Work With Me

Editing & Coaching

How I Work

My first book was published when I was forty-eight. I know what it is to sit with a manuscript for years, to lose the thread and find it again, to wonder whether the thing you're trying to say is actually on the page. I know what it’s like to stare at a spill of words trying to figure out how to shape them into a story. 

Let me help you.

I work with a small number of writers at a time, carefully and deeply. As a developmental editor and mentor, my job is to search out the ley lines and patterns you’ve written into your manuscript and offer them back to you when your view has become obscured. I offer a cup of tea, a kick in the ass, and a conversation to help your book become what it's meant to be.

My genres of choice

speculative, fantasy, and women’s fiction

memoir

nature-based, self-help, and spiritual writing

formats that fall between the cracks but lean into any of the above

Ways We Can Work Together

Manuscript Review

— a structural read

I read the whole manuscript and come back with the big-picture map: what's working, where the book loses its thread, what it's really about, and what it still needs to become itself. This is the developmental edit. I am looking at the shape of the thing.

Pricing starts at $1,500 for a short manuscript and goes up with your word count.

Line Edit

— sentence by sentence

For a manuscript that's structurally sound and ready to be brought to a shine, paragraph by paragraph, I edit for rhythm, clarity, voice, the musicality of the sentence. Edits are returned in-line and as notes in a Word Doc. This edit is often the final buff and polish before querying agents or shopping a manuscript.

Pricing is based on word count with a minimum fee of $3,000.

Mentoring & Consultancy

— for shaping the book.

This is for writers who haven't put words or the page yet or those who want a brainstorming partner while drafting. Together we do the creative work of figuring out what your story is about and crafting the structures to bring it into being. We’ll meet four times, roughly every two weeks (stretchable, so long as we stay within a three-month period). You’ll bring up to 10,000 words to each session; I’ll bring ideas to expand your thinking. We’ll stay in touch by WhatsApp or email between so you never get stuck.

Price is $2,400. 

Please note that if you have a manuscript, I will need to do a manuscript review (see above) before we do consulting work together.

Availability

I take a small number of writers at a time, so there's often a wait.
Drop me a note and I’ll let you know my current schedule.

  • Sarah Selecky, author

    Maia is a word priestess—smart, inspiring, and wise.

    SARAH SELECKY

  • Deb writing in the garden

    Maia's skillful magic gets to the bones of each writers work.

    DEB HANSON

  • Kim writing

    Exactly the kind of direct, smart, and succinct support I need.

    KIMBERLY KEATING WOHLFORD

  • Julia writing after a editing and book coaching session

    Maia's spirited guidance and generous craft tips work MAGIC!

    JULIA SOTO LEBENTRITT

  • WendyLeigh laying out her book's structure

    Honest, loving support to get you motivated and on the right track!

    Dr. WendyLeigh White

  • Paige in the garden reading

    Maia's guidance is intuitive, creative, and helps writers uncover their truth.

    PAIGE GILCHRIST

  • Steph Jagger author talking

    Expansive & laser focused, there is no one I trust more with my pages.

    STEPH JAGGER

Tell me about your book.

Send me a note about what you're working on and where you are with it, and we'll find out whether we're a good fit.

Send a Note