Coaching and Feedback with James Folta

Take your humor writing to the next level with PIC’s editorial services, including In-Depth Written Feedback and One-on-One Video Coaching. From first draft to final copy, we offer guidance for writing at any stage.

Punch up your writing and technique with us:

In-Depth Written Feedback – $30

  • Get detailed insight and feedback on one article: how it’s working, where it could use improvement, and what’s falling flat—plus tried and true comedy strategies for your work.
  • Strengthen both your article and your humor writing process in general.
  • Get feedback and tips delivered by email.

One-on-One Video Coaching – $50

  • Spend a full hour via video chat working on your humor writing.
  • Use this time to workshop articles, get feedback on ideas and premises, explore alternate directions or formats, expand your premises and angles, hone your comedic voice and toolkit, and more.
  • Schedule a time that works for you.

These services are currently offered by our managing editor, James Folta, who also:

  • Teaches classes on parody and humor writing for NYC’s Magnet Theater and elsewhere
  • Works one-on-one with writers in NYC
  • Co-created and co-edited The Neu Jorker, a New Yorker parody, and Paul Ryan magazine, a political satire project
  • Co-created The Satire and Humor Festival and hosts the monthly live reading series “An Evening of Humorous Readings”
  • Is regularly published by The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, and more.

James is excited to work with you!

Writer Testimonials

Wondering what goes into PIC Editorial Services, and how they’ve helped? Here’s what both established and new writers have to say.

“James’ written feedback was super helpful! He provided detailed notes, helped me narrow in on the ‘game’ of my piece, and gave lots of concrete suggestions for how I could improve it. He really helped me get my piece from ‘almost there’ to ‘ready to submit.’ I highly recommend working with him!”

–Carlos Greaves

“I got a lot out of my hour of video coaching with James. I sent him three pieces ahead of time and he carefully read all of them, and offered line-by-line feedback on each piece. He provided me with good techniques to help me refine each piece by reconsidering the angle, format, and narration so the piece becomes as sharp, clear, and funny as possible. He was skilled at giving broader feedback on the piece as a whole, as well as detailed critiques on word choice and line edits. He was also very friendly and respectful. It was fun to chat with him about the finer points of comedy writing for a bit. His coaching also extended to helping me consider which publications each pitch was geared toward, and the best way to craft/schedule my pitch.”

–Elana Spivack

“Getting smart, professional feedback on a short humor piece can mean the difference between an acceptance and a rejection. While there is no shortage of general ‘How to Write Humor and Satire’ articles on the web, there’s no substitution for a personalized, direct edit. I have sent two short pieces for written feedback through the Coaching & Feedback program, and James provided me with detailed feedback including line edits. He was extremely encouraging, but also didn’t beat around the bush about what I needed to fix to get published. One of those pieces was accepted instantly at my target publication. His feedback exposed some bad writing habits unique to me, and I’m now able to immediately identify and correct them when I’m writing something new. I wouldn’t have gotten that from a how-to listicle or a larger class setting that doesn’t provide nuanced, individual attention. If you have prestige publishing goals, the PIC Coaching & Feedback program may just be the vital tool you haven’t tried yet. Send in your work!”

–Leslie Ylinen

“Getting feedback on my writing generally makes me very nervous. James makes it fun. In written feedback, he helps me see where pieces sag and where they soar, all while teaching me things about comedy and writing that I can apply to future pieces. My favorite James metaphor is that a comedy piece is like a vertically-stretched rubber band: you can pull it sideways (deviate from your premise/get silly), but it always needs to snap back to center to keep your piece on track and on-game. In video coaching, James is up for batting around new ideas. He helps me figure out which are worth pulling out of the sky and which should be laid to rest in my Ideas folder. As a relatively new comedy writer, building intuition about whether a premise ‘has legs’ is invaluable. I’ll be back for more!”

–Nikki Campo

“Getting coaching from James was a great experience. Not only is he hilarious but he’s a great teacher who can break down jokes and give you new strategies to punch up your material. It was clear he had put a lot of time into thinking about my piece ahead of time and I walked away with new tools that will not only help the piece we worked on together but will improve my writing going forward. James is incredibly kind and I left our coaching session feeling encouraged.”

–Michael Caves