Cambridge, MA
You have a book inside you. I can make it real.
I help people finish, edit, design, print & publish books.
You know how on TV somebody will chuck a banker's box of receipts and crumpled, hand-scrawled notes at their accountant, who complains bitterly—but still files their return?
You know how that isn’t a thing? (Accountants make you key in everything—it's awful. Reality bites.)
Well, you can do this with me. I won't even complain. Hand me anything and everything: coffee-stained typewritten pages, handwritten notebooks, audio or video recordings, Sanskrit tablets, etc. I've dug missing files out of client's laptops as well, in person, and over Zoom calls.
I’ll hand you back a manuscript you can edit to completion.
I also help authors bring older, out-of-print books back into print, and can ghost write a book cover to cover.
Talk about your projectWhat I do
Guide the process.
I help you finish your book. We start by crafting an individualized process, using the tech you prefer: creating a weekly schedule, setting milestones, and providing accountability, support, and trouble-shooting when needed.
Make the book.
Assembling
I pull the final manuscript together into a file you are comfortable working with. We can use track changes in these documents—or not, if you don’t know how, and have decided never to waste another second of your life acquiring new software skills. (Don’t feel guilty; I know a half dozen former programmers who have walked away from the technology treadmill.)
Big-picture editing
Developmental editing that looks at structure, voice, and market positioning before anything gets exhaustively copy-edited. Content organization, putting the pieces in order.
Production
I have all the professional skills to make a book end to end. I have worked for decades as an author, business-writer, art director, illustrator, and graphic designer. Also, I have subscriptions to the stupidly expensive industry standard tools used to make high-quality books.
What I don’t do
Query packages
I don’t consult on or build traditional agent/publisher query packages, but I’ll help you find and work with someone who does.
Therapy
If memoir work unearths serious unresolved trauma, that’s not something I’m trained to handle. I’ll let you know if I think that’s happening, and we will revise your plan for completing your book.
Who am I?
I’m an author who has published traditionally and independently. I’ve written, published, marketed, and maintained a catalog of dozens of titles at Amazon and other online marketplaces. I’ve worked with and for indie authors making a living writing on their own terms.
I have one of those 4-year degrees we don’t advise kids getting anymore, and I’m a graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop. I’ve moderated writing workshops for decades, and I’ve taught at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education.
On generative AI
I do not recommend creative writers use LLMs (Gen AI) to generate prose or poetry. If your first draft isn’t yours… no subsequent draft can ever be.
My process does not inject a single AI-written word into your manuscript. But I am not the purity police. I respect my clients’ process and privacy. You can, and should, use any tool you see fit—for organizing, creating story bibles, or copy-editing—anything that helps you get your book into the world.
Interested in talking about your project?
Send me a note through the contact form and we’ll set up a phone conversation to see whether I’m a good fit.