Today is the thirteenth in a series of posts by San-Diego-based writer Thomas Shess who has decided to keep a journal on his journey to find a publisher for his novel. Currently, Tom is leading a discussion on the mediabistro bulletin boards on the topic of "book doctors".

Inspiration. "...with songwriting, the key thing is not to have any preconceptions, to be wide open and never worry about whether it's cool or not. Use whatever you can, and worry about cool after you finish the record." Words any writer can relate to from Neil Young in a Time Mag interview, Oct. 3, '05 issue.

Doctor in the House. The kind folks who run this web site asked me this week to moderate a chat room discussion in the Bulletin Board section of MBToolBox. As a novice novelist, I was a bit nervous because I have no pedigree on the subject. But my recent hiring of a book editor to work with me on my manuscript perked some interest. So, faster than you can say "house calls," a new mediabistro.com Bulletin Board topic is up and running. Aptly called, "Calling the Book Doctor," you'll find it this week.

Join the discussion on a beginner's guide to professional manuscript editors or book doctors. Currently, opinions are strongly in favor of new novelists to get feedback from quality writers groups before going to a book doctor. See who disagrees with that.

Feedback $$$. One of the first discussions on "Calling the Book Doctor" was how much book doctors generally charge. "Limerick4all" logged on with his/her take: "You aren't going to find any consistency of fees. Some will charge $100 plus $1.25-$1.50 per typed double-spaced page. Some charge a flat fee of $1000-3000. Some charge $30-90 an hour. It's all over the place. Of course, the fees can vary significantly depending on whether you want a line-by-line edit or a written critique that summarizes key thoughts and suggestions. The main thing I would suggest is to get a sample critique the doctor has done for another novel that shows roughly the kind of feedback you can expect to get for the price you are quoted."

Revisiting the Camel. In the above mentioned Bulletin Board forum one contributor checked in after I decided to sign on with book doctor rather than a writers group because I felt I needed one-on-one with an editor rather than a group discussion. Here's "Scribble's reply: "I'm not sure why Tom feels he can't workshop his book in writing groups--the mediabistro.com novel writing classes are for people in exactly his shoes. However, I think Gotham Writers' Workshop and Grub Street in Boston have services where an editor will read through a manuscript and give the kind of feedback Tom's seeking, for a price."

Rx Rates. Thanks, Scribble for the tip. I checked the web. The Gotham Writer's Workshop book doctoring fee for 200 page novel goes for $975 and that includes 13 hour read and two hour meeting.

At the Grub Street, Inc., a Boston-based writer's warehouse they offer book doctoring at $65 per hour with a two-hour minimum. Notice they also offer a screenwriting doctoring service for $300. You can reach them at Info@grubstreet.org.

Clanging Bedpan. The road to finishing my novel wound through a lot of writing classes starting with Ms. Elizabeth Chater at SDSU and via Michael Gregory's San Diego based Southern California Writers Conferences. I will admit I can not resist taking writing classes. Talk about getting a rush. Any class gets me fired up. That's why I went crazy reading about the class mediabistro.com is offering for mystery writers called "The 8-Week Mystery Novelist: Pulling Off the Perfect Crime Novel." I know it sounds like I'm shilling for the house but who can resist the following class description: "...Writing a crime novel badly is the most underrated crime of all. Too many clues, or not enough of them. You will learn to overcome a denouement any 3-year-old could see coming by page four or characters as original as a "dark and stormy night," and dialogue that clangs off the ear like a rusty bedpan. You can learn the basics of writing a crime or mystery novel pretty much anywhere these days, but the focus of this online class will be to teach you how to write one agents and editors will find nearly impossible to reject. $499 cheap. Check mediabistro's e-classes info page.

* Because it's a jungle out there.