Arnie Kotler

Arnie Kotler – Editor

I edit books on psychology, spirituality, social justice, and wellness. I've worked with Thich Nhat Hanh, Joanna Macy, and Jack Kornfield.

Overview

I specialize in developmental editing, working closely with authors to improve clarity, concision, consistency, grammar, and flow. Revisions can be subjective, and ultimately, each edit is the author’s to accept or reject. It might be a suggestion to change a word, move text, or delete content that is repetitious or otherwise impairs the book’s rhythm, at times leaving great writing on the cutting room floor. Keeping the author’s unique voice is paramount. I like to describe my editing as clarification with heart, what Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., described as "simplicity on the other side of complexity."

Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs Buddhism Health & Wellbeing New Age Psychology Self-Help & Self-Improvement
Languages
English (US)
Awards
  • Bay Area Book Publishers Association Special Recognition Award
  • Independent Book Publishers Association Benjamin Franklin Award
  • Hawaii Book Publishers Association Readers' Choice Award
Certifications
  • M.A. UC Berkeley
  • Dharma Teacher

Work experience

Self-employed

Dec, 2013 — Present
Arnie Editing Services is an editorial and publishing-consulting studio and literary agency, focusing on works of nonfiction.

Koa Books

Sep, 2005 — Jan, 2015 (over 9 years)
Founding Editor and Publisher of nonfiction books on spirituality, psychology, social justice, and indigenous cultures.

Parallax Press

Sep, 1985 — Sep, 1999 (about 14 years)
Worked closely with Thich Nhat Hanh and others editing and publishing books on socially engaged spirituality.

Whole Earth Bookstore

Sep, 1980 — Sep, 1981 (about 1 year)
Helped set up and manage new bookstore at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, affiliated with Whole Earth Catalog and San Francisco Zen Center.

Portfolio

Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Thich Nhat Hanh

In the rush of modern life, we tend to lose touch with the peace that is available in each moment. World-renowned Zen master, spiritual leader, and author Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how to make positive use of the very situations that usually pressure and antago... read more
Dissent: Voices of Conscience

Wright, Ann

On That Day, Everybody Ate: One Woman's Story of Hope and Possibility in Haiti

Trost, Margaret

Rainforest Puuhonua

Kahikahealani Wight

Sarasvati's Gift: The Autobiography of Mayumi Oda--Artist, Activist, and Modern Buddhist Revolutionary

Oda, Mayumi

Forged in Darkness: The Many Paths of Personal Transformation

LaPrade, Dr. Joanna

Spring Flower Book 2: Facing the Red Storm

Perkins, Jean Tren-Hwa

The Buddha in Jail: Restoring Lives, Finding Hope and Freedom

Lu, Cuong

Happiness Is Overrated: Simple Lessons on Finding Meaning in Each Moment

Lu, Cuong

Making It Through: Bosnian Survivors Sharing Stories of Trauma, Transcendence, and Truth

Wehr, Demaris S

A Life Worth Living: A Journey of Self-Discovery Through Mindfulness, Yoga, and Living in Awareness

Gold, Mellara

Hollywood to the Himalayas: A Journey of Healing and Transformation

Saraswati, Sadhvi Bhagawati

The Breathable Body: Transforming Your World and Your Life, One Breath at a Time

Litman, Robert

Self-Healing: My Life and Vision (Arkana)

Meir Schneider

Born blind and declared incurable after a series of childhood operations, Meir Schneider remained convinced that his disability was not permanent. As a teenager he began to work with teachers who gave him exercises to reverse his blindness. Within four years h... read more
A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage and Wisdom in Any Moment

Spring Washam

Spring Washam is a founder of the East Bay Meditation Center, one of the most diverse and accessible Dharma centers in the United States. In A Fierce Heart, Washam shares her contemporary, unique interpretation of the Buddha’s 2,500-year-old teachings, with sh... read more
No Time Like the Present: Finding Freedom, Love, and Joy Right Where You Are

Jack Kornfield

In this landmark work, internationally beloved teacher of meditation and mindfulness Jack Kornfield reveals that you can be happy now, this minute, with the keys to inner freedom.In his first major book in several years, the inspiring author of the classic A P... read more
Being Peace

Thich Nhat Hanh

A bestseller with over 250,000 copies sold, Being Peace is the seminal founding work by Zen Master and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh. With a new introduction by Jack Kornfield and the first update since its release over fifteen years ago, this eloq... read more
Living Buddha, Living Christ

Thich Nhat Hanh

"[Thich Nhat Hanh] shows us the connection between personal, inner peace and peace on earth." --His Holiness The Dalai LamaNominated by Martin Luther King, Jr. for a Nobel Peace Prize, Thich Nhat Hanh is one of today’s leading sources of wisdom, peace, compass... read more
World as Lover, World as Self: Courage for Global Justice and Ecological Renewal

Joanna Macy

This overview of Joanna Macy's innovative work combines deep ecology, general systems theory, and the Buddha's teachings on interdependent co-arising. A blueprint for social change, World as Lover, World as Self shows how we can reverse the destructive attitud... read more
Inner Gold: Understanding Psychological Projection

Robert A. Johnson

Robert A. Johnson, bestselling author of He, She, We, and other psychology classics, shares a lifetime of insights and experiences in this easy-to-read explanation of psychological projection — seeing traits in others that are, in fact, our own. Drawing on ear... read more
Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace

Maxine Kingston

This poignant collection, compiled from Kingston's healing workshops, contains the distilled wisdom of survivors of five wars, including combatants, war widows, spouses, children, conscientious objectors, and veterans of domestic abuse. Vetrans of War, Vetrans... read more
The Wisdom of Sustainability: Buddhist Economics for the 21st Century

Sulak Sivaraksa

The Wisdom of Sustainability continues E. F. Schumacher s groundbreaking work on Buddhist economics in Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. Emphasizing small-scale, indigenous, sustainable alternatives to globalization, Sulak offers hope and al... read more
Georgia O'Keeffe's Hawai'i

Patricia Jennings

Georgia O'Keeffe is a legend of 20th-century American art. Her life and work, well documented in her lifetime and since, have taken on mythic proportions. Hawai'i is also mythic in our national psyche-a paradisiacal place of healing and renewal. In 1938, the D... read more

Arnie has 1 review

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Marilyn S.

Marilyn S.

May, 2024

Arnie has been great--a consummate professional, very friendly, works according to my needs. I feel lucky to have him help with my new book!

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