Overview
I started freelance editing 25 years ago, copyediting for publishers like Quest Books, University of California Press, and HarperSanFrancisco. However, I quickly found my niche as a developmental editor. I have done development projects for Quest, UCPress, and Beyond Words/Atria (Simon & Schuster), as well as for authors who have either placed their books with publishers or self-published. Eventually, I added book coaching and book proposals to the services I offer.
As a seasoned editor and book coach, I offer idea-organizing and word-crafting expertise on every book project, as well as an uncanny ability to bring what the author really wants to say into the book structure and onto the page in the author's voice.
I am passionate about helping changemakers write books that change minds. I look forward to helping you create that book!
WHAT I OFFER
Every project begins with conversation--exploring the book concept, the target audience, what the author seeks to achieve with the book, the best publishing path. Then we move into one of the following:
Developmental editing - refining the structure and flow of ideas at every level of the manuscript, from chapters to paragraphs.
Book proposals - the key to a can't-look-away book proposal is positioning the book to highlight its uniqueness, originality, and relevance.
WHAT CLIENTS HAVE SAID
"Never have I worked with a more committed, brilliant, and tireless editor--AND I've worked with New York's top editors. And she is a delightful person to work with.... Carolyn, I could never have done this without you."
- Patricia Aberdeen (author of best-seller **Megatrends 2010**), **Conscious Money**
"Carolyn holds the writer and the text in a space of respect and care, then proceeds with the author in relentless pursuit of what the author is most deeply trying to say. The result is a book the author meant to write that provides a clear and enjoyable experience for the reader."
- Bill Grace, **Sharing the Rock**
As a seasoned editor and book coach, I offer idea-organizing and word-crafting expertise on every book project, as well as an uncanny ability to bring what the author really wants to say into the book structure and onto the page in the author's voice.
I am passionate about helping changemakers write books that change minds. I look forward to helping you create that book!
WHAT I OFFER
Every project begins with conversation--exploring the book concept, the target audience, what the author seeks to achieve with the book, the best publishing path. Then we move into one of the following:
Developmental editing - refining the structure and flow of ideas at every level of the manuscript, from chapters to paragraphs.
Book proposals - the key to a can't-look-away book proposal is positioning the book to highlight its uniqueness, originality, and relevance.
WHAT CLIENTS HAVE SAID
"Never have I worked with a more committed, brilliant, and tireless editor--AND I've worked with New York's top editors. And she is a delightful person to work with.... Carolyn, I could never have done this without you."
- Patricia Aberdeen (author of best-seller **Megatrends 2010**), **Conscious Money**
"Carolyn holds the writer and the text in a space of respect and care, then proceeds with the author in relentless pursuit of what the author is most deeply trying to say. The result is a book the author meant to write that provides a clear and enjoyable experience for the reader."
- Bill Grace, **Sharing the Rock**
Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
History
Psychology
Religion & Spirituality
Self-Help & Self-Improvement
Languages
English (US)
Awards
- ForeWord Book of the Year (3rd place, psychology) for Ed Tick's **War and the Soul**
- ForeWord Book of the Year (psychology) for Stephen Larsen's **The Fundamentalist Mind**
- Nautilus Book Award (silver in both religion and psychology) for Stephen Larsen's **The Fundamentalist Mind**
- Spirit Book Club alternate for Patricia Aburdene's **Conscious Money**
- AAS Coomaraswamy Book Prize for Sheldon Pollock's **Language of the Gods in the World of Men**
Work experience
Self-employed
Nov, 1998 —
Present
1998 - 2001 - copyediting and proofreading for Quest Books, University of California Press, Princeton University Press, and other publishers
2001 - 2014 - copyediting and developmental editing for Quest Books
1998 - 2022 - copyediting and then exclusively developmental editing for University of California Press
2001 - present - developmental editing, book coaching, and book proposal services for both self-publishing and professionally published authors
Portfolio
