Daniel Johnson

Daniel Johnson – Editor

Looking for: self-help, spiritual, poetry, non-native/translated English, graphic novels, UX design, and other related genres.

Overview

Hi! I’m Daniel. I’ve been editing for about 9 years, and though the last 4 years has been mostly devoted to content design and UX writing for tech companies, I’m still open to taking on new work.


My editing style

Honest. Encouraging. Collaborative. Flexible.

- Honest. I'm up front about my suggestions, but not to the point of being harsh.
- Encouraging. Every writer at some point struggles with doubt and I’d rather reinforce positives than dwell too much on what's not working.
- Collaborative. I’m up for bouncing ideas and brainstorming in creative ways. Need help organizing the content in your book? Want a thought partner for envisioning a book design? Let's talk about it!
- Flexible. You can decide how much depth you want from my suggestions or comments. Some people like to know the ‘why’ behind editing marks, while others just want to know what to delete or change. Some people don’t mind suggestions of how to rewrite something, while others just want notes that they can interpret their own way.

Genres I like to work in

There’s a few types of books that I’m more willing to take on due to my own level of interest and experience. I’m open-minded about other genres, but likely only available for proofreading or copyediting.

- Comics/graphic novels
- UX design, product design, the tech industry
- Self-help, spiritual (any belief system)
- Poetry—especially collections that work with a literal or thematic narrative, epic poems, or poetry that uses complex rhymes

What I like to know from you

- What is your experience with writing, publishing, and working with editors?
- Who is your intended audience?
- What is your goal with this book?
- When I leave notes, do you prefer an explanation of why I’m marking something?
- Are you okay with me showing how you could potentially rewrite a sentence, or do you prefer me to leave notes for you to interpret your own way?
- Do you have or need a style guide for this book?

More about my background

- I’ve been writing poetry and music for 15+ years.
- I’m a lifelong comics reader, worked as an editorial assistant at Fantagraphics Books, and I’ve written a few scripts for self-published comics.
- I work in UX design and have experience designing booklets and other visual art. Though I don’t professionally design books for others, I’m able to advise on design decisions.
- I love hip hop, tea, travel, and encouraging people with ambitious dreams!
Services
Fiction
Comics & Graphic Novels Poetry
Non-Fiction
Design Health & Wellbeing New Age Religion & Spirituality Self-Help & Self-Improvement Travel
Languages
English (US)

Work experience

self-employed

Jan, 2013 — Present

Most of my freelance work has been with full-length manuscripts, but has also included web content for both ad agencies and directly with companies, entrepreneurs, and more.

Areas of focus:
- Nonfiction: self help, memoir, spiritual, meditation and well-being, travel
- Fiction: scifi, myth
- Poetry
- Graphic novels and comics
- Guidebooks and reports

Self-employed

Sep, 2019 — Present

I’ve helped develop a content design practice that emphasizes collaborative writing, critiques, and coaching. While mostly embedded in a growth team, I consult across many product areas and departments.

Triptalker

Jul, 2019 — Jul, 2020 (about 1 year)

As the main editor/UX writer on a team based out of the US and India, I helped develop the voice and tone for a travel app.

- Worked closely with marketing, content strategy, and design.
- Developed a style guide with content and voice guidelines.
- Ran content through user testing on an almost daily basis to inform writing decisions and contribute to the company's early understanding of its audience.
- Managed two copywriters to develop 100+ location profile pages and a series of blog posts.

Fantagraphics Books Inc.

Jan, 2014 — Mar, 2015 (about 1 year)

One of the most critically acclaimed publishers in comics history, Fantagraphics has long been a champion of the comics form devoted to printing challenging contemporary works and historically important graphic novels.

During my time here I worked on over a dozen books, two of which won major comics industry awards. I also helped with the massive digitization of The Comics Journal, a long-running comics criticism publication.

self-employed/personal practice

Jan, 2004 — Present

I've upheld a disciplined daily writing practice for 15+ years, I have a bachelor's degree in creative writing which focused on poetry and short fiction prose, and I've worked as a copywriter with non-fiction, guided meditation scripts, articles/blogs, web copy, UX design, and more.

