Every bestselling author started with a compelling manuscript. What will sustain your career, however, is one simple guiding star: fulfilling the promise you make to your readers.
The Reader Promise Worksheet
Every decision on the path to publication should serve that promise: in every book, and every message you send. This worksheet walks you through naming the promise your book makes, testing whether the manuscript keeps it, and turning it into the language you’ll reuse everywhere: your query, your blurb, your back cover, your website, your talks, and your social media.
Who this is for
- You have a complete draft, or you’re close, and you can feel that something isn’t landing.
- You’re about to query and you can’t describe your own book in two sentences without flinching.
- You’ve published before and this book isn’t behaving like the last one.
- You write ambitious, genre-bending fiction, and you’re tired of being told to pick a lane.
Who it’s not for: anyone looking for a shortcut. There isn’t one.
What happens next
- The worksheet arrives in your inbox in about a minute. Check your spam folder if it doesn’t.
- Over the next two weeks you’ll get three short emails from me. Each one contains a working idea about positioning, revision, or getting a book in front of the readers who want it.
- That’s the whole sequence. After that you’re on my occasional list, and you can leave any time with one click.
I don’t sell your address, I don’t hand it to anyone, and I don’t email daily. But I do respond to “Hey Cody, can I run something by you?”
Who I am
I’m Cody Sisco. I write the Resonant Earth novels, a queer psychological science fiction quartet; its fourth volume, Toxic Medicine, publishes October 14, 2026. I run Resonant Earth Publishing, I publish the Made in L.A. anthology series, and I serve as Co-Chair of the Board of the Editorial Freelancers Association.
I take a deliberately small number of editing and coaching clients at a time. That’s a design choice, not a bottleneck. It’s how the work stays good.
“Cody Sisco’s deft editorial eye was pivotal in helping me to finish my debut novel And the Train Kept Moving. His suggestions and questions were always constructive and specific, pushing me to deepen and expand the scope of my novel, while also pointing out connections I might strengthen and opportunities I should consider.”
— Michael Kiggins, author of And the Train Kept Moving (Running Wild Press 2023)
“Cody is fastidious in his attention to detail. His editorial feedback was helpful, and his insights elevated every part of my manuscript—from prose to content. I highly recommend Cody. He is absolutely one of the best editors in the industry.”
— Rebecca Dimyan, author of Waiting for Beirut (Running Wild Press 2023)
If you want more than a worksheet
I offer manuscript evaluations, developmental editing, line editing, and one-on-one storytelling and career coaching. Rates, deliverables, and how each one works are laid out plainly.
- Built for writers with a rough draft. Get a guide for the whole road, not a one-time critique.
- Ongoing, one-on-one guidance through revision and the decisions that come after it.
- Choose your publishing path with clear eyes: traditional, small press, or self-publishing, weighed against your goals.
- Networking and platform building, with practical tips you can use before your book is out.
- Feedback writers call “constructive and specific,” from an indie author and publisher who has taken a four-volume series from first draft to launch.
- Hourly from $80. Ask about bespoke packages.
Or write to me directly: editor@codysisco.com