Deborah Heimann - Editor
I have over 20 years' experience editing popular nonfiction and fiction, with a recent focus on psychology, philosophy, and current affairs.
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Overview
I see editing as a conversation. When I work with you, I tell you what I hear, what I see, and when something isn’t working. I fix errors, question phrases, offer suggestions, and note for you what stops me in my reading process. You consider my suggestions and questions, think about what might be getting in the way, and respond with something even better. At the end of the day, your voice rules. I support and clarify ideas, stories, reports, articles, and essays. I polish manuscripts and proofs.
I’ve spent the past twenty-plus years collaborating with authors, publishers, nonprofits, playwrights, and other editors. A graduate of Brown University, I’ve been a director and dramaturg of new plays in New York City and editorial director of an international web communication network based in British Columbia, Canada, with offices in Colombia, South Africa, and Vermont. Along the way, I’ve worked with people and words from across the globe -- on fiction, nonfiction, academic prose, theatrical plays, websites, advertising copy, and funding proposals.
Recent publishers and organizations I have worked with include: Chelsea Green Publishing, Guilford Press, Perseus Books Group (Westview Press, Da Capo, Basic Books, and PublicAffairs), and Macmillan Learning (W. H. Freeman and Co. Publishers, Worth Publishers, and Bedford/St. Martin’s).
I’ve spent the past twenty-plus years collaborating with authors, publishers, nonprofits, playwrights, and other editors. A graduate of Brown University, I’ve been a director and dramaturg of new plays in New York City and editorial director of an international web communication network based in British Columbia, Canada, with offices in Colombia, South Africa, and Vermont. Along the way, I’ve worked with people and words from across the globe -- on fiction, nonfiction, academic prose, theatrical plays, websites, advertising copy, and funding proposals.
Recent publishers and organizations I have worked with include: Chelsea Green Publishing, Guilford Press, Perseus Books Group (Westview Press, Da Capo, Basic Books, and PublicAffairs), and Macmillan Learning (W. H. Freeman and Co. Publishers, Worth Publishers, and Bedford/St. Martin’s).
Services
Languages
English (UK)
English (US)
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Economics
Health & Wellbeing
Nature
Philosophy
Political Science & Current Affairs
Psychology
Self-Help & Self-Improvement
Work experience
Freelance Editor
Self-employed
January, 2011
–
Present
(about 11 years)
I am currently a full-time editor, providing line editing, copy editing, and proofreading for authors and publishers.
Editorial Director
The Communication Initiative
August, 1998
–
June, 2012
(almost 14 years)
I provided all editorial decision making for an international website focused on communication for social and economic development, managing remote teams in Canada, Colombia, South Africa, and the United States.
Producer
Alan Bernhard Creative Enterprises (ABCE)
September, 1995
–
January, 1998
(over 2 years)
I supervised the preparation, filming, and editing of national television commercials, including the 1998 launch of ESPN, The Magazine.
Theater Director
Freelance
January, 1995
–
August, 1998
(over 3 years)
I provided the creative vision for the full realization of productions in the following spaces: Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Mint Theater, Soho Repertory Theater, Solo Arts, St. Marks Studio Theater, The Salon, and the Times Square Building.
Portfolio (36 selected works)
Immigration Reform: The Corpse That Will Not Die
Charles Kamasaki
This book is an insider's history and memoir of the battle for The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986: its evolution, passage, impact, and its legacies for the future of immigration reform. Charles Kamasaki has spent most of his life working for UnidosUS, formerly the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. He was a dire... read more
Being Salmon, Being Human: Encountering the Wild in Us and Us in the Wild
Martin Lee Mueller
In search of a new story for our place on earth Being Salmon, Being Human examines Western culture’s tragic alienation from nature by focusing on the relationship between people and salmon―weaving together key narratives about the Norwegian salmon industry as well as wild salmon in indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest. Mueller uses this lens to articulate a comprehensive critique of hu... read more
Matter and Desire: An Erotic Ecology
Dr. Andreas Weber
In Matter and Desire, internationally renowned biologist and philosopher Andreas Weber rewrites ecology as a tender practice of forging relationships, of yearning for connections, and of expressing these desires through our bodies. Being alive is an erotic process―constantly transforming the self through contact with others, desiring ever more life. In clever and surprising ways, Weber recogni... read more
"Torah's tale is one of immense trials followed by towering triumphs. She guides us through various moments in her life with such honesty and artistry that I felt like I was there by her side. I don't re-read often but this is a book with chapters and sections that I will read again just to remind myself that if Torah can get through what she has, then I can, too." - Brian Young, Navajo Writer... read more
What's Up With A**holes?: How to spot and stop them without becoming one.