Some of my self-published works include:
- Poetry chapbooks which I wrote, designed, and printed.
- Comic books which I wrote in close collaboration with illustrators.
- Four full-length albums of music which I wrote, recorded, and mixed. I also acted as the creative director on each project, in some cases designing the visual components and arranging music while working closely with visual artists, vocalists, and musicians.

Portfolio

Natural Selection

Cualli Carnago

In the Hivosphere, citizens are ranked according to a strict social hierarchy. At the top stand the smart, attractive and healthy, but in such a tenuous society, nobody’s place is secure and the possibility of downgrading is always around the corner. Receiving... read more
2016 Eisner Award Winner for Best Comics-Related Book! This biography reveals the true story of Mad creator Harvey Kurtzman―the man who revolutionized humor in America; it features new interviews with his colleagues Hugh Hefner, Robert Crumb, and others. Harve... read more
In Nondual Therapy Georgi Y. Johnson offers tools to release energetic contractions in the psyche, through the healing power of Nondual Qualities. This is a new healing modality, through which you'll discover: - The evolutionary form of the human psyche - The ... read more
A Year of Stillness

Jussi Niittyviita

"The first day of a new year dawns in soothing darkness. A sense of peace is present. A fascinating and sacred silence embraces the moment." A silent and soothing stillness breathes within you. Whenever the stillness inhales, some beautiful state accompanies i... read more
The hardest thing for a man with cancer is losing control over your life. You get tangled up in a web of specialist appointments, medical tests and treatment decisions. And you don't want people around you to worry, or look like you can't handle it, or worse, ... read more
Nominated for the Ashton Wylie Trust Mind Body Spirit Category The Language of Yin is more than a book on themes. It is a comprehensive guide to becoming the type of teacher that inspires and moves people beyond the skin and bones.Starting with some proven tec... read more
Hallelujah

Sabrina Suarez

Hallelujah sheds light on the thoughts and experiences of those who are often forgotten in the struggle with mental illness -- the supporters. Hallelujah acquaints readers with an anguish as well as a hope that is both relatable and real as they discover the u... read more
Nova. Phoenix. Grace.

LaTonya Mitchell

Discovery. Reflection. Refinement. Ever searched for these in the middle of chaos? Well, if you've answered yes - or even slightly curious, I'm inviting you to experience and bear witness to the serene grace of it all. Nova. Phoenix. Grace. is a collection of ... read more
Seeker of Silences

Jussi Niittyviita

As all the definitions of myself disappear,the stillness arises from beyond the mind.My loving presence is all that remains.In the soothing silence, I am.
Remember your first childhood memory. Try to make the mental image of it as vivid as possible, and refrain from judging the memories neither good or bad. Just feel how it felt back then. Let every experience arise the way they do. Give yourself time to feel yo... read more
Feeling the stress of caring for an older person while remaining productive on your job? This book can help NOW. This is a practical, comprehensive, and easy-to-use guide that you can use to manage job responsibilities while safely caring for an aging relative... read more
Black Flowers

Jesse Muchmore

Many people think they know the South; the genteel hospitality, old-fashioned values, and life lived at a slower pace. But there is another South, a stranger one unknown to outsiders, brimming just beneath the surface.These stories explore that hidden world-wi... read more
New SAT 2019 Math Practice Book

