3-step Mentoring for Indie Authors
There were many times during the early part of my writing career that a mentor would have been a much more concrete and realistic resource than the guardian angel that I relied upon, but only showed up spasmodically.
It would have been great to have been ‘taken by the hand’ every step of the way, particularly when forging a novel, from the first germ of an idea, right through to submission.As I’m sure you’re aware, writing a book is a bit like working in a bubble. You sit typing away, usually in isolation, with no real feel for how your work is likely to be received.Because the thing is so very important to you, you feel the need to constantly introduce it into conversation with family and friends, work colleagues, even strangers. And you’re always a bit disappointed with the response. They usually don’t react in the excited manner you had hoped for. Indeed, at times you are on the end of patronising, almost sympathetic glances, which seem to say, ‘get a life instead of writing about one.’
How wonderful it would have been to know that someone with the relevant skills was taking an interest, taking notice, showing me the way, and mostly re-assuring me that no, I wasn’t wasting my time.
And that experience has led me to offer a mentoring service through The Indie Tribe. A three stage mentoring service that will serve aspiring or inexperienced authors very well from the first excitement of realising there is a story waiting to get out, right through to the final stage before submitting or self-publishing the actual novel.
It is, indeed, a three-pronged mentoring service, comprising a structured plot, a manuscript critique and a structural edit. They’re all there, all available, all designed to help Indie authors. You can take them all and let me ‘hold your hand’ every step of the way, or you can take the one which suits your needs best. Either way, a mentoring service is now available to you, should you require it. So, let’s have a look at each component.
The Structured Plot
Picture the scene. You’ve thought of a terrific idea for a book and you’re pretty sure ‘it’s got legs’. The plot is formed in your head, the main characters are part developed and you’re ready for the next stage. But what is the next stage? How do you move things along from a gem of an idea in your mind? Is there enough impetus in the story to carry it along for at least 50,000 words? Will it start off strong, but sag in the middle? Will you be able to bring it to a strong enough climax? It’s at this stage that many story ideas are buried – and that’s a crying shame.
So here comes The Indie Tribe to the rescue.
Type out your idea as comprehensively as possible in a general synopsis, including main plot, any sub plots, and main character ideas. Don’t worry, we’ll fill in any gaps you’ve not covered.
Submit the general synopsis to us and, within fourteen working days, we will provide you with an intricate scene by scene, chapter by chapter, story plan for you to follow, including necessary ingredients such as quest, problems escalating in intensity, climax, resolution etc. Don’t worry if you’re not getting all this. It’s all part of the learning process and for now we’ll do it for you. When you receive our step by step synopsis, voila, you have a road map to follow.
Follow it religiously, cherry-pick or adapt it to your liking.
This service is available to you, an Indie Tribe member for a modest one-off fee of £95. It is payable via Paypal and any other currencies, such as American or Australian dollars will be converted by Paypal at the time of payment.
To proceed, simply email your general synopsis with any other information you feel may be relevant to c_bray1@sky.com. We will then send you a Paypal invoice. Upon receipt of payment, we will get cracking and, hopefully, set you on the road to the best sellers lists
The Manuscript Critique
You’ve worked through your synopsis, applied your scene-by-scene, step-by-step planning, rounded your characters, and successfully led your story along a bumpy road towards a crushing crescendo of a climax. You know it back to front. You’re very close to it. Too close?
You’ve shown it your family and specially selected friends, and they all say it’s great. Some, it has to be said, enthused more than others. Horace didn’t seem keen, but said he liked it anyway. Are they all just being kind? Too kind to give you the truth. Oh no! Is it any good, or are you deluding yourself? Best read it one more time.
And you do. And the doubt lingers. Not easy this.
But again The Indie Tribe rides to the rescue. We will subject your story to a closely scrutinised manuscript critique.
We will carefully study the following aspects of your story:
The characters, the setting, the plot and sub plots, the dialogue, the story flow, and the writing style.
It will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It may delight you. It may depress you. It may anger you. But at least you will be safe in the knowledge that a fresh, professional pair of eyes has scrutinised your hard work constructively. And the critique will always be constructive. If we don’t like something, we will always suggest ways to improve it, and take it forward. And at the end of the day, you can decide to implement all of our suggestions, some of them, or none of them.
We charge a very modest fee for this service, £4 per thousand words. So, for example, a 50,000-word manuscript would cost £200 for a comprehensive critique.
This is not a structural edit. It is a blueprint for a first full re-write. It is a check that your story will convert to a fully-fledged novel. A structural edit is way down the line, just prior to submission to an agent, publisher or self-publication.
A manuscript critique will set you on a successful path towards publication and set your mind at rest that the hours you are about to spend, polishing and honing your work will be justified.
So, how do you proceed? Simply email your manuscript to us at c_bray1@sky.com and we will send you a Paypal invoice. Paypal is our preferred method of payment, as it protects you. Paypal will convert foreign currencies to sterling at the time of payment. If this method of payment poses a problem, let us know.
Upon receipt of payment, we will undertake the critique and let you have our comprehensive report within fourteen working days.
The Structured Edit
Okay, so you’ve now applied whatever suggestions you wanted to apply from your manuscript critique and fully written your second draft.
The biggest responsibility now is to ensure that the book you have painstakingly written is presented to the reader in such a way that the quality and structure of your story hold their own amidst heftier opposition from experienced authors, published by conventional publishing houses. The way to do that, and an essential stage in pre-publication is to subject it to a structural edit. A book is simply not ready for publication until it is edited. Publishing houses spend a fortune on editing their authors’ work. They are amongst the tightest organisations in the world and would not spend money on editing unless it was essential. It is. Please do not skip this process. So what actually is a structural edit?
Not wishing to re-invent the wheel, I attach a link to Jodi Cleghorn’s wonderful article, ‘What is Structural Editing?’
Firstly, we will carefully read your novel to examine individual elements of the story, such as plot, characterisation, dialogue, setting and the interaction between them. He will see how the story flows, look for gaps in continuity and advise if the various ingredients of the story need re-positioning. In fact, we will study everything highlighted in Jodi Cleghorn’s link above.
Secondly, we will carefully read your novel line by line, identifying mistakes, and suggesting improvements. Although this is not a proofread, at this stage we will correct any mistakes we spot in spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Within fourteen working days, you will receive two electronic documents from us. One, a general report highlighting suggested alterations and improvements in respect of the overall structure of the book, together with our overall unbiased opinion on the story. Two, a line by line edit, incorporating suggested additions, removals and alterations throughout the entire book. Working through these two documents, particularly the line by line edit, will enable you to re-write your manuscript for a final time and self-publish your book with confidence. Of course you are free to accept or reject any of our suggestions and recommendations.
Our rates and payment methods are totally transparent. A straight £6.00 per thousand words edited. As an example, this would equate to £300 for a 50,000 word novel.Payment is requested by Paypal and other currencies would be converted by Paypal at the time of transaction. Personal cheques drawn on a London clearing bank are also acceptable. As a thank you for allowing us to edit it, when your book is published, The Indie Tribe will review and promote it on our blog, and through our social media accounts.
If you wish to go ahead, email Charlie Bray at c_bray1@sky.com confirming you would like us to undertake a structural edit. Include the title, word count and brief synopsis. Attach a copy of your manuscript on word. We will then send you an invoice and when payment is received, we will start the edit.
So, that is our mentoring service, and we hope it is a service that meets your requirements. Sorry this post is so long, but I felt it essential that you fully understand what’s on offer. If you have any queries, please contact me, Charlie Bray, through our contact page
