The problem: writers ask, and asking is free
If you talk about writing or publishing online — as an author, editor, or coach — your inbox fills with pages. Query letters, first chapters, synopses, "just a quick look." Thoughtful feedback on even five pages takes half an hour; on a synopsis-and-query package, more. Meanwhile the paid channels are awkward: editorial marketplaces take large cuts and race to the bottom on price, and running your own pipeline means invoices, contracts for tiny engagements, and scheduling email chains that take longer than the feedback itself.
The result is a strange economy where your most-requested service — your reaction to someone's pages — is the one thing you have no clean way to sell.
What to sell on Cheddify
Cheddify gives you one link for your bio. Writers tap it, pay as guests in the browser, and connect with you live or book ahead. Formats that fit writing coaches:
- Query letter teardown, 20 minutes. They send the letter in advance via paid DM; on the call you go line by line — hook, comps, bio, the paragraph that should be cut.
- First-pages feedback, 30 minutes. The classic "would an agent keep reading?" session on their opening chapter.
- Booked manuscript strategy calls — 45 to 60 minutes, prepaid, for structural questions: where the second act sags, whether to split the POV, how to position the book in a query.
- Paid DMs for single questions: "Is this comp title too old?" A price on your inbox filters the flood down to serious writers, and you answer on your own schedule. See how paid DMs work.
What to charge
Manuscript and query feedback is consulting, and consulting niches on Cheddify commonly run $2 to $8 per minute. Coaches building a client base usually start around $2; established coaches and editors with publishing credentials typically hold $2.50 to $4; agented authors and former acquiring editors reviewing in competitive categories can charge $5 to $6. These are reference points, not promises — audiences of hobbyist writers support lower rates than audiences of querying authors with deadlines, and your rate is editable any time. More in how to price your 1:1 calls.
The math on a real session
Say you book a 40-minute manuscript strategy call at $2.50 per minute. The writer pays $100, plus roughly 3 percent card processing (about $3) on top. Cheddify's fee is 20 percent plus $2 per call: $20 + $2 = $22. You keep $78, paid out through Stripe — with no invoice, no contract exchange, and no unpaid discovery call. Details on the pricing page.
The honest part
Cheddify does not market you to writers. There is no directory and no discovery layer — it is a tool that converts your existing audience, whether that is your author newsletter, your writing-community following, or students from past workshops. If nobody is currently asking you for feedback, an editorial marketplace will find you clients faster while you build an audience. If the requests already outnumber your free hours, Cheddify is free to claim and takes minutes to set up: pick a rate, set your session formats, put the link in your bio. Here is how it works.