Sherman Ph.D., Jeremy
The Stick Season
Zig Davidson
A young girl is kidnapped, and four women--best friends since grade school--set out for revenge. Their story intertwines with the tale of a war deserter who lives hidden away on a hill above their small northern New Hampshire village, pilfering supplies at night and keeping watch over the residents of Broadfield Pond. He stays one step ahead of a state trooper who has been chasing him for year... read more
Unglued
Zig Davidson
Martin Gonlea's life takes a sudden wrong turn as he rounds a street corner in lower Manhattan to find his mistress dead on the sidewalk. He can't account for the minutes leading up to her death, and the more he tries to fix things--with his wife, and with her hard-boiled NYPD detective sister--the more quickly they unravel. Clocks fly out of windows, watches run backward, and time becomes und... read more
Psychology: A Concise Introduction
Richard A. Griggs
This exceptionally concise volume offers a rich survey of the field’s fundamental research and concepts at an unbeatable price—just $39 net! And that price includes LaunchPad, a robust, carefully developed supplements package for students and instructors, if the instructor requires it. No other text/media resource for the course offers such an attractive combination of authority and affordabil... read more
Economics
Paul Krugman, Robin Wells
When it comes to explaining fundamental economic principles by drawing on current economic issues and events, there is no one more effective than Nobel laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and co-author, Robin Wells. In this best-selling introductory textbook, Krugman and Wells’ signature storytelling style and uncanny eye for revealing examples help readers understand how econom... read more
Regenerative practices for the farm, garden, orchard, forest, and landscape Mycorrhizal fungi have been waiting a long time for people to recognize just how important they are to the making of dynamic soils. These microscopic organisms partner with the root systems of approximately 95 percent of the plants on Earth, and they sequester carbon in much more meaningful ways than human “carbon offs... read more
The Great Crash of 1929 profoundly disrupted the United States' confident march toward becoming the world's superpower. The breakneck growth of 1920s America--with its boom in automobiles, electricity, credit lines, radio, and movies--certainly presaged a serious recession by the decade's end, but not a depression. The totality of the collapse shocked the nation, and its duration scarred gener... read more
Behavioral Genetics
Valerie S. Knopik, Jenae M. Neiderhiser, John C. DeFries, Robert Plomin
With its clear and concise presentation, Behavioral Genetics, 7th edition introduces students to the field’s underlying principles, defining experiments, ongoing controversies, and most recent discoveries. The text provides students with an understanding of heredity, it’s DNA basis, the methods used to discover genetic influence on behavior and identify specific genes. It then examines what is... read more
Rules for Revolutionaries: How Big Organizing Can Change Everything
Becky Bond, Zack Exley
Lessons from the groundbreaking grassroots campaign that helped launch a new political revolution Rules for Revolutionaries is a bold challenge to the political establishment and the “rules” that govern campaign strategy. It tells the story of a breakthrough experiment conducted on the fringes of the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign: A technology-driven team empowered volunteers to build a... read more
No political image in recent American history has enjoyed the impact of the "limousine liberal." It has managed to mobilize an enduring politics of resentment directed against everything from civil rights to women's liberation, from the war on poverty to environmental regulation. Coined in 1969 by New York City mayoralty candidate Mario Procaccino, the term took aim at what he and his largely ... read more
Crowded, hot, subject to violent swings in climate, with a government unable or unwilling to face the most vital challenges, the rich and poor increasingly living in worlds apart; for most of the world, this picture is of a possible future. For India, it is the very real present.In this lyrical exploration of life, loss, and survival, Meera Subramanian travels in search of the ordinary people ... read more
Butcher Bird: Tales from Down Under
Geraldine M North
Butcher Bird, Geraldine North's collection of 26 short stories, captures universal aspects of the human experience within the peculiar ethos of rural Australia. The author reaches back to her experiences as an isolated, yet carefree and inquisitive child growing up on the family farm during the 1940s and '50s. While they evoke the often-desolate ambiance of this remote region, her fictional re... read more
