The Writer's Cottage

Mission

The primary mission of The Writer’s Cottage is to organize and communicate information for a useful purpose. Basically, I love writing and editing, helping other people discover their unique writing voices, and helping writers publish their written materials.

Founder

Hi! I’m Sue Kern, the founder and president of The Writer’s Cottage. I started The Writer’s Cottage in June 2000 after having a vision of one place with many rooms of writing services and resources for writers and people who write on the job or need high-quality writing for their businesses.

In the past 29 years, I have been a professional editor, writer, teacher, writing coach, documentation manager, and proposal editor. My eclectic writing and publishing career spans multiple industries including health care, records management, information technology, publishing, higher education, library and information science, religion and spirituality, patient education, defense contracting, direct mail marketing, consulting, and entrepreneurship. I have been an editor for several national publishing houses, and have held management positions in corporate communications, technical documentation, and corporate research. I have written and edited proposals that have resulted in millions of dollars of awarded projects. I’m also a published author and editor as well as a trained life coach. And, I have a master’s degree in English Linguistics, which helps out a lot when I teach English as a Second Language (ESL) to international students and when I conduct training classes in business writing.

Rate Plans

Retainer: Guaranteed agreed monthly hours. This is ideal for clients who need service on a regular basis. Payment is required in advance by the first of the month. Hours must be used within the month they were purchased. Retainer package is non-refundable. Discounts are available and depend on the hours contracted for each month.

Project: Rates on this plan are based on the size, complexity, estimated time and cost of the project. A 50% deposit is required prior to the start of the project with the balance due at completion and before delivery of the completed project.

Hourly: This option is ideal for clients who are not sure how much time will be needed, on a monthly basis, or for a one-time only project. Payment in full for a block of 10 hours is required to begin work. Full payment is due upon completion of work and before work is delivered.

Terms and Conditions

Initial consultations (15 minutes) are free.

All information and materials related to the proposed project will be studied and a formal estimate will be delivered within 24 hours. There is no obligation to purchase any services.

Each assignment or contract is priced according to the work undertaken and the length of time required for completion. Rates are quoted either on an hourly basis or a project rate (see Plans above).

Estimates of final cost include travel time, meetings, reading, researching and writing. Any additional expenses, such as courier costs, postage, telephone calls, photocopying or any other miscellaneous costs will be billed to the client. The client will be notified in advance of such charges.

Extra fees or charges are not added without the client's knowledge. Any fee changes and final costs will be mutually agreed upon between a representative of The Writer’s Cottage and the client.

Two (2) rounds of client edits are included in the final price of a project rate. Any further revisions are charged at an hourly rate.

Final proofreading is the responsibility of the client. All errors returned within 48 hours will be corrected free of charge.

An Agreement Contract must be completed and signed prior to start of any project. If required, a confidentiality agreement may be signed between the client and a representative of The Writer’s Cottage.

A 50% deposit is required prior to the start of projects with the balance due at completion and before delivery of the completed project.

For Hourly Plan clients, payment in full for a block of 10 hours is required to begin work.

Full payment is due upon completion of work and before work is delivered.

Termination of work at any time or for any reason requires payment for time already invested.

Payment Options

Acceptable forms of payment are:

Money orders

Cashier's checks

Payments through PayPal (the PayPal service fee to be paid by the client)

Personal checks are accepted, but the check must clear before work begins and/or the completed project is delivered.

All payments must be made before delivery of the completed project.