Hi. I’ve been largely absent from the SDMB (not that many people know me) for almost two months due to some health and personal emergencies. These issues – well, not the SDMB absence, but the RL stuff – have caused a deficit in my coinage and I need to raise funds quickly, as in, within two weeks. Being a freelancer with skills to offer, I’d like to… offer my skills. At low low prices. At least lower than they usually run.
=====================================================
1) Website Design:
If you need or simply just want a small, elegant, lovely website for your personal hobby/blog or small business, but lack the design or tech skills to get it up and running, I’m your gal.
I’m offering up to ten lucky folks the chance to jump onto the web using my design/development services. Get up to a 10-page site (you provide the text content and any proprietary images you own and wish to use, though I’ll be happy to help edit it as necessary) for $300. This usually gets you a simple 1 - 3 page site, but for this fee you can receive:
[ul]
[li]Up to ten pages[/li][li]Original edited graphics (e.g. photos – using licensed, royalty-free stock photos or Creative Commons images as desired/needed, navigation graphics, logo, and others to be supplied by you or your company as requested/required)[/li][li]Navigation widgets (menu bar, side navigation, tab menus)[/li][li]Secure contact/feedback form[/li][li]Installation/set-up of up to three CGI or PHP programs (for example, a mailing list, blog or forum – useful for journaling, customer service or creating a community)[/li][li]SEO-friendly meta tags[/li][li]Twitter and/or Facebook “Like” / Page integration[/li][li]Flexible or fixed accessible/mobile-friendly CSS-based design if needed; can also use flexible or fixed tables if you prefer (e.g. if you’re more comfortable editing table-based designs and will be working with the site on your own later on). [/li][li]Domain registration and email alias set-up (depending on host service).[/li][/ul]
Don’t have hosting? I can recommend some free options, particularly if you’re just interested in a blog (such as Wordpress.com or Blogger; I’ll be in charge of adding widgets and customizing the design as much as the services allow). I’m also a reseller for a highly recommended *NIX-based webhost (which I’ve used for my own sites as well as my clients for 12 years) and can offer monthly, quarterly or yearly discounts depending on your site’s needs. Once you’re set up, you’ll have full access to your own control panel if you like, or we can maintain the site and install programs for you for either a regular maintenance fee or a one-time charge depending on how often you expect to need updates.
Payment will be 3/4 deposit, remainder on completion. First come, first served! For more about my services and to view my portfolio, visit [Falling Sky Productions](http://www. falling-sky.com)
=====================================================
2) Writing / Editorial Content / Book Doctoring:
I’ve been a professional writer/editor for 20+ years, in both the fundraising/corporate copywriting and fiction realms. I’m an author of four romance and mystery novels, as well as having written/edited copy for Carnegie Hall, the New York Philharmonic, and CBS Daytime. If you need clean, expressive, powerful copy, let’s talk about how I can help refine your website’s copy or polish up your own work.
As a book doctor specializing in genre fiction (romance, mystery, adult/YA fantasy), my job is to take your raw ideas or first draft and refine your work into the best final product it can be. I can help you brainstorm, offer extensive critique of your manuscript, provide suggestions as detailed or subtle as you prefer, add notes to your document pointing out specific areas where characterization, plot, pacing and narrative style might cause some problems for your readers or the story you wish to tell. Going back and forth, we’ll work together to improve each draft until it’s ready for line editing. Once you’re satisified, I’ll then turn to this line editing phase, where I’ll refine dialogue to ensure it suits each character’s personality, tighten any loose narrative, and fix any egregious structural problems. Of course, all these changes will be created using MS Word’s “Track Changes” feature, so you as the author will always have the ability to accept or reject whatever suggested changes I make. Finally, I’ll go through the manuscript one last time for proofreading to iron out any typos or spelling errors that remain (or crept into the book in earlier rewriting phases).
My book doctor fees (at sale prices) are:
$150 for a critique / recommendations, no further work
For full developmental editing, the sale fees are:
$200 for short stories/novellas of 50pp or fewer (usually $300)
$1000 for novels of up to 75K words (middle grade or YA romance/fantasy can run this length; usual fee is $1500)
$2000 for 76K words or more (full-length novels; usual fee is $3000)
Super-long sagas of 400pp or more will require individual pricing.