American Math Academy

New SAT 2019 Math Practice BookThis SAT Math book is developed by American Math Academy for test-takers trying to achieve a passing score on the SAT exam which includes:•24 SAT Math Topics with Detailed Summaries•Over 800 Practice Questions with Detailed Solut... read more
The Good Student is a roadmap for choosing a college, choosing a major, navigating admissions, courses, professors, roommates, and the avalanche of information and decisions that faces every student who wants to succeed at college. Based on decades of research... read more
This book is for those who enjoy an old soul type of love. The bone deep passion that brings out the helpless romantic in you, and gives hope that romance exist in today's fast pace and modern world. Reading these romantic poems is best enjoyed over a cup of c... read more
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Have you ever heard this saying? Before we get a chance to say a word, our gestures and manners have already spoken for us. Though some of the rules of good manners change, others remain constant. Thi... read more
Laid out over 16 tracks--album-style--is the story of a Millennial trying to find certainity in a trying time of uncertainity. Confusion, self-doubt, and anxiety abound, but instead of lying down and getting conquered by those demons, he fends them off. The re... read more
Do you find yourself questioning or exploring your beliefs about God? Do you ever wonder how you will begin teaching your children about something so big as the concept of God? Whether you are a firm believer, a reasonable agnostic, a skeptical atheist, or som... read more
Fulfillment is a book for your soul.We have a feeling that something is missing. We look back, we look forward, and we cannot say what it is, but we know we must find something that will bring us peace. Many of us are engaging in a journey that we can compare ... read more
Balancing Act

Phil Lancaster

Balancing Act is about goal setting across five specific areas of life: fitness, friends, family, finance and faith. The book focusses on the idea that if you set goals within each of these categories, you will make balanced progress as you set goals to improv... read more
How many more years of your life are you going to waste in a job that gives more unhappiness than joy?We were told that joining a big corporation or a recognized firm is all we needed to be successful in life, so you fought for it. When you first joined the fi... read more
Inspired by Paulo Coelho along with Rolf Potts about following your dreams, listening to your heart, as well as going with the flow. Rambling Across America contains valuable insights, interesting quotes, and a lot of practical information to act as an example... read more
Akylay Baimatova translated Epos Manas into English using Mar Baijiev’s Russian translation as a guide. There are very few translations of this work available in English and the versions that are available do not do a work of this magnitude justice. Akylay is ... read more
This is about spiritual empowerment. This is a guide designed to help you learn which spiritual energy does what, and then how you can cultivate and use those different energies for the type of spiritual experience you desire.The focus of this book is on seven... read more
Living Happiness

Sebastian Kade

What is happiness and how do we live it? If you are looking for a self-help book that promises to expose the secrets of happiness... keep searching. However, if you are looking for a book on Life that leans heavily on ancient wisdom from the Buddhist Monks and... read more
Das Metro

Mark Lingane

Viva la revolution, baby!Freddy Fredrickson has gone missing, chasing after a dame named Maria. To the horror of his father, Maria's a sub-dweller who lives under the city. And she's organizing a revolution—which is a problem, considering Freddy's father is th... read more
Angelboy Vol. 1

N. M. Beguesse

Cyrus' life ends with a flash and a bang as the bullet enters his heart. Moments later, he opens his eyes to find his body changed, sporting a new pair of... angel wings? Something's definitely not right here... Unable to be seen or heard by anyone and with no... read more
WeAreComingToKillYou. For four hundred years, the human race has been hiding, defending, surviving against an unknown alien attack, using weapons known as rippers and smashers.Except they are not weapons, they are children—descendants of Cally Raiden—with uniq... read more
This is my true story about overcoming stuttering. In this book, I am writing about the strategies that I am still using today to increase my fluency. The book is structured in the way that I first give my personal story and then I elaborate on the strategy an... read more
Strong Hearts Are Mandatory is a series centering in an animal-dominated land known as Media. All of the land’s residents are gifted with intelligence, and a few even with the forbidden practice of magic. Within the contents of Heart of Glass, we follow the pe... read more
The Eternaut

