Immediate Insights

Your Single-Serve Book-Development Consultation

Yes, You Can Pick My Brain!

Immediate Insights consultations are designed to address concerns that come up while you’re writing.

These one-time, as-needed consultations are an excellent option if you’re making satisfactory progress on your book your own, but you occasionally need a thoughtful partner to help you with specific problems.

They’re also opportunities for you to pick my professional brain and ask the writing, bookcraft, or publishing questions you haven’t found answers to yet.

Get the information you need so you can feel more confident as you develop and write your book!

$375 (US), paid on scheduling

1-hour video call (via Google Meet).

Thoughtful Authors Need Thoughtful Partners

Sometimes your concerns require input from an outside professional.

That’s me!

In an Immediate Insights consultation, I can offer you:

A Fresh Perspective

Because I’m not as emotionally close to you, or as mentally close to your subject as you are, I can notice things about your work that you and other helpers might not be able to see.  

I can also offer new ideas or new ways of thinking that can you get unstuck and moving forward again.

The Wisdom of Experience

I’ve worked on hundreds of nonfiction manuscripts at many different stages and worked with 100+ authors.

Whatever questions you have or problems that are coming up, I’ve probably seen them before (or something like them).

I’ll draw on that experience to answer your questions, so you can make smart decisions about your material and how to present it.

Insider Publishing Knowledge

Having worked with a variety of publishers for many years, I know what the industry standards are.

I can tell you what kinds of details actually make a difference to readers and publishers.

With these insights, you can make your book easier to publish and help it stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Not All Help Is the Right Help

Friends, family, colleagues, fellow aspiring authors, writing groups, creative writing teachers, that friend-of-a-friend who self-published a book . . .

These folks may be able to assist you in many ways as you’re writing your book.

But for some things,
their help isn’t all that helpful.

Friends and family especially can lack perspective because they’re too close to you.

Their interest is supporting you (which is super!), but not necessarily creating a book that serves your readers’ needs and your publishing goals.

Many friends, family, and colleagues are also not used to evaluating written work and offering the kind of feedback that moves you forward. Instead, it might leave you feeling frustrated, discouraged, or overwhelmed.

Unless they have practical experience in writing or publishing multiple books, or with the specific type of book you’re writing, helpers can miss (or dismiss) problems that those of us in book publishing see every day.

They also may not be well-informed about best practices or ways to address certain challenges or types of material.

And they may not care about Thoughtful Authorship.

So they might encourage you to take shortcuts that can

  • compromise your intellectual integrity,

  • undermine your readers’ trust,

  • get you into legal hot water, or

  • create new problems you won’t see until you’re preparing to publish—or worse, until after the book is out in the world.

I’m here to help you!

From big concerns like, “Is it worth trying to find a traditional publisher?”  or “What the heck is an author platform?” . . .

to timely ethical questions like, “Is it ever safe to use AI-generated information in a book?” or “Should I use a client’s real name in this example?” . . .

to logistical details like, “Would footnotes be better than endnotes?” or “How many chapters is too many?”

I’m ready to help you

brainstorm ideas,

think through decisions,

evaluate options,

and solve problems.

And I can answer your questions
about writing, bookcraft, and publishing.

Here are just some of the many things we could do in an Immediate Insights consultation:

  • Hone your core book idea and its unique value proposition to make sure its succinct and compelling.

  • Help you get even clearer on who you’re writing the book for.

  • Think through the book’s overall organization.

  • Brainstorm ideas for book titles, subtitles, and chapter titles.

  • Talk through a specific problem writing, revision, or structural challenge.

  • Review on short pieces (2,500 words or less) of your manuscript, such as your table of contents, introduction, first chapter, or specific sections.

  • Assess whether your voice and tone are coming across the way you hope.

  • Double-check that you’re not writing yourself into a hole you can’t get out of.

  • Give you practical guidance on bookcraft issues, such as how to structure chapters, how to cite sources, or how to incorporate illustrations or photos.

  • Make sure you’re not inadvertently plagiarizing or unethically using someone else’s intellectual property.

  • Assess whether your book is actually ready for an editing and, if so, what type of editing.

  • Weigh the pros and cons of different publishing options.

  • Evaluate the merits and challenges of using artwork or illustrations.

  • Think through how best to share exercises, practices, or other instructions.

Our Next Steps

$375 (US)

1-hour video call via Google Meet

To schedule:

Step 1.

Click the red button to go to the Immediate Insights scheduling page.

Step 2.

Fill out the scheduling form. It will ask you what you’d like to talk about in your consultation.

When I receive your form, I’ll make sure the information you’re looking for falls within my scope of expertise.

Step 3.

Look for a scheduling email from me in two to three business days.*

It will list my next available consultation times and tell you how to claim one.

It will also tell you how to pay for your consultation.

Step 4.

Pick your time, pay, and mark your calendar!

* If I know I can’t provide the info you’re looking for, I’ll let you know that, and I’ll point you toward other resources, if I can.

Please note:

  • Your consultation time will not be secured until I’ve received your payment.

  • Immediate Insights consultations are nonrefundable, even if you miss your time or have to cancel.

  • You may reschedule up to 24 hours before your consultation time.

At your consultation time:

Bring your questions, concerns, and any materials you’d like to show me. Also give yourself a means of taking notes.

I look forward to talking and thinking with you!

Sometimes you don’t need a lot of help.

You just need focused, strategic insights at the right time, from the right person so you can keep moving your book forward.

I’m your thoughtful partner.

With an Immediate Insights consultation, you’ll get access to my experience and expertise for one hour, so you can get your questions answered and get back to finishing your book.