affa's faq
Who is Affa, really?
In the real world Affa is known as Sally Odgers, author, poet, editor, manuscript assessor, dog owner, wife, daughter, mother, sister, granny, and all-round mess-maker. She is not twins. This picture represents her earnest wish for a clone to help her catch up. In her mythical spare time she runs the tiny publishing collective Prints Charming Books
In the real world Affa is known as Sally Odgers, author, poet, editor, manuscript assessor, dog owner, wife, daughter, mother, sister, granny, and all-round mess-maker. She is not twins. This picture represents her earnest wish for a clone to help her catch up. In her mythical spare time she runs the tiny publishing collective Prints Charming Books
FAQ ONE. Are you still assessing manuscripts?
Yes. Affa is open for business unless the home page says she is not.
FAQ TWO Do you work only with Australians?
Affa does assessments and editing for anyone whose manuscript is written in English. See FAQ EIGHT for details.
FAQ THREE. How much will an assessment cost?
Assessments start at $25.00 for the first 5000 words (or part thereof), and continue at $15.00 for each 9,000 words or part thereof after that. Very complex mss or ones that are difficult to read may be a bit more. Picture book texts always cost $25.00 for the first assessment. A second look at the same picture book text is sometimes free. Subsequent assessments of the same text will be $15.00.
FAQ FOUR. How much will editing cost?
Editing starts at $25.00 for the first 3000 words and continues at $15.00 for each 3500 words thereafter. Mss with few problems may be a bit less.
FAQ FIVE. How much does a combo cost?
Editing/assessment combo costs the same as an edit + $15.00. This is a saving of $10 on doing the two jobs separately. This price is good only for the combo being done in one operation.
FAQ SIX. How and when do I pay?
Affa will send you an account with an invoice code and the amount when the work is done. You may pay by direct deposit or Paypal at any time within three months of the work being delivered. Part payments are welcome, so if your account is $90 and you have a cash flow problem, you could pay in three lots of $30 or nine lots of $10. No interest is ever charged. If you want to part pay, just let Affa know.
FAQ SEVEN. Do you accept hard copy?
No. Submission must be by email attachment. Info is below.
FAQ EIGHT. In what format should I send my manuscript?
Read the info below. Read it all. Copy paste it into a new document and tick off each number as you go. If you don't want to comply with any of these steps cross it off and let AFFA know why it won't work for you.
1. Send as a MS Word or RTF attachment to affatheeditor(AT)gmail.com
2. No fancy formatting. (Textboxes are okay in non fic ms)
3. Times New Roman 12 only for the body. Chapter heads might be different.
4. True double spacing with indented paragraphs for all fiction. Picture books may be block paragraph.
5. No spare spaces below a paragraph no matter what MS Word wants to do.
6. Picture books may have spaces so the text for each page (or spread) is separated.
Scroll to the end of this page to see a correctly formatted page of fiction.
7. Save it in the dialect you are targetting. If you are writing for the Australian market do not save your ms in US English, which is MS Word's default. Change it to Australian English. If you are targetting the American market, save in US English. For the UK market, save in UK English, and so on.
8. Double check you have sent the right version of your manuscript. Don't carry on editing or changing it after you have sent it. If you do, you will make your assessment or edit out of date before you even get it.
FAQ NINE. What is Affa's turnaround time?
There is no set time. It varies by the length of the queue and the length of the mss in the queue. If you are in a hurry, tell Affa your deadline.
FAQ TEN. When will my assessment be done?
It will be done when the Affa's Log page says it's done.
FAQ ELEVEN. Should I wait until the queue is short before sending a job?
No, because more jobs come in all the time. By the way, if Affa says "I can do your job today (this week etc)," that means "that is the situation now". "Today" means "today". If you don't send the job for three days then it may not be done the day it arrives as someone else might have that slot.
FAQ TWELVE. Have you done my assessment yet?
If you don't have it, probably not. Occasionally things go to cyber-Bermuda-triangles, so you can email to check.
FAQ THIRTEEN. May I send more than one ms at a time?
Yes. You'll get a discount of $10.00 for two mss, $20.00 for three mss and $30.00 for four ms if they arrive together. They will share an invoice code.
