A dear friend of mine bullied me into writing my memoir. This was years ago, just before the Pandemic, before God shut down the world.
“You have led such an interesting life,” she’d say. “You really ought to write it all down.” She said my life was something like Educated meets Hillbilly Elegy, and I needed to get it on the page. “People will read it,” she said.
Trouble was, I had no discipline. I’d start writing, then stop. I was good with fiction and assorted essays, but I was stumped when it came to writing about myself. I had this one scene, though, that I knew was a winner. It was my eighth birthday and my mom took me to the circus, where we watched the aerialist tragically plunge to her death from 60 feet. She was performing without a safety net, which is crazy to me to think of now, but maybe it wasn’t so nutty in 1976, when it all went down. When she went down. Anyway, I knew if I could just craft that one scene, it might be the start of something. Turns out, it was.
This friend of mine, this bully, offered me a Christmas present that year I couldn’t refuse.
“I’m going to get you a book coach,” she said. “That’s how much I believe in your story.”
I took her up on it, and that book coach changed the trajectory of my writing life; now I want to do the same for you. I published a memoir, and you can too.
My Credentials
I have three degrees in English and writing: A Bachelor of Arts in English from UCLA (1990), a Master of Arts in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Fresno State (1994), and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Florida International University (1996). I’ve worked under the watchful eyes of many great writers, but my two mentors are Steve Yarbrough and John Dufresne. They are two of the finest writers I know. In addition to my memoir, I have published stories and essays, and I’ve even won a few writing prizes along my way.
I’m comfortable with fiction and memoir and have been through enough workshops in graduate school to know what makes writing really sing and how to get it there. In addition, I spent a career (over 21 years) professionally proofing and formatting master’s theses and doctoral dissertations. A whole boatload of those theses in my two decades on the job were from the Fresno State Master of Fine Arts program, which has produced some very fine work, including some big time award winners. My life, both personal and professional, has been filled with words, sentences, paragraphs … you get the idea.
Packages and Prices
First things first, we’ll talk. Like any relationship, I want us to establish some expectations. You’ll tell me where you are in the writing process (I’ll meet you anywhere), what your hopes and dreams are, and what you’d like the most help with.
We’ll begin with some small stuff: Let’s say you’re not ready to commit to a full book yet, but you have a scene stuck in your head that you really want to flesh out, kind of like the aerialist who fell to her death at my eighth birthday circus in 1976. Let’s say that’s all you’ve got, or maybe you have ten pages written, or a full synopsis of a novel, or a 25-page report that is not at all creative, but work-related and it’s driving you nuts; I’ll meet you where you are, with what you have. Likely, I can turn it around in less than a day.
$150 – $350, depending on length.
Now, let’s say you are ready to commit to a full-length book, a novel or memoir or some other idea for a nonfiction book that’s been bouncing around your brain for months or years even. You have no idea where to start. That’s where I come in. We’ll have conversations about your work either by phone or email, which includes lessons in craft, storytelling, and outlining. Then, as my book coach did for me, I’ll hold your feet to the fire. I’ll help you set writing goals that will get you where you want to be. I will give you honest feedback on your work (through conversations, inline comments, and editorial emails) letting you know where you are succeeding and where you are, for example, digressing. We will roll up our sleeves and work! And after six months (Package #3), if you’re committed, we’ll have a draft of a book. Amazing! I will then do a final read-through to check for pacing, tone, and consistency.
Package #1
$500 a month for up to 50 pages
Package #2
Five submissions of 20-25 pages over a 3-month period – $2,500.00
Package #3
Ten Submissions of 20-25 pages over a period of 6 months – $5,000.00
(Payments can be made in two installments)
Other Services
Manuscript Review
If you did not spend six months with me working on your book, but you already have one that you want me to review, I’m happy to do that as well. Here’s what that looks like, price-wise:
$1,500 – $2,500, depending on word count
$1,500 for 40,000 words
$1,750 for 90,000 words
$2,000 for 125,000 words
$2,500 for 150,000 words
More than 150,000 words, let’s talk
Proofreading
For $3.00 a page, I will proofread anything you need. I once proofed a 280-page report on lithium batteries. I also did one on Chinese Microfinance from 1976-1986, so no topic is out of my wheelhouse. I am an expert grammarian and a whiz with punctuation, so your project will be in good hands.
Charles Lewis Radke 