[Editing Service] Iowa Book Doctors

Adding link: http://www.iowabookdoctors.com/

There are claims about the staff's credentials, but they are not linked with any names--in fact, there's nothing on the website at all to identify the editors affiliated with this service. As I noted in another thread, you need to know exactly who your editor is, and what his or her professional background is, in order to be sure s/he is qualified to edit your work.

The founder is identified as Srinivas "Cheeni" Rao. He appears to be a relatively recent graduate of the very prestigious Iowa Writer's Workshop. He's got a book out from HarperCollins, a screenplay optioned by Paramount, and has won some fiction prizes (I got this info from HarperCollins' foreign rights guide). So real credits there, suggesting that the other editors may have real credits as well. But without the names, there's no way to know for sure.

- Victoria

A book from HarperCollins is a really great credit, and the workshop is indeed prestigious. The phrase "book doctor" has acquired a negative connotation over the years. I wrote a book about sailing around the world many years ago--hence the screen name--and a propective agent referred me to a book doctor. I learned from P&E that the agent was under constant investigation and was in bed with the book doctor, so to speak, getting a kickback from the book doctor for referrals. Jeff Herman has some very specific cautions about the use of book doctors in his directory, although he doesn't cliam that they're all shams. I think caution is a watchword, therefore. What are the referrals? Have they "doctored" a book into successful publication?

One of the biggest complainants I hear from agents is that so many novels read like they were written by recent graduates of MFA programs. That would be one of my biggest concerns, that their "book doctor" would push me to make my novel sound like so many others. As Victoria said, you really need to know more about the particular editor.

I had the same question and found the following post interesting, especially the comments and the author's update based on comments.

http://spunstories.com/2011/03/04/who-are-the-iowa-book-doctors/