Services
Book Coaching
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Brainstorming
Starting from scratch? We’ll be at your side every step of the way, from brainstorming and creating an outline to pushing through writer’s block, meeting deadlines, and maintaining a steady routine.
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Strategizing
As the project comes together, we’ll help you chart a path toward publication, find and query agents, flag and avoid bad actors, and build critical negotiation skills, empowering you to enter every partnership with confidence.
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Story Consulting
Whether you’re an author, an organization, or an entrepreneur, you need a story. And it needs to resonate. Together, we’ll highlight key elements that will keep your audience engaged, invested, and hungry for more.
Editorial Support
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Manuscript Analysis
We start by taking a bird’s-eye view. What is your book about? Why are you writing it? Who is it for? What major issues are at stake, and why? Before we start editing, we must first thoroughly understand not only what your manuscript already is, but also what it is destined to be.
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Developmental Editing
You’ve got a manuscript. But it’s a mess. We’ll help you resolve major plot holes and logical fallacies, differentiate sound ideas from unsubstantiated whimsy, and make big decisions, like which subplots to eliminate, so that later drafts rest on a firm foundation.
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Structural Editing
Your content’s cogent, but it still needs an elegant structure to hold it. We’ll help you create that structure, arranging your arguments, condensing or expanding your ideas, and generally deploying information with both reader experience and narrative integrity in mind.
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Copyediting
Now that all the major questions are resolved, we can turn to the line-level issues: unclear, overwrought, or misleading language, choppy syntax, monolithic paragraphs in need of breaking down, implications better made explicit or vice versa, and more.
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Proofreading
At this point, your manuscript’s really been through the ringer. Only technical errors remain: typos, inconsistent punctuation, incorrectly formatted citations, etc. Once we eliminate those, you’ll have a book truly worthy of funding and ready for publication.
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Portfolio Review
Whether you’re applying for grants or seeking a day job to subsidize your artistic practice, you’ll need a solid professional portfolio. We’ll help you refine your resume, CV, and cover letter so that wherever you show your face, you’ll win the respect of your peers.
Grant & Fellowship Proposals
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Applying for Grants & Fellowships
We’ve won support from prestigious arts organizations, and we’ll help you do the same. From identifying opportunities, to researching funders’ priorities, to crafting proposals guaranteed to stir readers’ emotions and spur them to action, we’ll help you attract the funding that your work deserves.
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Vetting & Querying Agents
Not every path to publication requires an agent, but if you choose to work with one, you’d better make sure they’re worth their salt. We’ll help you conduct research, draft query letters, and comb through our professional network to make sure that your book ends up in the right hands.
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Developing a Book Proposal
Whether you’re seeking a traditional book deal or not, we recommend creating a proposal. Doing so will help you define your target audience, identify your comp titles, and understand your book’s relationship to the market—indispensable steps for any author, no matter which path(s) you take to publication.
Marketing & Promotion
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Market Research
Whether writing or marketing, we're telling stories. Together, we'll craft your meta-narrative based on the latest trends and translate it into language that publicists and marketers will understand without sacrificing your work’s integrity.
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Personal Branding
We know. It shouldn't be all about branding. But it is. With our help, you’ll define your personal brand and ensure that your values are reflected on your website, social media profiles, and all other digital platforms where your work will be found.
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Publicity
We’ll help you research and reach out to traditional and nontraditional media outlets, from newspapers, magazines, and television programs to bloggers, YouTubers, and podcasters, so that your book will reach the largest audience possible.
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Social Media Strategies
With our support, you'll choose the social media platform(s) where your target audience lurks, build a comprehensive social media strategy, attract followers, and create content that whets readers’ appetites and catalyzes your artistic and professional growth for years to come.
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Promotion through DateKeepers Channels
When you make your living with stories, half the battle is simply getting heard. We’ve garnered an audience of over 100,000, and many of our friends and collaborators command sizable audiences as well. Together, we'll boost your visibility and inspire interest in your story around the globe.
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Professional Referrals
If there’s something we don't do, rest assured that someone in our network does it. Let us know what challenges you’re facing, and we’ll hook you up with the right people to keep you moving forward. With us in your corner, the solution is likely no more than an email away.
Training & Mentorship
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Training for Editors: How to Edit for EFL Writers
EFL writers (who work in English as a foreign language) need different forms of editorial support than native speakers. During this training, you'll learn how to help EFL clients successfully navigate cultural translation, inter-language interference, and more.
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Training for Writers: How to Think Like a Literary Entrepreneur
It takes a village to bring any book to market—but everyone in that village has different incentives. During this training, you'll learn how to think like an agent, an editor, a publisher, a marketer, a publicist, and a salesperson. Never get blindsided: know what it will take to make your book succeed.
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Training for Young Professionals: How to Survive!
Economic instability, degree inflation, changes in labor relations, AI, and other emergent trends are making it harder than ever for young professionals to thrive. We'll help you gain the knowledge, tools, and skills you need to beat the odds, find your niche, strategize, and succeed. ​
Testimonials
Peppur Chambers
Author
Your feedback is spot on and really helpful, and the editing is thoughtful and concise. Nicely done!
Bertrand Frot
C-Level Executive
Dedicated, clever, respecting deadlines, always ready to learn and to improve processes, it was a real pleasure to work with Itto.
Aditi Lele
Biologist & Educator
I can't stress enough how Mekiya has excellent editing skills but also very important is that he is kind hearted but practical and takes the time to understand your work.
Natalie Shear
Educator
Itto is probably the hardest worker that I have ever met. If she doesn't know it, she will figure it out. She is capable of handling many unique and difficult situations with grace. I definitely would recommend working with her, for her or hiring her for any writing job.
Abdelghafour ben Lahbib
Educator
Mekiya's commitment to excellence is evident in every project he undertakes. His dedication to creating spaces for meaningful expression adds a profound layer to his commendable qualities as a writer and editor.
Shalini Rana
Poet
Thank you very much for the helpful edits, especially the stronger verbs! I’m very pleased with the correspondence and feedback you’ve provided.
Contact
For service inquiries, please use the subject line "Requesting Services" and include a detailed project description. We keep a full calendar and cannot guarantee timely responses to last-minute requests. For best results, please contact us at least three months in advance of your project's projected commencement date.