Overview
For forty-plus years I've toiled happily in the vineyards of New York book publishing, working with authors, agents, and publishers to conceive, structure, revise, and line-edit prize-winning, bestselling books across a broad spectrum of genres and topics. Prominent authors I've worked with include Stephen Hawking, Susan Cain, Deepak Chopra, Carol Burnett, Arianna Huffington, Paula Poundstone, Byron Katie, Shirley MacLaine, Martin Amis, Ruth Rendell, and Douglas Adams.
Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Economics
Health & Wellbeing
History
Political Science & Current Affairs
Religion & Spirituality
True Crime
Writing & Publishing
Languages
English (US)
Work experience
Self-employed
Jan, 2001 —
Present
I began my book publishing career in New York at St. Martin’s Press in 1975, writing catalog copy, which provided me with a broad perspective that would serve me well. Eventually I became an editor at Penguin Books, then moved to Dell Publishing to work with the brilliant Linda Grey. When she moved to Bantam Books to develop their fledgling hardcover line I followed her, and later accepted a position as editorial director at Harmony Books, which would become an imprint of Random House, Inc. In 1996 I moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as editor-in-chief of Duke University Press, and in 2001 I launched my own business as an independent editor. In May 2019, I experienced the author's life firsthand, when HarperCollins published my book Emeralds of Oz: Life Lessons From Over the Rainbow.
I begin my work with authors by reading and evaluating their material. What are its strengths and weaknesses? Is the book building on the most interesting and commercial ideas? Who's the reader? How's the structure? Tone? How close is the book to realizing its potential? Is it likely to appeal to an agent or publisher? These are some of the questions I pose and address in my initial evaluation. Then, depending on the answers and the level of interest on both sides, the author and I figure out where we go from there.
Portfolio