=====================================================
3) Customized Children’s Fantasy, Romance or Mystery Novel:
This will make a unique Holiday Gift for your loved ones! For $300 I’ll write a 150-page novel customized for you or anyone on your holiday, anniversary, wedding or birthday gift list. I’ll work with you to determine the genre, the areas of customization (including up to six fully customized characters with the names of the real people in your life (or that of your gift recipient), locations, favorite colors/food/drinks, anything you’d like to include. Each book will be in e-novel format, though if you’d like I can create a paperback via Blurb as well.
=====================================================
4) Be a part of an ongoing online serial!
I write the longrunning (fifteen years this month!) webserial About Schuyler Falls, which is a suspense/romance/soap opera/drama involving a highly interrelated group of characters living in a particulalry screwed-up upstate NY community. For $50 I will add you as a character to the story starting in our fifth season, which will begin in early 2013. (The fourth season is about to end in two weeks.) The character will be integrated into one of the main arcs (there are about six of them at any one time) and will interact with other characters. You can choose the character’s name – within reason, no “Sparkledust Merrifeathers” type names, please, this is a relatively serious story – and we can chat about what you’d like this person to be like and what storylines would suit him or her. This won’t be a Mary Sue (I don’t do those), so like everyone on ASF your character will have realistic flaws. If you want you can even be one of the villains, and believe me, there are plenty of those needed in the upcoming season.
=====================================================
**5) Sponsor a podcast! **
I’m one of the co-hosts of the EpiCast, a niche semi-monthly podcast devoted to recaps, discussion and news about webfiction serials and web-based entertainment of all kinds. We have a list of sponsors read at the end of each episode, but in addition we also now have a slot available for a 15 second ad, so if you have a product or company that you’d like to aim at writers and readers (we’re on iTunes, Stitcher, and all told each episode gets about 300 listens through the various venues), you can sponsor one month for $100 and I’ll help you write the commercial content if you like. You can either read it yourself, or I’ll do it for you during our ad break. You’ll likely be the only advertisement in the program so you’ll get the spotlight to yourself.
For anyone interested in my writing and content services, you can see samples of my writing at my Falling Sky Productions portfolio.
Thank you very much! Let me anticipate a few questions and put them in a FAQ.
=====================================================
Questions that may be Asked Frequently, or at least Once:
If I order a customized novel, will my book be completely unique? - Thanks to the customization features, each book will always be unique! But if you mean will you have your very own story, probably not, depending on a few factors. For example, I’ve never offered this service on my own before. if only one person orders a romantic fantasy, that book will be unique. If others do, then the story will be roughly the same for each, but the characters will still be customized, as well the locale and other individual features unique to your recipient. (And I can add anything you want to the book, including your own introduction or gift message, or even a special ending. (Imagine proposing someone in his or her very own novel… getting to that last page will be a once-in-a-lifetime surprise!)
Will the custom novel look like a regular book? - If you go for an ebook, it’ll certainly look like a regular ebook! 
If you choose a paperback as well or instead, I’ll use Blurb Publishing, which has great reviews on Google for producing quality books. So the answer is almost certainly yes!
How can I pay? - I accept credit cards of all kinds via PayPal. You can also make e-check payments via PayPal as well, and obviously if you have a regular PayPal account you can send me the payment that way.
Will we sign a contract? - Absolutely. For whatever service you choose, I’ll send along a freelance contract that you can look over and sign. If you agree, sign and send it back to me along with the 3/4 deposit fee.
A 75% deposit fee? Are you crackers? 50% is more typical! - True, I grok that. But this is an emergency situation and that’s why I’m cutting my prices to the degree I am (the website services are crazy low for what I’m offering). I’m a longtime member who, though not popular or famous, is hopefully known at least by a few for being an honorable, reliable person. Most important, we’ll have a contract so you can hold me to my end of the bargain (not that I need a piece of paper to do that, because I do what I say I’ll do).
Can you set up a Wordpress blog and customize it? - Yes. I will usually work off a known template and will customize that (since all the pieces are already in place), and then add whatever compatible widgets or plugins the client needs. I always recommend the All-in-One-SEO plugin, which is a big help in making your site accessible to as many search engines and directories as possible.
Will my website be responsive, i.e. able to be seen identically in both regular and mobile browsers? - If you want it to be, yes! If you’re going for a Wordpress installation I’ll choose a responsive template; if it’s a “regular” website, I’ll make sure it’s CSS-based, accessible and responsive to all different modern browser sizes and mobile devices.
What’s your emergency? - That’s private, sorry. As a customer you get satisfaction via awesome services at low prices, but your curiosity will have to remain unsatisfied!
If you think of other questions I forgot to consider, please add 'em below. Thanks!