Story Consultant for Illustrators
What is this?
I'm on a mission to help illustrators with their stories. Too many illustrator-authors invest incredible time, money, and energy year after year, presenting stories that are simply not ready. They burn themselves out, and we don't get to see their work. Life is too short for that.
What gives you the right-?
I have over a decade of experience giving feedback on stories in different media. I have personally trained with some of the best story analysts and writing coaches in the world. I like to think my approach adopts and adapts the best of their ideas, along with numerous tools I have developed myself.
Why pick on illustrators?
With graphic novels falling somewhere between film and literature, the illustrator-author encounters challenges and solutions that are equally unique.
I find the best (and worst) story consultants are generally in the film world, while the best voice and style editors are in the literary world. I'd like to bridge that gap.
Every illustrator I've worked with has laboured under some misunderstanding or another that may well stem from this divide, falling through the cracks.
But who the hell are you?
'Falling through the cracks' describes my artistic journey quite well; I'm notoriously hard to pin down. I've been published as an author.
I've been commissioned as an animator. I've been produced as a screenwriter. I've been hired to adapt projects into graphic novel format. I've been a spoken word artist, prize-winning comedian, portrait photographer, competition-winning and PhD-awarded composer, and I've sang concerts with world-champion choirs under the batons of Ennio Morricone and Krzysztof Penderecki.
If you'd like details of each of these things, they are generally accounted for in my ludicrously-populated LinkedIn profile.
But the only website I've created so far is for story-consulting... so I must think I'm pretty good at it. Look how serious and confident I look in this picture.
How do I know if I need a story consultant?
Most likely you do. There isn't a way to check that your story is working without having somebody read it. And there isn't a way to fix or develop your story unless that reader knows what they're doing.
It doesn't have to be me...
... but I implore you to run your project by someone who can do what I do.
You work too hard on your craft as an illustrator to be let down by stories that are not ready for the world.
What this is not:
This is not about my version of your story. I won't force this into shapes you don't resonate with. I'm here to help with your vision, not impose my own.
This is not about your visual style. I can and will comment on framing and staging and the content of your panels and your layouts if necessary, but I won't be going into line-width or font-choice or anything like that unless it's obscuring the clarity of what you're trying to convey. You're the illustrator. I trust you.
How many cents do you want from me?
Thousands of them! My rate is €200 for a consultation, which includes a one-hour video call (recorded if you wish) and reading time for the materials you send me in advance. I accept 12-46 page dummy books, or outlines and sample pages, or a pitch. If there are excessive reading materials or you want me to see multiple versions of something, then there will be an additional fee for the extra prep time.
Any deals?
You're a tough cookie. Returning clients get a 10% discount. If you want to book four sessions together, you'll get even more off. Drop me an email and we'll figure it out. Why so unclear? Well, read on...
Do you coach me through a project?
Sure, if you want to work on the same project over multiple sessions and you would like to be coached through it, and if you'd like the accountability of agreed deadlines, that's absolutely something that I can accommodate. And that can be worked into the pricing structure. So you get to save money if you stick to the deadline. I'm a creator myself, I know we sometimes need this kind of thing to stay on track...
I write screenplays and novels and short stories too. Can you help me with those?
Of course! I've done a tonne of that. The pricing structure on this site is tailored to the amount of reading time needed for graphic novels. It tends to take longer to read a screenplay or a novel, so I'd have to charge differently. Get in touch and we'll figure out what I can do for you.
Anything else?
I'm Irish and I live in Ireland, so depending on where you are, that might impact the time of day we can have a call. But I try to stay flexible.
