“Fine writing, which is a celebration of life, is therefore joy filled.” –Jane Yolen

I’m now offering editorial services. Let me know if I can help you with your novel, picture book, memoir, or other writing projects.  Contact me here.

Manuscript Evaluation and Consultations

Virtually all authors ask for feedback on their manuscripts before they show their work to their agents and editors. I have had the great pleasure of helping many unpublished writers launch their careers. I believe the next best thing to belonging to a writers’ support group is to receive a professional manuscript evaluation from someone who has both a compassionate heart and a critical eye.

Evaluation of fiction manuscripts includes:

• a comprehensive reading of the work with attention to character development, plot, story structure, voice, tension, pacing, and marketability
• comments in the margins
• a written report of 5–10 pages with recommendations for revision.

Evaluation of nonfiction manuscripts includes:

• a comprehensive reading of the work with attention to accuracy, organization, readability, clarity, prose style, and marketability
• comments in the margins
• a written report of 5–10 pages with recommendations for revision.

The cost is $2.50 per page (or roughly 250 words per page, formatted in 12-point Times Roman font, double-spaced with 1-inch margins). Phone, Skype, or in-person consultations during any stage of the writing and revising process may be scheduled for $35 per hour. I am happy to discuss projects at whatever stage they are in, and to also provide advice about finding an agent or publisher.

Evaluation of children’s picture book manuscripts includes:

• a comprehensive reading of the work with attention to language, character development, story structure, length, approach, attitude, and marketability
• comments in the margins
• a written report of about 5 pages with recommendations for revision.

The cost is $50 for up to 15 pages (roughly 250 words per page, formatted in 12-point Times Roman font, double-spaced with 1-inch margins). Phone, Skype, or in-person consultations during any stage of the writing and revising process may be scheduled for $35 per hour. I am happy to discuss projects at whatever stage they are in, and to also provide advice about finding an agent or publisher.

“Katherine Kirkpatrick is a jewel of a freelance editor who has helped me strengthen and clarify the vision for all my novels, from the very first to the current works in progress. She has a rich sense of character development and plot movement; she is honest, encouraging, kind and very responsive to authors, working from the whole concept of a novel to the smallest details which enrich it.” 

–Stephanie Cowell

CLAUDE & CAMILLE: A NOVEL OF MONET (Crown Random House)

MARRYING MOZART (Viking Penguin)

THE PHYSICIAN OF LONDON (W.W. Norton, American Book Award)