EDITING

CREATIVE CONSULTANCY

WHY AN INDEPENDENT READING?

Trying to get a book published or a script produced can be a frustrating business. Fledgling writers - even published authors - often find themselves involved in a lengthy and costly cycle of submissions, rejections and resubmissions, without becoming much the wiser for their efforts. The trouble is that literary agents, publishers and producers can seldom afford time to provide writers with the sort of detailed critical feedback that they'd find illuminating or constructive.

This is precisely the service I offer. I will read your typescript and send you a detailed assessment, based on several years' experience - still ongoing - as a professional literary agency and publisher's reader/editor, covering such elements as plot construction, style, characterization, readability, general presentation and prospects of acceptance. I will usually copy-edit the first few pages and advise as to your next best step. I can’t promise to be glowingly enthusiastic about every submission, but my diagnostic feedback is always honest, realistic and, at the very least, informative. At best, it can help you solve longstanding creative problems or produce a major turnaround in the way you write.

RELATED SERVICES

• COMPLETE MANUSCRIPT AND SCRIPT EDITING
• FACE-TO-FACE CONSULTATION AND MENTORING
• CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES
• SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED WRITING AND CREATIVE EVENT CONSULTATION

What I don't do is represent writers directly in an agent's capacity. However, favourable reports may be used as references for future submissions elsewhere.

N.B. My reading/editorial services are also available to literary agencies, publishers and others involved in the promotion of good writing.

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TYPES OF MATERIAL READ

Most types and genres of writing, including fiction, plays, screenplays and non-fiction (if not too technically daunting). Specialist interests include the performing arts, popular culture, psychotherapy, social issues and current affairs.

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CURRENT TERMS

Fees vary according to length of manuscript and likely reading time. Basic rates are:

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PROCEDURE - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

If you decide to go ahead, please send me:

If you use email, and unless otherwise instructed, I'll send you my report as an attached Word document, though it can't be guaranteed that it will arrive with all its typographical features intact. Please let me know if you prefer to receive my report in the form of hard copy.

Please also state whether you require return of your complete ms. or only the pages I've annotated.

Clients based outside the UK, should ask, before submission, for my guidelines on payment procedure (see Contact Details).

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TURNAROUND TIME

Assignments are usually completed within four weeks of your manuscript’s arrival. Under special circumstances – e.g. unusual pressure of work or holiday periods – it can take a little longer.

MANUSCRIPT AND SCRIPT EDITING

Payment rates for complete manuscript/script editing are higher than those for evaluation (though evaluation always includes detailed editorial comment). As I don’t believe in involving clients in needless expense, editing is usually undertaken only after the work has been fully assessed and if I feel confident that it stands a fair chance of publication or production. Exceptions can include (a) mss. that have already been accepted for publication/production, (b) self-publications, and (c) internet publications.

For editing rates and introductory Editing Process Guidelines, contact Reading and Righting (see Contact Details).

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FACE-TO-FACE CONSULTATION AND MENTORING

It may be helpful to have a personal discussion about your work. Such sessions tend to be of most benefit after I’ve had a chance to assess your writing.

Face-to-face sessions usually take place in my home-based office in London but I am also willing to travel (I was once flown to Australia for a one-off session!).

Mentoring, i.e. ongoing feedback and guidance to work in progress, is also offered.

WORKSHOPS AND TALKS

I am available to lead writing workshops and discussions, and to talk about various aspects of writing, from creative issues to the practicalities of getting published.

I also run workshops in writing and performance, improvisation, and performance art.

SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED WRITING AND CREATIVE EVENT CONSULTATION

I can undertake special writing assignments (not ghost-writing, however) and offer input into the overall planning of a wide range of creative projects and events.

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ABOUT ROBERT LAMBOLLE

• Literary consultant, editor, writer, reviewer, teacher and theatre director.
• Established Reading and Righting independent consultancy in 1985.
• Graduate of University College London (B.A. Hons) and Bristol University (post-grad, with Distinction).
• Associate of three London literary agencies.
• Published and broadcast criticism. Reviewing panel of the Good Book Guide.
• Lecturer in Theatre, Literature and Film for various British and American colleges.
• Creative Writing and other Adult Education courses. Open University and BBC Foreign Service. Guest Speaker at Waterstone’s Middlesex University Writers’ Summer School, Birmingham Professional Writing Foundation, Paris Writers Workshop.
• Professional theatre, film and TV experience.
• Titles edited have been published by Jonathan Cape, Batsford, Random House, Hodder, Constable, Warner, Coronet, Hutchinson, David & Charles, St. Martin’s Press, and Little, Brown & Company.
• As literary consultant/editor, has worked on commissions by writers from all over Britain and Europe, as well as the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, India, Africa, Japan, Cyprus, Malta, Brazil, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.

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CAPTURING THE ESSENCE

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LINKS

Author.co.uk - www.author.co.uk

Bookwire - www.bookwire.com

The Burry Man - www.burryman.com

Links 01 - click here

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