Sandra Wendel - Editor
Skilled editor for your nonfiction book, primarily business/leadership, true crime, self-help/health. I love first-time authors.
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Overview
I am a veteran book editor of nonfiction (mainly true crime, business and leadership, selected memoir, and self-help/health). I like to work closely with "my authors" to help shape the book they truly want to write and publish. I consult on independent publishing options. My authors win awards.
My five-time award-winning book titled Cover to Cover: What First-Time Authors Need to Know about Editing is the guide you want to read before you spend effort and money on an edit. Opened at #1 new release in editing on Amazon, GOLD award winner from the Nonfiction Authors Association, acclaimed by other editors (who are also picky), and answers a lot of the questions authors have when venturing down the publishing path.
As one of my authors said, "Sandy is tough as nails."
Maybe you need a push or a shove, a guide into the world of publishing. Let's have a speed date by phone or email and discuss your writing project. Let's talk about the level of editing your work needs (because first-time authors are often confused about editing, the missing step between writing and publishing). We can discuss pricing, timetable, publishing options, next steps, even marketing with an eye to creating a commercial-quality book that can compete with any book out there in your genre.
Perhaps you are writing a business card book, showcasing your management and leadership skills. Let me help you build your brand with a high-quality business book.
I have had the honor of working with ordinary people with extraordinary stories and extraordinary people with incredible stories: Holocaust survivors, a rock groupie, a bank robber, DEA agent, FBI agent, homicide detective, narcotics sergeant, VPs, high-tech project leaders, a CEO of a Fortune 50 company, professors, business leaders, a psychic, a Top Gun (for real), real estate hot shots, a funeral home director, a Las Vegas Mob historian, doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists, an Admiral and Commander of an aircraft carrier, a school principal, entrepreneurs -- all real people with real stories just like yours.
If this is your first book, think of the editing process like this: You're standing there stark naked. You are feeling vulnerable. You need guidance. Let me cut through the BS and worry about commas and semicolons. Let's talk.
My five-time award-winning book titled Cover to Cover: What First-Time Authors Need to Know about Editing is the guide you want to read before you spend effort and money on an edit. Opened at #1 new release in editing on Amazon, GOLD award winner from the Nonfiction Authors Association, acclaimed by other editors (who are also picky), and answers a lot of the questions authors have when venturing down the publishing path.
As one of my authors said, "Sandy is tough as nails."
Maybe you need a push or a shove, a guide into the world of publishing. Let's have a speed date by phone or email and discuss your writing project. Let's talk about the level of editing your work needs (because first-time authors are often confused about editing, the missing step between writing and publishing). We can discuss pricing, timetable, publishing options, next steps, even marketing with an eye to creating a commercial-quality book that can compete with any book out there in your genre.
Perhaps you are writing a business card book, showcasing your management and leadership skills. Let me help you build your brand with a high-quality business book.
I have had the honor of working with ordinary people with extraordinary stories and extraordinary people with incredible stories: Holocaust survivors, a rock groupie, a bank robber, DEA agent, FBI agent, homicide detective, narcotics sergeant, VPs, high-tech project leaders, a CEO of a Fortune 50 company, professors, business leaders, a psychic, a Top Gun (for real), real estate hot shots, a funeral home director, a Las Vegas Mob historian, doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists, an Admiral and Commander of an aircraft carrier, a school principal, entrepreneurs -- all real people with real stories just like yours.
If this is your first book, think of the editing process like this: You're standing there stark naked. You are feeling vulnerable. You need guidance. Let me cut through the BS and worry about commas and semicolons. Let's talk.
Languages
English (US)
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Management
Health & Wellbeing
History
Humanities & Social Sciences
Psychology
Self-Help & Self-Improvement
True Crime
Certifications
- Coursework completed: EFA Developmental Editing for Nonfiction
- Creative Nonfiction course, University of Nebraska at Omaha
- Coursera MOOCs, various topics in social psychology and healthcare
- Coursework University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival, memoir
- Modern American Essay course, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Awards
- Ben Franklin Silver, health/fitness
- Foreword Reviews IndieFab Book of the Year, Silver
- Midwest Book Award, Finalist
- Nebraska Center for the Book, content design, 2017
- Eric Hoffer Award, finalist, health 2020
- Foreword Reviews Indie Book of the Year, finalist, self-help, 2020
- Foreword Reviews Indie Book of the Year, finalist, health, 2020
- GOLD, Nonfiction Authors Association, 2021
- Distinguished Favorite, Independent Press Award in Writing and Publishing, 2021
- WINNER in Business: Writing/Publishing, 2021 International Book Awards
Work experience
Chief Editor
Self-employed
January, 1999
–
Present
(about 24 years)
Book editor and independent publishing consultant who loves working with first-time authors. I edit books, evaluate manuscripts, draft web copy, and advise on publishing options for authors of nonfiction. I also judge national book awards, blog on Medium, and kayak when the boss isn't looking.
