Stories Worth Carrying Forward
Editing, cover design, audiobook, ghostwriting, and author-website support for independent authors who want the book made seriously. We do not publish your book. We help you make it strong enough to stand on its own — with ownership, clarity, and care intact.
Literary fiction, memoir, nonfiction, and hybrid manuscripts that need honest editorial attention.
Editorial work, professional covers, audiobook production, author websites, and ghostwriting — assembled to fit the book.
Your rights stay with you. We are guides, editors, producers, and collaborators — not the publisher.
The core work is editing.
Most authors come to us to make the manuscript stronger — and some arrive earlier than that, with stories to tell but nothing written down yet. So the path starts where your book actually is: recorded Story Sessions if you're still talking it into shape, then editing or ghostwriting, a professional cover, and an audiobook — with an author website and PostShop running alongside the whole way, carrying the finished book to readers.
Editing
One complete editorial engagement: a professional assessment, developmental work, line and copy editing, and a final proofread — first read to finished pages, in one price. Quoted per word after a sample read; the base rate can rise for a manuscript that needs heavier work. Prefer a single stage on its own? Contact us.
Cover Design
A custom, hand-made cover from a professional artist — author direction, three concepts to choose from, and two revision rounds of the initial concept chosen. One price for the full print wrap; the ebook cover is included.
Audiobook Production
Full audiobook production by a veteran director: casting and directing the narration, dialog editing and mastering, quality control, and distribution-ready files — with optional sound design and original music for books that want more than a single voice.
Ghostwriting
A full manuscript written from interviews, notes, and source material by a credentialed writer, with scope defined before work begins. Limited commissions each year, by application.
Author Website
A credible public home for the book and its author, designed and built by an experienced web professional. The build is a one-time price; ongoing maintenance — hosting, updates, and changes — is an optional monthly add-on.
PostShop
Social media for authors who'd rather be writing. Text in one photo — a finished page, a signing, the cover reveal — from your phone's regular messages, no app to open. We write the caption in your voice and post it the same day across every platform that takes it, sized natively for each. A few hundred true readers, found and kept: before launch, through launch week, and in the long quiet between books.
Story Sessions
Recorded conversations with a professional interviewer, full transcripts, and story-organization guidance tailored to your material — whether you're shaping a memoir, a family history, or a novel you'd rather talk through than outline alone. Not yet open; join the list and we'll reach out when it is.
Every service, in detail.
What each engagement includes, what it doesn't, and how it's priced — the whole picture, on one page. Editing is quoted on your actual manuscript after a sample read; the bespoke lines are priced in conversation.
Clean editorial work, first read to finished pages.
One complete engagement carries the manuscript from a professional assessment through developmental work, line and copy editing, and a final proofread — in one continuous engagement, at a single price. The rate is generated from your actual manuscript length, and can rise for a draft that needs heavier work.
What the edit includes
- Editorial assessment — a professional read and a letter on what the book needs
- Developmental edit — structure, arc, and voice
- Line editing — rhythm, clarity, and flow at the sentence level
- Copy editing — grammar, consistency, and correctness
- Final proofread on the stabilized text
- One author revision window built into the engagement
Quoted per word on the actual manuscript after a sample read — no assumed word count. Prefer a single stage on its own (developmental only, proofread only)? Available on request; contact us for pricing.
A cover that belongs to the book, not a template.
A custom, hand-made cover from a professional artist. The process begins with your references, genre expectations, and goals; the artist develops directions to choose from, then refines the one you pick. One price covers the full print wrap, and the ebook cover is included.
Cover design includes
- Three initial cover concepts to choose from
- Two revision rounds of the initial concept chosen
- Final print cover file (full wrap)
- Final ebook cover file
- Reasonable export variations of the approved design
Additional revisions, alternate concepts, substantial redesigns, or work outside this scope may be quoted and billed separately.
Your book, produced by a working audio director.
Produced and directed by a working audio director — a seasoned audio professional who produces audiobooks independently. You bring the manuscript, character notes, narrator preferences, and a pronunciation guide; a finished, distribution-ready audiobook comes back.
Production includes
- Casting and directing the narration
- Dialog editing and mastering
- Quality control and consistency throughout
- Files prepared for every major distribution service
- Optional full sound design and an original music score
A complete production: your manuscript and notes go in, a finished audiobook comes out, matched to the final approved text.
