Elizabeth Zack – Editor

I learned from the best: two of the world's top-notch publishers, Ballantine Books/Random House, Inc. and John Wiley & Sons/Wiley Publishing. At both companies I served as a Senior Developmental and Acquisitions Editor. Today, I continue to partner with writers (published and aspiring) to help them craft and develop their work. I'm thrilled that I've had some great responses to my editing, including these raves:

"Absolutely the best!" - Joan Mathews-Larson, author of the national bestseller Depression-Free, Naturally
"An awesome editor." - New York Times-bestselling author Joan Wester Anderson
"I was continually amazed at each and every page you touched." - Douglas L. Hoover, author, The Dirt Bike Detective
"A fantastic editor who has the incredible ability to amplify the author's voice, making the ideas more clear and powerful." - Glenda Storm, writer
"Her work is professional and smart. She has a canny ability to bring life to a manuscript, while maintaining the integrity of the work." - Beth Grosshans and Janet Burton, authors, Beyond Time-Out

Since I previously worked at publishers offering extremely packed production schedules, I've had the opportunity to develop literally hundreds of titles. So I can easily write that I specialize in both
non-fiction (memoir, parenting, self-help, wellness, inspiration, spirituality, and so on) and fiction (including women's fiction, YA, romance, and thrillers.).

As your content editor, I will take a unique and individualized approach to your manuscript; in other words, I'll give it what it needs. That may mean rewriting and revising some of your words and passages, as well as offering suggestions and comments about the writing based on what I've learned in this the industry over the past thirty years. The editing will be directly worded, accessible, and very specific.

With non-fiction works, I am apt to focus on the: structure (both of the book and the individual chapters); voice (authoritative or not? personal, direct, and accessible, or not?); commercial appeal; viability (have you effectively proven/laid out your point?); pace; style; transitions and chapter closes; and so forth.

With fiction works, I am likely to focus on: pace; description (lacking, just right, or overwritten?); sentence structure (run-ons, or staccato?); character development/emotional motivation/believability; level of suspense/drama; scene changes and chapter closes; and so forth.

I am quite happy to work with writers at any stage of their career - and I have. I am proud to count new and aspiring writers, published authors, authors of local, regional, and/or national bestsellers, authors whose work have received great publicity and review attention, indie authors, and authors at 'big' publishers among my clientele.