Happy People in Tears is an award-winning tale of diaspora that takes the reader on a voyage through five worlds—the island home of São Miguel, mainland Portugal, California, New England, and Canada—experienced and suffered through the obsessive search for happiness of a poor Azorean family of nine. It is a polyphonic novel, in which the voices of three of seven siblings narrate their versions... read more
Solitude of a Birdcage (Forget Me Not)
Brielle Skye
In the war between duty and desire, there will be casualties... Maxie Shannon and Savannah Trimmel are more than best friends. They're sisters, bound by a tragic past and an unbreakable bond. When Isaac, Savannah's boyfriend, falls victim to an act of violence that leaves him with no recollection of the prior eighteen months, both women tend to his recovery. For Savannah, it's simply an attemp... read more
Howard Elman's Farewell (Darby Chronicles Book 7)
Ernest Hebert
Suppose all a man has left is his imagination. Then what?
A bullet that brought a nation to its knees
In a nation built by immigrants and bedeviled by the history and legacy of slavery and discrimination, how do we, as Americans, reconcile a commitment to equality and freedom with persistent inequality and discrimination? And what can we do about it? This widely acclaimed text by Paula D. McClain, with new coauthor Jessica D. Johnson Carew, provides a comprehensive and accessible overview of t... read more
Vince Tanzi (4 Book Series)
C.I. Dennis
From Book 1: August is the hottest time of the year in Florida, and Vince Tanzi would just as soon sweat it out in his study chair with a few beers. He's had enough of the world after losing his wife, and spending nine months in jail. He's at the bottom of a downward spiral that began when he "retired" from the Indian River County Sheriff's Department in Vero Beach, and began a second career a... read more
In 2014, Jere Van Dyk traveled to Afghanistan to try to discover the motives behind a kidnapping that had occurred six years earlier--his own. He was haunted by questions about why he was taken and why he was released, and troubled by the refusal of his friends, employers, and government employees to offer him a full account of what they knew.In pursuing his kidnappers, and the stories of the ... read more
With information for patients and practitioners on optimizing mitochondrial function for greater health and longevity Why do we age? Why does cancer develop? What's the connection between heart failure and Alzheimer's disease, or infertility and hearing loss? Can we extend lifespan, and if so, how? What is the Exercise Paradox? Why do antioxidant supplements sometimes do more harm than good? M... read more
The Thorn Necklace: Healing Through Writing and the Creative Process
Francesca Lia Block
For devotees of Bird by Bird and The Artist's Way, a memoir-driven guide to healing through the craft of writingFrancesca Lia Block is the bestselling author of more than twenty-five books, including the award-winning Weetzie Bat series. Her writing has been called "transcendent" by The New York Times, and her books have been included in "best of" lists compiled by Time magazine and NPR. In th... read more
The key to fixing our broken patterns of urban development does not lie in grand plans or giant projects; rather, it lies in the collective wisdom and energy of people harnessing the power of many small ideas and actions to make a big difference. We call this making “Massive Small” change. In an increasingly complex and changing world where global problems are felt locally, the systems we use ... read more
Atticus Finch: The Biography
Joseph Crespino
Who was the real Atticus Finch? A prize-winning historian reveals the man behind the legend The publication of Go Set a Watchman in 2015 forever changed how we think about Atticus Finch. Once seen as a paragon of decency, he was reduced to a small-town racist. How are we to understand this transformation? In Atticus Finch, historian Joseph Crespino draws on exclusive sources to reveal how Harp... read more
A manual for activism that begins with our most powerful asset--our bodiesEven as a wave of renewed feminism swells, too many women continue to starve, stuff, overwork, or neglect our bodies in pursuit of paper-thin ideals. "Fitness" has been co-opted by the beauty industry. We associate it with appearance when we should associate it with power. Grounded in advocacy with a rowdy, accessible sp... read more
Psychology
David G. Myers, C. Nathan DeWall
