Overview
My vast industry experience uniquely positions me as a valuable content/developmental editor. From acquiring books for several New York publishing houses to acting as editorial director of a mid-size nonfiction program to selling books to editors as a literary agent, I have had the opportunity to play a role in all departments of publishing. My differentiator is the extensive sales experience I have had in publishing: writing winning book proposals and pitching books to book buyers, producers, and publishers. When it comes to publishing, I have a 360-degree lens and am able to combine my sales experience with skillful development of content so it becomes not only creative, but commercially viable and competitive.Further, I am a New York Times bestselling editor as well as a ghostwriter, collaborator, and published author in the nonfiction categories of memoir, self-help/psychology, health and fitness, parenting, lifestyles, pop culture, business self-help, motivational, and spirituality. My freelance roster includes books published by Hay House, HarperCollins, Rodale, St. Martin's Press, Rowman & Littlefield, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Career Press.
Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Health & Wellbeing
Parenting & Families
Psychology
Religion & Spirituality
Self-Help & Self-Improvement
Sex & Relationships
Languages
English (CAN)
English (UK)
Work experience
Self-employed
Jul, 2011 —
Present
Collaboration, ghostwriting, developmental editing, proposal writing, coaching, and consultations in the areas of memoir, addictions/recovery, self-help, health and fitness, pop culture, music, lifestyles, business, psychology, medicine, parenting, humor, and current affairs.
HCI Books
Mar, 2006 —
Jul, 2011
(over 5 years)
• Managed editorial department comprised of 2 editors and 1 managing editor, and one assistant to produce 40 to 50 titles per year
• Developed goals, strategies, and objectives for expanding core categories and increasing the number of books published
• Presented lists to Canadian distributor and make sales calls to key accounts and independent reps (four times a year)
• Negotiated contracts, oversee catalogue, write jacket copy, work closely with production department to reinvent packaging and interior designs, conceptualize and approve covers
• Performed various marketing functions and oversee marketing decisions, including positioning, packaging, scheduling, prioritizing, approving marketing plans and budgets
• Developed and edited 15 books per year
• Implemented new systems: Wrote an industry-standard publishing agreement; created a managing editor position; implemented editorial board; subscribed to Bookscan; redesigned catalogue and back and front covers; improved paper quality; attracted author diversity; created the first reality-based romance series (RB Romance™) called VOWS, which will launch in October 2010
• Collaborated with Chicken Soup for the Soul editorial department
McGraw-Hill Trade
Jan, 2000 —
Feb, 2006
(about 6 years)
• Signed 18 new contracts a year in the non-fiction categories of health, self-help/psychology, diet/fitness, and parenting
• Oversaw all editorial and production issues for 22 books per year
• Brainstormed new title ideas; conceptualized content; negotiated contracts; established fruitful relationships with top agents; developed and edited manuscripts; directed author efforts; prepared relevant supporting materials; revised titles in the health backlist; actively worked with marketing managers
Hyperion
Jul, 1999 —
Jan, 2001
(over 1 year)
• Provided editorial support to Leigh Haber, executive editor; overseeing projects from acquisitions to bound book
• Read fiction and non-fiction submissions from literary agents and recommended them for acquisition
• Served as liaison to authors, agents, and publicists
• Wrote readers’ reports, rejection letters, and deal memos
• Ran P&Ls and contract requests
Portfolio
In Bed with the Badge is this generation's Burning Bed. Ms. Joyce and her brother, Raymond, tell the bloodcurdling story of how their father, Ray Sheehan, a retired NYPD detective, turned wife-beating into an art form by utilizing the very tactics he was taugh... read more
Naked Calories reveals the naked truth about what you are eating and how your lifestyle habits may unknowingly be sabotaging your health. The secret lies in micronutrients, vitamins and minerals that are being stripped from your diet and depleted by your lifes... read more
Pour Me Some Whine/Wine will be the first wine pairing book for moms. Each of the 80 stories has a “reason” for moms to pour that glass tonight. The stories are arranged by 6 emotions in motherhood, and each story also has a witty wine pairing that contains a ... read more
Long before co-creating the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Jack Canfield was already teaching the ancient principles of the Law of Attraction. Canfield has been consciously living in harmony with this universal law for more than thirty years, an... read more
"I think, every once in a while, about the life I should be living, the one I fully expected to be enjoying right about now. In the life I was supposed to have, my husband and I would be admiring the view from our waterfront home in the town where we were both... read more
The 10th Anniversary Edition of the book that has given hope and inspiration to thousands who are dealing with eating disorders "If you or someone you love has an eating disorder, this is the book to read."—Dr. Phil Jenni had been in an abusive relationship wi... read more
From Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson of the award-winning hip-hop group the Roots, comes this vibrant book commemorating the legacy of Soul Train—the cultural phenomenon that launched the careers of artists such as Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5, Whitney... read more
Winner of the 2016 Brooklyn Eagles Literary Prize for Non-FictionMary Buser began her career at Rikers Island as a social work intern, brimming with ideas and eager to help incarcerated women find a better path. Her reassignment to a men's jail coincided with ... read more
A highly readable personal finance book that translates financial jargon and enables readers to ask the tough questions to protect their money and their financial well-being In today’s unsettled financial markets, where most pension plans died out with the twe... read more
If life is an epic saga, who is writing your narrative? Is the plot unfolding as you imagined? Whether you find yourself trudging along in boredom or caught up in a chaotic whirlwind of overcommitment, you can still take creative control and declare that it’s ... read more
When kindness becomes your primary goal, everything changes: how you look at life, what you get from it, and how others interact with and relate to you.The Profit of Kindness will help you master the art of building trusting, long-lasting relationships through... read more
The King of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson is a fascinating look at the intersection of music and fashion, as well as an homage to Michael Jackson’s brilliant fusing of costume, personality, and performance to create his iconic image.Through his music, dance,... read more
Drop the Act, It’s Exhausting! is one woman’s call to all women to embrace the imperfections in their lives and to air their “improper” thoughts about relationships, love, sex, parenting, careers, self-esteem, and self-image. By no longer being ashamed or apol... read more
A five-point plan to usher you through heartache and toward a stronger, healthier place.“I know how to kill someone and get away with it.” The words spoken by her father when Melissa was a teen haunt her to this day. Two years later, after confessing that he w... read more
Michele has 1 review
Professionalism
Quality
Value
Responsiveness
Frederic L.
May, 2018