Adjunct Faculty
Metropolitan Community College
January, 2008
–
Present
(about 15 years)
Instructor for noncredit continuing education classes in how to write, publish, and market a book. Added a course on how to write your story for memoir writers.
Portfolio (40 selected works)
Farewell: Vital End-of-Life Questions with Candid Answers from a Leading Palliative and Hospice Physician
Edward T. Creagan MD, Sandra Wendel
How long am I going to live? Who will be with me when I die? Will my family forgive me? Will I have pain?—are among the 31 vital end-of-life questions patients and their families ask. This book is about navigating those last days, at the bedside, and saying farewell with hope, love, and compassion.Dr. Edward Creagan provides the reassuring answers patients and families deserve. He has dedicate... read more
Vegas like you've never seen, tales you've never heard -- until now. Sizzing, behind-the-scenes stories about the men, the Mob, movie stars, and missing money that made '50s and '60s Vegas such a hot spot in the Nevada desert. “On opening night at the Cal-Neva Lodge, Sinatra's guests included Marilyn Monroe, Joe Kennedy and his son, John F. Kennedy. Also there that weekend were Johnny Roselli ... read more
From the Ashes of Fruit Trees Grew Today’s Silicon ValleyThousands of cookie-cutter homes for high-tech workers sprouted from the funeral pyres of a vanishing way of life as acres of lush fruit trees were bulldozed and burned to create today’s Silicon Valley. One of the children who grew up in this new suburbia in San Jose, California, was Tom Liggett, a neglected, unwanted child of dysfunctio... read more
Right Leader, Right Time: Discover Your Leadership Style for a Winning Career and Company
Jordan, Robert, Wagner, Olivia
How Not to Be My Patient: A Physician's Secrets for Staying Healthy and Surviving Any Diagnosis - REVISED 3rd edition
Creagan MD, Edward T., Wendel, Sandra
Bread or Death: Memories of My Childhood During and After the Holocaust
Milton Mendel Kleinberg
The war brought about scarcities of just about everything...except misery. “Alle raise,” (everybody out), the German soldiers screamed as they pounded on our door with the butts of their rifles. And thus began a 4,500-mile journey from Poland through Russia and Siberia and eventually to Uzbekistan in Central Asia, as the author’s family used bribery and darkness of night to flee as the Nazis i... read more
The summer of 1939 turned out to be the last summer of author Lucy Lipiner’s childhood. On September 1, when she was six years old, her parents roused Lucy and her older sister from their beds, and with other relatives in tow fled their town of Sucha and the invasion by Nazi Germany . Their journey of survival was not easy, and in Long Journey Home: A Young Girl’s Memoir of Surviving the Holoc... read more
13 seconds of pure terror in a shootout with a drug dealer... Real crime. Real-life cop stories. Sergeant Mark Langan relives his front-row seat working the seamier side of crime during his decorated twenty-six-year career from youngest rookie in 1978 to narcotics sergeant on the Omaha Police force. Langan caught bold burglars who silently entered homes to get thrills off of touching sleeping ... read more
A haunting triple murder... the inside story of the investigation. When two worlds collide—the illegal transportation of tons of Mexican cartel marijuana to inner city gang members in a Midwestern city’s “hood”—three bodies end up burning, caught in a web of greed as a major international drug deal goes very bad. The chilling trail of evidence from a remote wooded area where three bodies are s... read more
Crossing Bridges: A Priest's Uplifting Life Among the Downtrodden
Father Ken Vavrina
“The very first bridge I crossed was choosing to study for the priesthood, a decision that took me and everyone who knew me by surprise. Then came a series of bridges that once crossed brought me into contact with diverse peoples and their incredibly different yet similar needs.” Father Vavrina has served as a priest for many years, and has served several missions trips to help the needy. Fath... read more
DOCTOR, CAN YOU NAVIGATE THE DANGEROUS WATERS TO REACH A FINANCIAL POSITION TO DO WHAT YOU WANT, WHEN YOU WANT? For even high-earning physicians, wealth-building is fraught with complexity.Read this book to gain insights about *The forces that shape a physician's relationship with money, *Common financial mistakes physicians make, *Habits that separate wealthy physicians from struggling physic... read more
Chewish: 36 Recipes of Love with Stories from Nama's Kitchen
Sandra Goldberg Wendel
(COLOR EDITION) A bit of memoir with a dash of recipes You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy these family stories or the ethnic-flavored goodies. Just pull up a chair to our dining room table and savor the love (served with a hearty dollop of butter and sour cream) in every recipe. Like dessert, the best is saved for last, and you’ll find Diana “Nama” Goldberg’s easy recipe for the World’s Best... read more
