I offer manuscript reviews and mentoring for poets of several different levels:
I. You are starting to find your way as a writer
II. You are working on a short chapbook-length manuscript of 20-32 pages
III. You have a group of 50-70 poems and are assembling your first book
IV. You are a well-published poet looking for feedback and editorial comments on new work.
V. You are a seasoned, well-published poet looking for more intensive feedback and editorial comments on new work.
Interested poets can contact me at levine.mentoring@gmail.com.
Level I $500
In response to your packet of poems, you will receive:
• 2-3 pages of response to the manuscript as a whole.
• Detailed comments and line-by-line editing of 5 – 10 poems.
Level II. $850
In response to your chapbook manuscript you will receive:
• 3-5 pages of response to the manuscript as a whole.
• Detailed comments and line-by-line editing of up to 32 manuscript pages.
Level III. $1000
In response to your full-length manuscript you will receive:
• 3-5 pages of response to the manuscript as a whole
•Detailed comments and line-by-line editing of up to 54 manuscript pages.
• A single one-hour conversation–by phone, skype, or in person–about your poems, the creative process, and the publishing world.
Level IV. $1200
In response to your full-length manuscript you will receive:
• 3-5 pages of response to the manuscript as a whole
• Detailed comments and line-by-line editing of up to a maximum of 54 manuscript pages.
• An initial one-hour conversation–by phone, skype, or in person–about your manuscript and about 3-5 particular poems. You will then have the opportunity to revise these 3-5 poems, returning them to Jeffrey Levine when they feel ready.
• A second, one-hour conversation about your revisions, the creative process and the publishing world.
Level VI. $2000
In response to your full-length manuscript you will receive:
• 3-5 pages of response to the manuscript as a whole
• Complete first edit of manuscript
• 2 Subsequent edits of revised manuscripts
• 6 One-hour conversations–by phone, skype, or in person. The nature and subject of these conversations will range according to the level of the poet. This is an in-depth commitment to your art and practice.
Low-Residency Model Packet Exchanges. $1500 per “semester”
Five “packet” exchanges per semester: you send me a packet five times per “semester.” Each packet contains about five new poems plus revisions of on-going work. In return, I comment at some length on the new work and on the revisions (of course, revisions enter the picture with the second exchange). There’s a great deal of close attention involved in this process, and I believe it’s an ingenious way for poets to get to the next level, and the next, and the next — or to guide an on-going project through to conclusion. Together, we work out a flexible schedule for sending your packets — and for my responses.
In each case a personalized time-table will be devised, including deadlines for both you and Jeffrey Levine and a payment plan. A mutually approved contract will be issued before work begins.
If you are interested, please contact me at Levine.Mentoring@gmail.com.
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Praise for Jeffrey Levine’s manuscript reviews:
Jeffrey is one of the best readers I’ve ever met. Just watching him move through the manuscript—jumping to the middle, skipping a few poems, looking at the table of contents again, then going back to the beginning—was educational. In addition, though, he really cut through the shortcomings of some of my poems in ways that were incisive, honest, and truly brilliant. It taught me that just because a poem is published in a journal doesn’t necessarily mean that it should take the same shape in the book.
—Joanne Diaz
A phrase like life-altering you would doubtless dismiss with an eye-roll or scratch with a red pen, but it felt that way anyway. I came home like a soldier back from war, shell-shocked, bloodied, to no one who could really hear it. so much for re-entry. After sleeping 12 hours straight I’ve been writing all day…all new. Feel like I could go on this way through the night. Anyhow: This is a brilliant service. Worth its weight in words.
—Kim Triedman
Helpful is not the word. Revolutionary, perhaps? Jeffrey Levine was brutally honest, sharing his intense intellect, his pursuit of perfection, his high standards, and his keen skill. I loved every moment of the session, especially when he “edited” my poems on the spot, sharing his views and feelings very openly. What a treat!
—Gunilla Kester
Finally, and perhaps most important of all, I felt a tremendous sense of permission from his response to my poems.
—Sawnie Morris
But what’s extraordinary is that mind of his, he reads so closely, understanding, plummeting through a poem in seconds and, at the same time, he’s intuiting still more. (He’s like a diver turning over a rock, pausing a moment, next thing you know, he’s intuited the shape of the seascape, its beauties and faults.) He was enormously helpful to me, though it took days, weeks, to sort it all out. The process is humbling, exhilarating, terrifying. I am grateful for every note I took, for as I re-read his exact words I found there was more there then I was able to take in at once. The encouraging things, and one line in particular, I will carry with me all my days. The challenges, well, they have kept me at the ms. revising, rereading, re-seeing with his voice in my ear.
—Catherine Staples
