Elisabeth Chretien

Elisabeth Chretien – Editor

Award-winning and New York Times bestselling editor of nonfiction and memoir.

Overview

I'm an award-winning and New York Times bestselling editor with over fifteen years of experience working on memoirs and general nonfiction. I am skilled at doing extensive developmental editing, editorial assessments, copyediting, and proofreading. I am committed to working with authors to make their voice and their ideas shine through. I look forward to working with you to make your manuscript the very best it can be.
Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs Entertainment History Nature Religion & Spirituality Sex & Relationships Sports & Outdoors Travel
Languages
English (US)
Certifications
  • Copyediting Certificate - University of California-San Diego Extension, April 2017, 4.0

Work experience

Self-employed

Apr, 2016 — Present

University of Iowa Press

Mar, 2012 — May, 2016 (about 4 years)

University of Nebraska Press

May, 2006 — Feb, 2012 (almost 6 years)

Portfolio

When most people think of the celebrated greatness that is Coach Dan Gable, they think of an almost mythic intensity toward wrestling. Gable breathes and bleeds the sport, and faithfully applies lessons learned from both on and off the mat. Expanding upon Gabl... read more
What does it take to be an Olympic gold medalist and to coach a collegiate team to fifteen NCAA titles? In A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable, famed wrestler and wrestling coach Dan Gable tells engaging and inspiring stories of his childhood ... read more
So far, humanity hasn’t done very well in addressing the ongoing climate catastrophe. Veteran science educator L. S. Gardiner believes we can learn to do better by understanding how we’ve dealt with other types of environmental risks in the past and why we are... read more
Tom Lutz is on a mission to visit every country on earth. And the Monkey Learned Nothing contains reports from fifty of them, most describing personal encounters in rarely visited spots, anecdotes from way off the beaten path. Traveling without an itinerary an... read more
A lyrical coming-of-age memoir, Down from the Mountaintop chronicles a quest for belonging. Raised in northwestern Montana by Pentecostal homesteaders whose twenty-year experiment in subsistence living was closely tied to their faith, Joshua Doležal experience... read more
In a lyrical mix of natural science, history, and memoir, Melissa L. Sevigny ponders what it means to make a home in the American Southwest at a time when its most essential resource, water, is overexploited and undervalued. Mythical River takes the reader on ... read more
Just across the northern border of a former apartheid-era homeland sits a rural community in the midst of change, caught between a traditional past and a western future, a racially charged history and a pseudo-democratic present. The Rainy Season, a work of en... read more
It takes more than an excellent candidate to win elections; it takes an outstanding campaign organization, too. Campaign Inc. is the story of how leadership and organization propelled Barack Obama to the White House. As the chief operating officer of Obama’s 2... read more
Raised in a comfortable Dallas suburb, Mark Dostert crossed cultural and socioeconomic boundaries as a college student by volunteering as a counselor at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, Chicago’s infamous 500-cell juvenile jail, known local... read more
Most readers think that superheroes began with Superman’s appearance in Action Comics No. 1, but that Kryptonian rocket didn’t just drop out of the sky. By the time Superman’s creators were born, the superhero’s most defining elements—secret identities, aliase... read more
In the streets of Addis Ababa in 1977, shop-front posters illustrate Uncle Sam being strangled by an Ethiopian revolutionary, parliamentary leaders are executed, student protesters are gunned down, and Christian mission converts are targeted as imperialistic s... read more

Elisabeth has 42 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Kait M.

Kait M.

Mar, 2024

Elisabeth is a fantastic editor. She really helped me bring my book to life and make it the best piece of work possible. Her feedback was very helpful and brought my manuscript to the next level. She was always prompt in getting back to me and provided ongoing support from start to finish. I already plan on having her edit my second book project. I highly recommend her!
Reese G.

Reese G.

Feb, 2024

Elisabeth is truly an extremely talented, patient, and passionate editor. She developmentally edited my manuscript that I have been stuck on for quite a while. Her detailed margin comments gave me the guidance I needed and I was finally excited to write again. She also had the patience to explain to me the process of traditional publication and lead me on the right track to use search engines ...
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jan K.

jan K.

Jan, 2024

I got so much more than I imagined from Elisabeth with my request for an assessment of my manuscript. It was so thorough and professional. She dug deep. She responded to all my questions and was very thoughtful in her responses. She is also very sensitive to the nuanced messages I wanted to convey and identified where I may not have expressed myself in the best way possible. My only regret is i...
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Bob Miller M.

Bob Miller M.

Jul, 2023

Elisabeth was extremely helpful during the editing process, always available to respond to all questions I had. Her comments and questions of what I'd written were insightful and forced me to examine my text and better explain or even change it. My manuscript is certainly more polished after her edit. I heartily recommend her to anyone seeking a professional editor who can maintain your "voice,...
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Kristine W.

Kristine W.

Sep, 2022

Elisabeth has been wonderful throughout this process. She’s been incredibly patient. This has been a very good experience.

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