FAQ FOURTEEN. May I resend a ms for a second assessment and/or edit?
Yes, but it will join the queue in the usual manner. The charge will be less for a second go-over.
FAQ FIFTEEN. Do you recommend publishers or agents?
No. We do not give specific marketing advice. That is a no. No, not ever. No. However, marketing genius Tim Levy offers a complete course on marketing with his Business Mastery program. Check the Market Genius tab for details.
FAQ SIXTEEN. Do you write letters of support?
Very occasionally (for about 5% of the mss that come in) we will offer a letter of support. If we do, there will be no charge.
FAQ SEVENTEEN. What if I have a deadline for a contest or a live editor sniffing the bait?
See FAQ NINE above. Let us know and we'll try to juggle you in sooner. It might cost a bit more though.
FAQ EIGHTEEN. Do I need a manuscript assessment or a manuscript appraisal?
They are the same thing for Affa's purposes.
FAQ NINETEEN. I've paid my account. Why does Affa's log still list my job as "invoiced"?
Affa does the inputs when bank statements arrive. That might be as much as five weeks after you make the payment. On one utterly disgraceful occasion, Affa's bank statement never arrived at all and had to be reissued many weeks later. Affa has still not got to the bottom of that.
FAQ TWENTY. I've lost my account, your payment details, or my manuscript or edit has died in a hard drive crash. WHAAAAA! Can Affa help?
Affa will resend your account. She will also resend your ms, edit or assessment unless you asked her not to keep it. (See FAQ TWENTY-ONE)
FAQ TWENTY-ONE. Will Affa keep my manuscript or destroy it when she's done the job?
Affa's default action is to keep all mss and assessments unless the author asks that they be destroyed. (See FAQ TWENTY for why she does this.)
FAQ TWENTY-TWO. What genres does Affa assess and edit?
Affa assesses and edits all kinds of mss except foreign language, highly technical non-fiction and hard horror. If in doubt, ask.
FAQ TWENTY-THREE. Does Affa write books too?
Yes indeed. Her latest include the Elydian Dawn series, the Pearl series, the Garlands of Thorn and May series and The Fairy in the Bed series. See those HERE, but only if you're over eighteen.
For more about the books, check out the blog HERE.
Manuscript assessment, manuscript appraisal, editing, mentoring, writers, authors, e-books, proofreading... anything else? Ask!
Correctly formatted page of fiction.
True double spacing, indented paragraphs, TNR 12. Note... NO spaces between paragraphs.
Yes. Affa is open for business unless the home page says she is not.
FAQ TWO Do you work only with Australians?
Affa does assessments and editing for anyone whose manuscript is written in English. See FAQ EIGHT for details.
FAQ THREE. How much will an assessment cost?
Assessments start at $25.00 for the first 5000 words (or part thereof), and continue at $15.00 for each 9,000 words or part thereof after that. Very complex mss or ones that are difficult to read may be a bit more. Picture book texts always cost $25.00 for the first assessment. A second look at the same picture book text is sometimes free. Subsequent assessments of the same text will be $15.00.
FAQ FOUR. How much will editing cost?
Editing starts at $25.00 for the first 3000 words and continues at $15.00 for each 3500 words thereafter. Mss with few problems may be a bit less.
FAQ FIVE. How much does a combo cost?
Editing/assessment combo costs the same as an edit + $15.00. This is a saving of $10 on doing the two jobs separately. This price is good only for the combo being done in one operation.
FAQ SIX. How and when do I pay?
Affa will send you an account with an invoice code and the amount when the work is done. You may pay by direct deposit or Paypal at any time within three months of the work being delivered. Part payments are welcome, so if your account is $90 and you have a cash flow problem, you could pay in three lots of $30 or nine lots of $10. No interest is ever charged. If you want to part pay, just let Affa know.
FAQ SEVEN. Do you accept hard copy?
No. Submission must be by email attachment. Info is below.
FAQ EIGHT. In what format should I send my manuscript?
Read the info below. Read it all. Copy paste it into a new document and tick off each number as you go. If you don't want to comply with any of these steps cross it off and let AFFA know why it won't work for you.