Héctor Germán Oesterheld

2016 Eisner Award Winner for Best Archival Collection/Project―Strips! Seminal Argentinian science fiction graphic novel whose main character is still viewed as a symbol of resistance in Latin America. This originally appeared as weekly installments from 1957-5... read more
In-depth, career-spanning interviews with the cartoonists ― Crumb, Shelton, and more ― who forever altered the course of American comics with their anthology title, Zap Comix. The definitive Comics Journal interviews with the cartoonists behind Zap Comix, feat... read more
Collected Poems

Alexander Theroux

This is a collection of the National Book Award-nominated author’s poems: sonnets, odes, ballads, and more. The publication of Alexander Theroux’s Collected Poems, a gathering of more than 660 poems, an astonishing creative output, will be among the major lite... read more
Artist S. Clay Wilson adapts to the post-underground art world in this second volume of a three-part complete comics collection / retrospective. As the Age of Aquarius morphed into Discomania and Reaganomics, pioneering underground cartoonist S. Clay Wilson di... read more
This is a biography of a legendary underground cartoonist (contemporary and collaborator with Robert Crumb), most famous for his Checkered Demon character. The is the definitive account of the boldest and most audacious of the legendary underground cartoonists... read more
This art book collects film noir posters and critical commentary, with a foreword by Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist). Collecting 101 noir movie posters of, arguably, the greatest noir films ever made (inclu... read more
Charlie Brown hits a home run and Linus tries to get Snoopy a Supreme Court seat in the 22nd volume (’93-’94) of The Complete Peanuts. Even the most devoted Peanuts fan will be surprised by revisiting Schulz’s last decade of work. Schulz’s cartooning has never... read more
Seeking an ascetic life in the desert away from today's noisy and noisome world, Nick is seduced by the spectacular and mesmerizing spectacle of the procession of the Queen of Saba. A fantasia of delightful philosophical mind games.
This is a more-than-complete collection (it includes the unpublished 17th issue!) of the quintessential underground comic book.There scarcely was an underground comics world before Robert Crumb’s classic solo first issue ofZap. By Zap #2, he had begun assembli... read more
This book collects the "best of" Frank Stack, who was one of the first underground cartoonists, and the artist behind Harvey Pekar’s award-winning graphic novel My Cancer Year. “Cult” cartoonist Frank Stack is best known as the artist behind Harvey Pekar’s awa... read more
In the latest volume of this realistic manga about transgender students, our protagonists experiment sartorially. Curiosity and transphobia collide in the latest volume of Fantagraphics’ critically acclaimed manga about a boy who wants to be a girl, and a girl... read more
In this sensitive manga series about transgendered preteens, the boy who wants to be a girl deals with acne, and is scouted for the school’s theater club along with Chiba-san. Shimura Takako’s groundbreaking, critically acclaimed, and beloved Wandering Son con... read more

Daniel has 59 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Matthew A.

Matthew A.

Apr, 2021

Had a great experience working with Daniel. Very professional, timely and good skills. He did my final proofread as well as edited a couple of sections that I didn't have my editor review and he gave insightful feedback. Would definitely recommend his services.
Akylay B.

Akylay B.

Mar, 2021

Daniel is very professional and extremely considerate. It was a pleasure to with with Daniel- his comments are very detailed and well-thought, he really immerses himself into literature, culture that was unfamiliar to him and therefore asks inquisitive questions, which make him the best editor for translation book. I would highly recommend Daniel's services, and look forward to work with him ag...
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Stanley R.

Stanley R.

May, 2020

It was a pleasure working with Daniel. He was very professional and knew his stuff! One of the things I liked most about working with him was his timeliness. He delivered when he said he would!
Kelvin R.

Kelvin R.

Apr, 2020

Apologies that this review is long overdue (by several months) but Daniel did a phenomenal job copyediting a very difficult and complex work of epic poetry. He has a wonderful eye and asks good questions. He even picked up a tiny typo that I had somehow managed to miss even after reading the manuscript a couple dozen times! I very highly recommend his services and would love to work with hi...
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Reagan P.

Reagan P.

Feb, 2020

Daniel is wise and sharp. Total pro... highly recommend!

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