devilsfoodadvocate

Well, if they have to get a court-issued warrant, then the person to be surveilled needs to be defined by name, and there has to be enough evidence to provide suspicion, to prove to a judge that it's worth surveilling that person.

Dragnets would not be allowed in a single-person warranted surveillance.

The adoption process in the United States is often associated with scores of red tape, waiting, rejection, and costly paperwork. I think this scares off a lot of would-be adopters.

What can you share with us about the process that you think might change people's minds about adoption?

I'm definitely not the OP, but I'll say that traditional publishing isn't very sustainable anymore.

Looking at the OP's site, it does sound a lot closer to a blend of paid editing and self-publishing/publishing help. Which is something that a lot of authors need. If you're looking to land a "traditional" publishing contract, but your manuscript is full of plotholes and isn't pieced together well, then you're not going to get your inbox slammed with acceptance letters. Traditional publishers these days want to spend as little time and effort on publishing pieces as possible, thus maximizing their profit to time/money invested ratio.

So a lot of authors need help getting their manuscript up to snuff for a "traditional" publishing house. But a lot of folks want to self-publish, or e-book publish, which is a lot further removed from the traditional roles you are hinting toward. New avenues for books mean new rules.

in exchange for a small portion of royalties (10-20%, tbd)

...Does this mean that money is not required up-front? It sounded from the website like there was an exchange of money for copy/substantive editing services.

However, it also might be that you have different business models for different publishing paths?

I appreciate your perspective and experience, and really just wanted to address this:

However, claiming that not working with a paid editor is going to negatively impact their chances of getting good responses to their queries (as I seem to think you're implying, correct me if wrong) is far from the truth.

I'm not saying that people have to use a paid editor to get interest from a publishing house. They don't have to pay anyone. I am saying that editors and "fresh eyes" are helpful when trying to iron out your manuscript.