Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.
A. Developmental Editing and Manuscript Development with copyediting and proofreading
Ghostwriting and blogging and developing a client's Authentic Voice for writing and self-expression (with genuine enthusiasm for it.
Creating an Editorial Game Plan for blogging and writing and the marketing of it through classical and guerilla marketing strategies and enthusiasm for being consistent.
Developing True Confidence and the Authentic Writing Voice of clients that allows for writing to be done with more ease and efficiency.
Project coordination of blog development, self-publishing projects and marketing campaigns.
Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A. It is critical that there be easy and "Good chemistry" from the start for me. I aim to connect quickly, work efficiently and assimilate the intentions and agenda of my clients swiftly. Relationships take time but the foundation for a good one from the beginning is either present or not. Trying to work together with someone we hesitate to share with is counter-intuitive but we do it more often than we consciously realize. I am candid from the first conversation and diplomatic as well. I appreciate clarity and direction and realize that flexibility is also important to maintain good flow. I consider myself strong at getting attuned to a client quickly and identifying strengths and good ideas clearly. I work fast when we are in the flow.
Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?
A. I believe my work as an editor, ghostwriter and writing mentor/coach who understands DIY platforms such as Wordpress and Blogger and Joomla, self-publishing options and why they make sense, authentic marketing and self-promotion and why it works better make me a great fit for some clients. I am not everyone's editor or writing coach or self-publishing and self-promotion specialist, but if I am a good fit for you, you will appreciate my style when it comes to extremely productive brainstorming that yields multiple nuggets of wisdom and ideas to pursue that suit you.
I do my part to make my clients fall in love with writing for themselves and as themselves and it is not in my nature to push my voice or values on my clients. Yes, good grammar is preferred, but sometimes prose like e.e. cummings is what is needed to make the point!
For me, it is about what will get the job done with your essence and vision clearly intact to attract your ideal customer, reader, subscriber. I develop communications skills in people who come to believe their story and opinions about things matter--be it for business goals or personal self-expression.
Q. What do you like most about your job?
A. I love developing genuine enthusiasm and confidence in self-expression (written & spoken congruently) in my clients. I see people go from saying they don't see them selves as a good writer or communicator for themselves, to getting that they can be and if they choose to have a ghost write for them, it is for clear reasons. I am thrilled when someone gets that their story and opinion matters, no matter how many others have written their piece on the same theme. People come to know themselves as they develop abilities to speak and write and publish themselves on their websites and in books and in presentations in working with me. I help people become better advocates for themselves through writing with them, for them, editing their writing and developing their skills of self-expression in our digitally active world!
Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?
A. I would like my prospective clients to know how much I value clear and creative and authentic self-expression. I would like them to understand that good writing and self-expression can be learned and mastered as we get clear and congruent in our values, goals, our natural motivations. I would like it to be understood that we also cannot ever be 100% objective about our own creations. We can cultivate being detached and open to feedback after the fact OR we can include an editor to be constructively involved in the creation process. A book or blog or article we write won't be perfect at first, even when it is close. An editor be it a professional or a friend reading and responding honestly before "publishing" important work that personally brands us and sets the tone and reputation is a smart business practice. In my humble opinion...
Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?
A. My current role as a writing mentor/coach, editor and self-publishing specialist who champions marketing well in advance of publications comes from taking the cumulative twenty years of skills developed through work in journalism, publishing, pre-press/printing, advertising and print production and business development and sales. Writing and self-expression is near and dear to my heart and has been since I was a young girl of nine. I wanted to be in publishing from the beginning. I took a circuitous route but for good reasons in hindsight.
I am more than a writer and editor. I love honest, candid, authentic self-promotion and teach it well also. I went solo in late 2007 and took it to full-time and specialized work in spring of 2010 and am grateful to do what I do as my livelihood.
Q. Describe your most recent project, what it involved, how much it cost, and how long it took.
A. Recently I helped Gerald Grinter of the Tweflth Power Consulting develop his manuscript, edited that manuscript, proofread it and advised him on the streamlined self-publishing of his print on demand book through CreateSpace in affiliation with Amazon, as well as to advise him on how and where to create ebooks in multiple formats. The Art of Working for Yourself: No Matter Who You Work For How To Always Work For Yourself (http://amzn.to/NejXcE) was released and marketing of it begins next with my involvement on strategy and tactics.
Gerald outlined the manuscript between November and December, wrote between February and April, I edited and produced it between May and June and he published in July. For the hours of my time he paid a fee of $1000 for writing coaching, developmental editing, editing, copyediting, production support and cheerleading!
This project was a joy to work on from concept (that was born from an article I challenged him to write) to finish and we commence the second and third books in the series in the months to come.
Q. What is your greatest strength?
A. The ways that I listen are one of my greatest assets. I see and hear more than what is being said or written, intuitively, rather instantly, whether it is said or not. I see quickly what is at the heart of the matter in working with developing clients' writing voices and I also see what impedes their ability to believe in their capacity to grow as a writer. I listen and assimilate and reflect back succinctly. I am not afraid to say what I "see" and do so with a diplomacy that allows for my observations to be considered and integrated. I also always plan for resistance, procrastination and competing agendas that are running in the background for a client that they don't see themselves. We all have this at work in our background when we have projects!
