (the "hook")? Are the characters believable? Is the dialogue powerful, and have you balanced it well enough with your narrative? Have you chosen effective point-of-view characters to tell your story? Is your setting realistic? Have you framed your plot well? Is your pacing consistent? Examples from your own manuscript will be cited to show you where you've succeeded, and where you need work.
While this evaluation does not include line editing, Mike will rate your presentation on a scale of one to ten to indicate the extent of editing that your manuscript currently needs. Many writers, Mike has found, make the same editing/structural mistakes throughout their manuscript. He will point out these recurring problems in your evaluation so that you can make many of the corrections yourself. When your manuscript is finally in shape for line editing—often a time-consuming process—there will be that much less of it to do. This will be far more cost-effective for you.
Subsequent to the initial evaluation Mike is available on an hourly basis for one-on-one coaching, consulting, and support as you work to make your book better than good. He will answer your questions, look at rewrites of scenes or chapters, and in general, be there for you.
A full line edit of your manuscript should only be done after all the other problems and concerns have been addressed. It should be the final step before the work is ready to begin submitting to agents. Mike will clean up all the typographical errors, the grammar, sentence structure, passive voice, word repetitions, etc. Make no mistake, this is important. Your story may be gripping, but the agent will never know because—once they read a page full of these kinds of errors—the manuscript will be put into the SASE and returned to you.
At the same time Mike will continue to make sure that all the changes noted in the comprehensive evaluation, or any subsequent evaluations, have been addressed. In addition, Mike is respectful of a writer's unique "voice." At no time will he attempt to change that voice.