Rachelle's fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for children have appeared in national publications such as Highlights for Children, Scholastic Classroom magazines, Pockets Magazine, and others (see list below). She is also the author of the picture book TREE HOUSE IN A STORM (Stemmer House Publishers,2009). Rachelle visits schools and libraries as an author and storyteller.As a member of several critique groups, Rachelle has critiqued literally hundreds of manuscripts. Many have gone on to publication. She has also served for as a mentor for a north Jersey Teen Arts Festival, critiquing creative writing manuscripts of junior high and high school students.
Critique services provided at the following rates:
Minimum charge is $75 for a picture book manuscript ($90 for rhyming text) of up to 5 double-spaced pages. Additional pages of the same manuscript add $7 per page ($9 for rhyme). Fees for longer works, such as chapter books, are negotiable.
Second critique of the same manuscript is half the original fee.
Critique of a query letter is $15.
Critiques include feedback on the following:
--Formatting: Is the manuscript formatted correctly for submission to a publisher?
--Choice of title: Is it catchy?
--Target age: Is the story appropriate for the stated target age and market?
--Length of work: Is it too long or too short? What, if anything, should be cut?
--Opening paragraph: Do you have a powerful, catchy opening that will hook the reader?
--Rhyme and meter (if applicable): Is the rhyme scheme and meter consistent?
--Do you "show" rather than "tell"?
--Dialogue: Is it believable? Are the characters' voices distinct? Is there a good balance between dialogue and action? Are dialogue tags used well?
--Character Development: Have you developed characters that the reader can care about and relate to? Are they interesting?
--Illustration considerations: Does the story lend itself to lively and interesting illustrations? Does the story give unnecessary details that can be shown instead in the illustrations?
--Conclusion: Is it satisfying and believable?
--Line by line comments within the text, including feedback about grammar, word choices, dialogue, sentence length, structure, and more.
--Rhyming picture books: includes suggestions on rhymes, meter, syllables, and story development.
Manuscripts are submitted by email as an attachment.
Please submit manuscript in the same form as you would for an editor (for example, click here):
12 point font (Times New Roman or Arial)
One-inch margins all around
Name, address, email & phone in upper left corner (single spaced)
Word count in upper right corner
Title centered, halfway down the page.
Double space after title, then manuscript starts just beneath the title.
Double space manuscript
Each page, except for page one, should have a header which includes your name/ title/page number.
Payment by check, money order, or PayPal.
References on right of this page, and can also be found on LinkedIn.
Email me for more information!
