Lynn Lauber – Editor

I'm a developmental editor, author, ghostwriter, and creative writing teacher. My books of fiction published by W.W. Norton, White Girls and 21 Sugar Street, were reviewed in The New York Times. My memoir/writing book, Listen to Me, Writing Life into Meaning, also published by Norton, is an exploration of writing as self-discovery. My essays have been anthologized and have appeared in The New York Times and The Boston Globe. I worked for over 30 years performing developmental editing and book abridging at Random House Audiobooks, reconfiguring best selling manuscripts into more streamlined versions, while retaining their theme and unity, sense and substance. This involved locating the throughline of the narrative, while assessing salient plot points, themes, timeline, and characters, as I reconfigured the manuscripts to fit into a new format. I've also ghostwritten ten books for major publishers, which have included memoir, medical nonfiction, self- help and inspiration. And I've taught a memoir workshop online at UCLA since 2000.

In developmental editing, I provide an in-depth look at the heart of a manuscript, and consider the content, structure, focus and the way the book works as a whole. I provide notes throughout the manuscript - suggestions, comments and basic edits. I also deliver a summary that discusses the issues I've encountered in detail, while also providing ideas for solving them. These may include suggestions for revisions, rewrites, transitions, structural changes, additions and deletions. This editing often includes my solving the issues that my edit has uncovered (for example, with authors Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, Peter Rabins, Robert Kaplow, Chris Downie).