MENU OF EDITING & BOOK DOCTOR SERVICES
Barncat offers a full range of top-level professional editing and coaching services for when you want to make your pitch perfect or for overall polish.
If all you need is a proofreader to catch stray spelling errors, you've come to the wrong place! Our developmental copyediting services are about as intimate as an editor can get with you and your work without a medical license.
Final Polish: For when your book is finished but not selling
Every book needs a complete edit by a responsible copyeditor. Why?
Because the editors at the publishing houses considering your work will notice every glaring error in your manuscript, down to the smallest dangling participle, and few writers have any training in the art of copyediting.(Being a good speller doesn't count!) This is a turnkey solution for making your book the best it can be without losing either your voice or vision.
Restructuring: For when chaos reigns in your Table of Contents
Is your memoir constructed chronologically? Does the dramatic high point of your novel take place in the final chapter? Do the concepts you are trying to teach repeat in places so the reader won't forget? Get thee to a restructure expert.
Developmental Edit: For when nothing is going right
You know there are problemswith your book but you can't quite put your finger on them. The more you rewrite, revise and reshuffle, the worse it gets. Books contain a lot of moving parts, every one of which can be addresse, with page-by-page instructions.
Book Proposal: For when you need an agent
A complete, professional book proposal (approximately 60 pages) is an absolute necessity if you are shopping non-fiction or memoir. For fiction, the pitch is slightly different in length and format, but you can sell non-fiction and memoir on the strength of a great proposal and sample chapters without having to complete the book first.
Individual Coaching: For when you need periodic instruction, guidance, and/or ghost editing
Online Master Workshops: To resume shortly
Now that you know a bit more about what we do at Barncat and whether our editing and coaching services are right for you, the next step is to sign up for a complimentary book-strategy session. (We will not sell or otherwise abuse your personal information; it is just to help us get to know you and your needs better before our consult.) Sign up for it here, and someone will get back to you by e-mail within three business days to set up a telephone appointment.
Hear what writers
are saying ...
“Jami Bernard has the charisma of a standup comic, the writing skills of a master and the insight of Sigmund Freud. She helped me take my writing to a level I never thought possible. Thank you, Jami!"
– Rebecca Thatcher Murcia, author, Carl Sandburg; Shakira
“Jami Bernard doesn’t just teach writing. She inspires, nurtures, supports and improves it. Always brilliant, insightful, fun and open, Jami gives writers the technical tools, the creative push, and the practical focus to go beyond what they thought possible."
– Keller Grace, writer
“Because of Jami's help, my memoir is ten times better now!"
– Janiss Garza, author, White Line Fever and Dear Sparkle: Advice from One Cat to Another
“Jami Bernard is an amazing teacher. She helped bring out my theme and kept me going when I thought I had nothing in me. She’s great!”
– Liza Deyrmenjian, owner, Liza D. Productions
“Not since Annie LaMott has anyone found ways to knock down the obstacles and ease the neuroses that keep even the best writers from their work."
– Judy Rakowsky, journalist
"My initial writing attempts were like a preschooler's self-portrait: My story had a huge distended potato head for a beginning, with a tiny stick body and flailing limbs ... until I met Jami Bernard. She is really a writing muse in disguise who is always hard at work, focusing her energies on helping others."
– Gisela Mojica, artist
"WARNING: Jami doesn't have dainy discussions or do easy edits. She is the dominatrix of the memoir world, cracking the whip on tenses and digging her heel into grammar until we scream for mercy. And we love her for it!"
– Cator Sparks, freelance writer
“Jami Bernard has an amazing ear for writer’s voices. Her edits enhance an author’s voice instead of changing it. Her humorous and insightful lessons helped make our prose sing.”
– Christine Koubek
“Jami Bernard's teaching style for memoir works because she floods the zone with easy-to-grasp details and how-to writing tips. Her advice for how to organize and present your life's story is accented with true wit and wisdom.
– Melody Simmons
“I wanted to write, but I needed a safe environment. Jami gave me much more than that; it was life altering! Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced, Jami Bernard's class is the best gift you can give yourself."
— Cara Coslow, producer,
Dante's Cove