David Myers' bestselling Psychology has reached a wider audience of students and instructors with each new edition. Myers and his team lead the field in being attuned to psychology's research and the needs of the instructors and students in the course today. Ten million student class testers and thousands of adopting instructors can attest to the quality of this project. True to form, this lan... read more
Today, food is being reconsidered. It’s a front-and-center topic in everything from politics to art, from science to economics. We know now that leaving food to government and industry specialists was one of the twentieth century’s greatest mistakes. The question is where do we go from here. Author Andy Brennan describes uncultivation as a process: It involves exploring the wild; recognizing t... read more
Herbal Formularies for Health Professionals is a five-volume set that serves as a comprehensive, practical reference manual for herbalists, physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals. Dr. Jill Stansbury draws on her decades of clinical experience and her extensive research to provide an unparalleled range of herbal formulas. Organized by body system, each volume includes hundreds of f... read more
Herbal Formularies for Health Professionals is a five-volume set that serves as a comprehensive, practical reference manual for herbalists, physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals. Dr. Jill Stansbury draws on her decades of clinical experience and her extensive research to provide an unparalleled range of herbal formulas. Organized by body system, each volume includes hundreds of f... read more
Herbal Formularies for Health Professionals is a five-volume set that serves as a comprehensive, practical reference manual for herbalists, physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals. Dr. Jill Stansbury draws on her decades of clinical experience and her extensive research to provide an unparalleled range of herbal formulas. Organized by body system, each volume includes hundreds of f... read more
In this memoir, Victim of My Own Desires, Moira weaves a powerful story of daring to face the darkness within and navigating the journey from suffering to freedom. Along the way, she describes the psychological, spiritual and medicinal wisdom maps, teachers and treatments she followed.
Angels by the River: A Memoir
James Gustave Speth
Reflections on race, environment, politics, and living on the front lines of changeIn Angels by the River, James Gustave "Gus" Speth recounts his unlikely path from a southern boyhood through his years as one of the nation's most influential mainstream environmentalists and eventually to the system-changing activism that shapes his current work. Born and raised in an idyllic but racially divid... read more
The Empty Bird Cage: Short Stories
Geraldine M. North
This second collection of short stories by Geraldine M. North examines contemporary life primarily in the United States, where Geraldine has lived for decades and has raised her family. But a handful of the nineteen stories in The Empty Bird Cage return to her native Australia, where Geraldine lived as a girl and young adult. This collection follows Geraldine's first book of short stories, But... read more
Deborah has 5 reviews
Professionalism
Professionalism
Quality
Quality
Value
Value
Communication & Punctuality
Communication & Punctuality
A flawless collaboration. Her communication was impeccable as was her attention to detail. I recommend Deborah with no reservations. Just the kind of editor you'd want. Impressively so.
Jeremy Sherman, September 2021
Reply from Deborah Heimann
I cannot thank Deborah enough for her work copy editing my first book. Deborah is professional, pleasant and supportive, yet she was very to the point and knew when being critical was needed. Her questions and comments helped me clarify my points, and her suggestions were always relevant. Because I am a first-time author, I was unsure about conventions, and it was so helpful to work with someon...
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Vangeline Gand, June 2019
Reply from Deborah Heimann
This editor really helped me put my book together, so much I never knew, and thankful that I she helped me make a script in to a book.
Abel Conlget, July 2018
I initially requested to work with Deborah for my query letter, book proposal, summary and a sample chapter. I enjoyed working with her so much that I hired her to edit my entire book. She has made this process so pleasant and is very thorough in her work. I highly recommend her to prospective authors.
Vangeline Gand, July 2018
Deborah is a great editor, she has helped me create a story that is much better then I could ever do alone. I am thankful that I am working with her, and helping me with my first book.
Abel Conlget, July 2018
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