Skip to content
Third novel out in the spring · Two commissions open this quarter · I answer my own email+1 876 405 2218
Penyler

Novels, essays and the work that pays for them

Two novels, about ninety essays, and a day job I am honest about

I write fiction and long essays, and I take copywriting and ghostwriting commissions to fund the months when the fiction does not. Everything I have published is on this site, free, including the pieces I would now write differently.

Read something Work I take

Recent writing

Everything
What two novels actually earned17 September 2026 What two novels actually earnedAdvances, royalties and the arithmetic nobody publishes. Real numbers.On writing about a place you still live in17 September 2026 On writing about a place you still live inThe two rules I have, and the time I broke both of them.Exposure is not a form of payment17 September 2026 Exposure is not a form of paymentA short piece I have sent, unedited, about thirty times.

How I work

The commissioned work subsidises the fiction, and I will not pretend otherwise

Two novels have earned less between them than four months of copywriting. That is the trade, and it is not a complaint.

I take two or three commissions a quarter — brand copy, ghostwritten long-form, the occasional speech — and I am good at them because I have written two hundred thousand words of fiction that nobody paid for. The rates are on this site. If you are commissioning for the first time, the most useful thing I can tell you is that a fixed fee for a defined piece serves us both better than an hourly rate neither of us will track honestly.

About

Work I take

See everything
Brand copy, a whole siteEvery page, written to a voice we agree in the first week rather than one I...USD 4200.00 A long-form piece, ghostwrittenTwo to four thousand words under your name, from two interviews and whatever you already have....USD 2800.00 A speechWritten to be spoken, which is a different craft from writing to be read. Includes a...USD 1600.00 Editing somebody else’s draftUp to five thousand words, line-edited with the reasoning in the margin so you can argue...USD 900.00 An hour on a piece you are stuck inYou read it out, I tell you where it goes wrong. Frequently the answer is that...USD 180.00 A reading or a talkFree for schools, libraries and anything not making money. Otherwise quoted, and travel is a line...
Novels
2
Essays published
~90
Commissions a quarter
3
Pieces behind a paywall
0
6 photographs

Readings and dates

Everything coming up
Wed 23 Sep Reading, Kingston BookshopSix in the evening, free, about forty minutes and questions afterwards. Free Wed 30 Sep Workshop: the first two paragraphsTwo hours, twelve people, bring something you are stuck in. USD 45.00 Wed 14 Oct Panel, literary festivalThree of us, an hour, on writing about a place you still live in. Free Wed 28 Oct Third novel: first extractTwo thousand words posted here, free, before anywhere else. Free Wed 11 Nov School visit, freeTwo sessions. Schools and libraries never pay for these. Free Tue 24 Nov Reading, Montego BayFirst time reading on that side of the island. Free

What clients and readers say

He wrote a voice document so our own people could keep writing it.
· 4.714285714285714 out of 5 across 7 reviews
  • Two interviews and it sounded more like me than my own writing.
  • Every essay free, with a note where he has changed his mind.
  • He will not read a manuscript as a favour. He is upfront about it.
  • Rates on the site, fixed per piece. No negotiation theatre.
  • Published what his two novels actually earned. Nobody does that.
  • Two or three commissions a quarter, so you may have to wait.

Read all the reviews

Asked by email

Mostly about rates, rights and whether I will read your manuscript.

Will you read my manuscript?
Not for free, and not as a favour, because I did that for two years and it was bad for everybody. I will line-edit five thousand words for nine hundred dollars and tell you the truth about it.
Why are your rates on the site?
Because otherwise the first email is a negotiation about whether you can afford me, and neither of us enjoys that. The numbers are fixed per piece rather than hourly.
Do you do spec work?
No. Not a sample chapter, not a test page, not a pitch. If you need to know whether I can write, there are ninety essays on this site.
Who owns the commissioned writing?
You do, outright, on payment, including the right to change it. Ghostwritten work carries no credit and I will not mention it publicly, ever.
How quickly do you answer?
Within a week, always, including to say no. There is no agent and no assistant, which is slower and is the arrangement I prefer.
Are the essays really all free?
Yes, including the early ones I would now write differently. Those carry a note at the top where I have changed my mind rather than being quietly taken down.

Search the site

Two slots this quarter

A paragraph about the piece is enough to start

What it is, roughly how long, and when you need it. I answer within a week, including no, and I will name somebody else when the work is not mine to do.

Read something

Get in touch

Commissions, corrections and rights enquiries all arrive in the same place and I answer them myself.

Kingston, Saint Andrew

+1 876 405 2218

What is the piece, roughly how long, and when do you need it?

Or call +1 876 405 2218