When the material is there, but the manuscript still needs to be written.
We build the manuscript from interviews, notes, transcripts, recordings, research, and source material. The goal is not to replace the author's voice, but to help the book take readable, coherent, publishable form. By application, with scope defined before any work begins.
Scope is defined up front
- Maximum manuscript length established in the agreement
- Defined interview count and source-material review
- Chapter outline before full drafting begins
- Draft delivery schedule with limited revision rounds
- Additional interviews, chapters, or revisions quoted separately
This prevents the project from expanding indefinitely as new material or ideas emerge.
A credible home for the book — built once, kept current if you like.
An author website designed and built by an experienced web professional to showcase your work, connect with readers, and support your writing career. The build is a one-time price and the site is yours. If you'd rather not maintain it yourself, add monthly maintenance and we keep it secure, current, and ready for your next release.
Website Build — $3,000
- Custom website design
- Home page
- About the Author page
- Books page
- Individual page for one featured title
- Buy the Book page with links to major retailers (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Apple Books, Kobo, and others as applicable)
- Contact page
- Newsletter signup integration
- Social media integration
- Basic search engine optimization (SEO)
- Website launch
Not included:
- Creation or management of retailer accounts
- Publishing platform or ecommerce setup
- Book uploads or distribution services
- Payment processor configuration
- Future content updates or website maintenance
Hosting, maintenance, updates, and future changes are an optional monthly add-on — see Maintenance below.
Maintenance — $200/month ★ Recommended add-on
Added to a site we've built, this keeps it secure, current, and ready for your next release. Month to month; the build is purchased separately, above.
- Secure hosting
- Website maintenance
- Security and software updates
- Regular backups
- Technical support
- Up to one round of content updates each month
- New book, event, and announcement updates
- Priority turnaround on requested changes
- Annual website review and refresh
Not included:
- Creation or management of retailer accounts
- Publishing platform or ecommerce setup
- Book uploads or distribution services
- Payment processor configuration
Focus on writing while we keep your website running smoothly.
Social media for writers who would rather be writing.
You're busy writing, not posting — so PostShop makes it a text message. Send one photo or video from your phone's regular messages, no app and no dashboard, and it goes out the same day to every platform that takes it, sized natively for each, captioned in your voice. Nine platforms, running before launch, through launch week, and in the long quiet between books — a few hundred true readers, found and kept.
How it works here
- Text in a photo or video from your phone's regular messages — no app to open
- We caption it in your voice and post the same day to every platform that takes it — up to nine
- Add it to any Westdraft package and take 10% off PostShop's list price
- Prefer it on its own? Available standalone at PostShop — you just don't get the bundle discount
- Runs before, during, and long after launch week
Marketing support, not a promise of sales, reviews, or press.
Before there is a manuscript, there may already be a book taking shape.
For authors, families, and storytellers who have material but not yet a structure — and for novelists who'd rather talk an idea through than outline it alone. Recorded interviews, full transcripts, and story-organization guidance tailored to your material — enough to start writing yourself, or to hand to a ghostwriter.
Typical scope
- Recorded interview sessions with a prepared interviewer
- Full transcripts of each session
- Organized notes on major events, people, places, scenes, and themes
- Story-organization guidance tailored to your material
- Optional handoff into ghostwriting or publishing support
Exact interview count and deliverables are defined before work begins.
Real specialists, real credentials.
Every Westdraft engagement is carried by a named professional with a real track record — not a gig-economy profile, not an offshore queue, not a machine. Editorial, design, audio, and writing, each matched to the book in front of it.
A discussion for independent authors.
We're building an ongoing discussion on the craft and business of making books — structure, revision, editing, covers, audio, getting read, and the real questions of publishing well on your own terms. Down the line we may also offer workshops, lectures, and live conversations. None of it is open yet; this is a look at where it's headed.
The Discussion
An open, ongoing conversation about writing and publishing independently — built to keep serious authors thinking out loud alongside us, and to take on the topics indie writers actually want answered.
Guests from across the field
Conversations with the people who do this work — editors, cover designers, ghostwriters, web and audio professionals, and authors who've published on their own terms. Workshops and lectures may follow as the program grows.
Tell us what the book needs next.
Send the basics — where the book is, what you're considering, your deadline — and we'll reply with the most practical next step and a quote.