Let’s get your book written and ready for publication.

Services

Book Proposals

I’ll help you hone your book’s message and develop a unique sales hook. We will identify your target audience and then develop the real-life benefits your readers will take away after they finished the book. I will help you determine where your book fits best in the market and provide comparable titles that help publishers identify how it fits within their publishing program. The final deliverable is a finished book proposal with up to two sample chapters ready for showing to an agent or publisher.

Whether you’re writing a board book for children, a self-help book for adults, fiction or nonfiction, every published book begins with a strong proposal.

Ghostwriting

Do you need someone to write your book? Not everyone has the time or inclination to write a book, yet they have the message or the story to be an author. I have been a ghostwriter and served as a contributing writer on numerous projects. As your collaborative writer, I’ll work with you to figure out the best way to get the book out of your head and down on paper. The final deliverable is a complete, publisher-ready manuscript.

Editing

Editing is not a one-time event. Editing is an iterative process designed to hone a manuscript into the best possible shape it can be. Drawing on my years of experience editing books at publishing houses big and small, I focus on developmental editing and line editing (also called substantive editing).

During a developmental edit, I focus on the “big picture” of the book. I examine its structure, the author’s vision and execution, and the reader’s experience. I take on the role of advocate for the reader and review the manuscript by asking questions like: Does the flow of the argument make sense? Is the information presented logically? Are the reader’s most deeply felt needs met? Is the content answering the questions that prompted the reader to buy the book? Are the tables, illustrations, references, photographs, and other additional materials in the right place and fully credited? Does the book meet and succeed the author’s vision? Are there any blind spots in the manuscript that need to be tended to? A developmental edit is all about getting the right content in the right place for the right audience.

During a line edit, I focus on the sentences, with a special emphasis on voice and tone. I assess the author’s strengths and weaknesses, then edit the sentences so that the author’s strengths are made even stronger and his or her weaknesses are shored up. This includes rephrasing and rewriting sentences as necessary. I also help ensure that an author’s voice meets the expectations of the target audience and that an author’s tone meets his or her audience’s felt needs.