1. Send as a MS Word or RTF attachment to affatheeditor(AT)gmail.com
2. No fancy formatting. (Textboxes are okay in non fic ms)
3. Times New Roman 12 only for the body. Chapter heads might be different.
4. True double spacing with indented paragraphs for all fiction. Picture books may be block paragraph.
5. No spare spaces below a paragraph no matter what MS Word wants to do.
6. Picture books may have spaces so the text for each page (or spread) is separated.
Scroll to the end of this page to see a correctly formatted page of fiction.
7. Save it in the dialect you are targetting. If you are writing for the Australian market do not save your ms in US English, which is MS Word's default. Change it to Australian English. If you are targetting the American market, save in US English. For the UK market, save in UK English, and so on.
8. Double check you have sent the right version of your manuscript. Don't carry on editing or changing it after you have sent it. If you do, you will make your assessment or edit out of date before you even get it.
FAQ NINE. What is Affa's turnaround time?
There is no set time. It varies by the length of the queue and the length of the mss in the queue. If you are in a hurry, tell Affa your deadline.
FAQ TEN. When will my assessment be done?
It will be done when the Affa's Log page says it's done.
FAQ ELEVEN. Should I wait until the queue is short before sending a job?
No, because more jobs come in all the time. By the way, if Affa says "I can do your job today (this week etc)," that means "that is the situation now". "Today" means "today". If you don't send the job for three days then it may not be done the day it arrives as someone else might have that slot.
FAQ TWELVE. Have you done my assessment yet?
If you don't have it, probably not. Occasionally things go to cyber-Bermuda-triangles, so you can email to check.
FAQ THIRTEEN. May I send more than one ms at a time?
Yes. You'll get a discount of $10.00 for two mss, $20.00 for three mss and $30.00 for four ms if they arrive together. They will share an invoice code.
FAQ FOURTEEN. May I resend a ms for a second assessment and/or edit?
Yes, but it will join the queue in the usual manner. The charge will be less for a second go-over.
FAQ FIFTEEN. Do you recommend publishers or agents?
No. We do not give specific marketing advice. That is a no. No, not ever. No. However, marketing genius Tim Levy offers a complete course on marketing with his Business Mastery program. Check the Market Genius tab for details.
FAQ SIXTEEN. Do you write letters of support?
Very occasionally (for about 5% of the mss that come in) we will offer a letter of support. If we do, there will be no charge.
FAQ SEVENTEEN. What if I have a deadline for a contest or a live editor sniffing the bait?
See FAQ NINE above. Let us know and we'll try to juggle you in sooner. It might cost a bit more though.
FAQ EIGHTEEN. Do I need a manuscript assessment or a manuscript appraisal?
They are the same thing for Affa's purposes.
FAQ NINETEEN. I've paid my account. Why does Affa's log still list my job as "invoiced"?
Affa does the inputs when bank statements arrive. That might be as much as five weeks after you make the payment. On one utterly disgraceful occasion, Affa's bank statement never arrived at all and had to be reissued many weeks later. Affa has still not got to the bottom of that.
FAQ TWENTY. I've lost my account, your payment details, or my manuscript or edit has died in a hard drive crash. WHAAAAA! Can Affa help?
Affa will resend your account. She will also resend your ms, edit or assessment unless you asked her not to keep it. (See FAQ TWENTY-ONE)
FAQ TWENTY-ONE. Will Affa keep my manuscript or destroy it when she's done the job?
Affa's default action is to keep all mss and assessments unless the author asks that they be destroyed. (See FAQ TWENTY for why she does this.)
FAQ TWENTY-TWO. What genres does Affa assess and edit?
Affa assesses and edits all kinds of mss except foreign language, highly technical non-fiction and hard horror. If in doubt, ask.
FAQ TWENTY-THREE. Does Affa write books too?
Yes indeed. Her latest include the Elydian Dawn series, the Pearl series, the Garlands of Thorn and May series and The Fairy in the Bed series. See those HERE, but only if you're over eighteen.
For more about the books, check out the blog HERE.
Manuscript assessment, manuscript appraisal, editing, mentoring, writers, authors, e-books, proofreading... anything else? Ask!
Correctly formatted page of fiction.
True double spacing, indented paragraphs, TNR 12. Note... NO spaces between paragraphs.
