Refine Your Manuscript, Strengthen Your Message

Berrett-Koehler’s editors can help you sharpen your book’s concept, structure, and impact. We offer six distinct services designed to meet you where you are in your writing journey.

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Authors often have countless questions about the publishing process. In this session, you can ask anything—about expectations, obligations, timelines, industry norms, or how publishers make decisions. We’ll give you clear, objective answers that reflect the broader industry, not just our own practices, so you walk away with a true 360-degree understanding of how publishing works.

$250/hour

1-hour minimum *

Every publisher expects a strong proposal—one that clearly articulates your book’s value, structure, competitive landscape,
audience, marketing potential, and more. We know exactly what decision-makers look for and can help you craft a polished, compelling proposal that stands out and attracts attention.

$250/hour

2-hour minimum *

If you already have a detailed outline or a draft, we’ll dig in to assess how clearly your core premise comes through and how effectively your arguments, stories, and applications support it. You’ll receive focused recommendations to tighten your structure, boost clarity, and elevate appeal—always with your target readers in mind.

$250/hour

3-hour minimum *

A strong title and subtitle can make or break a book’s market presence. Our editors will guide you through what makes a title work—length, tone, current trends, overused language, and what truly catches a reader’s eye.

For even more rigor, we can help you run a comprehensive title/subtitle survey with your audience and then analyze the results together to identify the strongest options.

$250/hour

1-hour minimum *

We maintain a network of over 150 seasoned reviewers across fields and specialties. We’ll hand-select three who are well-matched to your manuscript and who will provide both a high-level assessment and detailed in-document comments.

If you’d like help making sense of the feedback, one of our editors can review it with you, clarify what’s most valuable, and help you decide how to incorporate it into your next round of revisions.

$2000

If your manuscript or proposal wasn’t the right fit for us, this session gives you the deeper guidance we can’t provide in a standard rejection. An editor will walk you through what didn’t work, why, and how to strengthen your proposal for us and for other publishers you may be approaching. You’ll get clear, actionable insights to make your submission more competitive.

$250/hour

1-hour minimum *

*any further time prorated in quarter-hour segments