Rock me all night long— A decade of rock history… and a decade of rock fan adoration for one little chiquita from Omaha who spent star-studded nights with superstars of eighties rockdom: David Lee Roth with Van Halen, Billy Squier, Ozzy Osbourne’s Jake E. Lee, Paul Stanley of Kiss, Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx, Bret Michaels and Poison, Vivian Campbell and Def Leppard, the J. Geils Band’s Peter Wo... read more
On they came, from Belgium and New Hampshire, from Ireland, Germany and Scandinavia, from the Chicago fire, from the territories: Utah, Wyoming, Kansas, the Dakotas.All the way they brawled, about Indians, about border lines, about slavery, about who was the bigger imbecile.And then they fought County Seat Wars in most of the 3,000 new counties. A thousand of those remaining ended up in south ... read more
Senile Squad: Adventures of the Old Blues
Chris LeGrow
Grab your walker, secure your catheter, and make sure there’s double adhesive on your dentures! Then hang on for dear life because you are about to ride along with the covert Senile Squad—a bunch of elderly cops who refuse to stop catching crooks. Fighting street crime the old-fashioned way is their modus operandi. The Ol’ Blues, led by their cigar-chewing Sarge, bring justice back to the stre... read more
Mail-Order Kid: An Orphan Train Rider's Story
Marilyn June Coffey
The massive orphan train exodus whisked three-year-old Teresa from the safety of her New York orphanage, where the worst thing the Foundling nuns did was wash her curly black hair, to a desolate house and cold-hearted "parents" in Kansas. There she entered a small and strange Volga German world whose inhabitants spoke a language she had never heard. In this odd world, she encountered whippings... read more
Do Big Things: The Simple Steps Teams Can Take to Mobilize Hearts and Minds, and Make an Epic Impact
Craig W. Ross, Angela V. Paccione, Victoria L. Roberts
An inspiring, practical and progress-oriented blueprint for energetic achievement. Amid constant swirl, uncertainty, and complexity is your team capable of doing big things? Too often people are pulled together, labeled a “team,” given a directive, and expected to deliver results quickly. Soon, however, due to lack of focus, increasing pressures and competing priorities the team suffers from D... read more
Okoboji: Over 160 Years of History and Images
Cristy Clarke Hedgpeth
"This is the go-to book for all things Iowa Great Lakes, especially Okoboji, from past history through present times. It is loaded with rare images, plus your favorites, and all the information you need. I love this book, and you will too." ~Mary Kennedy, Curator of the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum
ReWrite: The Journey from Self-Harm to Healing
Benjamin Sledge
Self-Harm, Self-Injury, Cutting Hope for a Generation, Help for Families *includes workbook, journal, and accompanying videos Many in the emerging generation have found themselves in a hopeless cycle of self-harm. Whether it's cutting, burning, hair pulling, or beating themselves up with guilt and shame, they can't get out of the same rut. Most aren't even sure why they do it. All they know is... read more
A Spirit of Charity
Mike King
Most Americans have historically viewed the nation s great public hospitals as refuges of last resort for poor and uninsured people. But these iconic institutions some recently closed, some renamed, others rebuilt -- have also served as a safety valve for the nation s highly profitable medical industrial complex. They are a key to understanding the evolution of America s $3 trillion health car... read more
Strap in, put down your “nogs,” and get ready for takeoff. Combat veteran Seth Wilson puts his rigorous pilot training to work as a real estate entrepreneur and shows you how to navigate through uncharted skies to land successful real estate deals, provide on-target customer service, and shoot for savvy investment strategies. Take an insider’s view from the cockpit through lessons learned in t... read more
Discover the Passionate Leader within YouDan Foxx has spent more than 50,000 hours face-to-face with over 4,500 top execs from America’s finest companies, from high-flying high techs to promising start-ups. With pressure from boards of directors and investors to deliver dollars and high-ticket IPOs and with expectations from direct reports to make the savvy decisions, these CEOs bare all behin... read more
If you could fast forward your life to your deathbed and hear your regrets (and joys), then rewind and live your life with that knowledge, would you do it? This book provides that knowledge. After fourteen years in the funeral business, Chris Meyer has sat with families and listened to their “could’ves,” “should’ves,” and “would’ves.” In doing so he learned many lessons—lessons that kept repea... read more
