Diagnostic Editing

With 25+ years of military experience, let me help you make your action characters and scenes more authentic. Connect with me and tell me about your writing project.

contact@randallsurles.com

Laura

As a life-long book lover, it is my passion to help authors reach the largest audience possible with their ideas.

So, you’ve finished or are almost finished your book. That’s awesome! You should be very proud of yourself, so many people don’t finish. However, you may not be completely happy with the first draft. Or maybe you have a collection of scenes that you need help organizing. Maybe some parts just aren’t working. In that case, a Manuscript Diagnostic is probably just what you need.

All of our services include the added value of two editors. Thanks to our different backgrounds, genders, interests, and experiences, we bring very different things to the table. Teamwork allows our clients reap the benefits of much more diverse input than can typically be achieved by a single editor.

Story Grid Diagnostic Intensive

(includes a full analysis of each chapter)

Price: $0.036/ word

And all prices include the following:

• 30 minute video pre-call to discuss your manuscript (recorded)
• Full manuscript read with comments
• Written report that includes:
  • Overview letter giving a holistic story analysis
  • Genre-specific obligatory scenes and conventions analysis
  • Story Grid’s Six Core Questions/Foolscap analysis
  • Analysis of the Five Commandments for each Act
  • Problem list with suggestions
  • Notes on each chapter
• An intensive chapter analysis that will include a Story Grid spreadsheet of the entire manuscript
• Recommendation for the next steps you should take with your manuscript
• 2-hour video call (recorded)
• 30-day email support for manuscript and report questions

Story Grid Diagnostic

Price: $0.027/ word

And all prices include the following:

• 30 minute video pre-call to discuss your manuscript (recorded)
• Full manuscript read with comments
• Written report that includes:
  • Overview letter giving a holistic story analysis
  • Genre-specific obligatory scenes and conventions analysis
  • Story Grid’s Six Core Questions/Foolscap analysis
  • Analysis of the Five Commandments for each Act,
  • Problem list with suggestions
• An intensive chapter analysis that will include a Story Grid spreadsheet for five scenes of your choice
• Recommendation for the next steps you should take with your manuscript
• 2-hour video call (recorded)
• 30-day email support for manuscript and report questions

Story Scene Session

If your story is not yet fully realized, this is the perfect way to have it diagnosed. Come with a synopsis or scene list (even a partial list) and we’ll work through your events and ideas from beginning to end, and determine what’s working and what to tackle next.

Price: $350

• One time 2-hour call, recorded
• Talk through foolscap/ 6 core questions items/ 15 core scenes of the Beginning Hook, Middle Build, and Ending Payoff
• See this podcast for an example with one of my authors

What’s Next?

Please complete this submission form.

After we receive your submission, we’ll arrange a time within a week to discuss your manuscript on Zoom. If you can’t decide which one is right for you, we can discuss this in our first free 30 minute call and then arrange for a future call after we review your work.