Leader: The Journey To Become The Force Your Business Needs To Win
Christine Matzen
Do you want to become a leader worth following?Are you excited about launching a new business? Maybe you are already a business owner/entrepreneur. Certainly, you’re the leader in your own life.Do you know the number one investment you can make for your business? That’s an investment in YOU. The leader of any business can make or break the success of that venture. Becoming a developed leader w... read more
Social Media for Authors: Book Marketing for Writers Who'd Rather Write
Jennifer Herbranson
Do you hate marketing your book? Are you daunted by the task? Don't know where to start? Tired of hearing ALL the marketing you have to do to be a "real" author?Stop right here.You want to just write books. But you also want to sell books, quit your cube job, and be a full-time author.To do that, you absolutely must--no-way-around-it--market your book.But not the way you've been told.In this b... read more
The 10 Greatest Gifts We Give Each Other: A Memoir on the Magic of Marriage Vows
Lynn-Vannoy, Barbara, Lynn-Vannoy, Barbara
Married Roommates: How to Go From a Relationship That Just Survives to a Marriage That Thrives
Talia Wagner, Allen Wagner
Are You Married but Living Like Roommates?Do you sleep back-to-back or even separately? Do you feel lonely, bored, and sexually frustrated in your marriage? Have you, in fact. Become just roommates?Millions of couples live empty parallel lives and wonder, “is this all there is”?Talia and Allen Wagner, Marriage and Family Therapists, have shed a light on this sadly familiar, silent epidemic of ... read more
Chocolate cake makes sweet dreams come true. In a real-life fairy tale, author Sheryl Ness shares how she fell in love with Vincenzo, a chef in a quaint Tuscan kitchen, over his decadent hot chocolate cake. This enchanting memoir will transport you to the cobblestone streets, lush hillsides dotted with grapevines and olive trees, and unique characters that create the backdrop for Sheryl’s Ital... read more
After Watergate: The Renaissance of Richard Nixon
Michael A Endicott
No one had an inside view of the renaissance of Richard Nixon after Watergate better than the Secret Service Agent by his side for fourteen years—Michael Endicott.This is a story about politics, history, and power. But, most of all, this is a story about a working-class kid from the south side of Tacoma, Washington, who became a Secret Service Agent and traveled the world, building a relations... read more
Bank Robber Turns to Stacking Bitcoin:Cryptocurrency Trader No Longer Needs Banks The "Skinny Bandit"--a whiter-than-cocaine kid from the gang-filled streets of Otay in San Diego--who robbed banks to eat ironically no longer needs banks because of his steady success in Bitcoin trading and other cryptocurrencies. Meticulous and calculating, Richard Stanley continually evaded capture and grew br... read more
Sandra has 38 reviews
Professionalism
Professionalism
Quality
Quality
Value
Value
Communication & Punctuality
Communication & Punctuality
Sandra was so helpful in opening up all that I needed to publish my first book. She was straight to the point and I appreciated her advice and direction.
William Dorsch, March 2023
Sandra was amazing to work with. She is very detailed and knowledgeable, provides meaningful feedback and comments, and knows how to push a novice author to make the right changes without pushing too hard. Her work was completed quickly, ahead of schedule, and she communicated the process exceptionally well throughout. I would highly recommend her service to anyone looking for an editor to work...
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Chris Schneider, February 2023
It was great to be able to have Sandra on my side for the publication of my second book. Not only is she a skilled copy editor, she made thoughtful remarks and offered helpful feedback throughout the manuscript, which is now a much better book.
Ricardo Fayet, December 2022
Sandra completed two round of editing for me. Before beginning, she gave me a checklist of things to consider before I submitted my manuscript to her. This was beneficial because it helped me cut down on simple errors that I'd prefer she not waste time on (for example, reducing the number of times I said "great" or "very"). Her editing dramatically improved my book by ensuring a consistent styl...
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Scott Habegger, August 2022
An outstanding expert, author very knowledgable in all aspects of self publishing. Very responsive.
Robert Naismith, July 2022
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