I thoroughly enjoy the work I do, helping authors take a book idea to the family bookshelf or to market. Every day, I am grateful that these authors somehow find me because the work is both challenging and deeply fulfilling.
While 2021 was a quiet year, thanks to COVID-19, the last quarter was quite busy and full, both with work for clients of Beetle Books as well as clients in my PR business, Beetle Press.
Here’s a look at the client projects I have worked on in the past year. In some cases, I have not named the client as the projects are still in the works, and the material I am producing is not yet public, or because the material feels proprietary.
Virtual Presentation Mastery. I have been working with Jack Milner of the UK since the spring on the manuscript for his book, “Virtual Presentation Mastery.” Jack is a performer-turned-communication-coach who provides organizations with the tools to influence, persuade, and engage—whether through storytelling, presenting, or communicating within teams. His book acknowledges how rapidly the world pivoted to online meetings and presentations with the onslaught of COVID-19 and offers impactful tips to help them stand out as presenters in a virtual world. Jack says he found me through word of mouth, and that tickles me, given, of course, that he lives in England. I have spent a year developing and editing Jack’s book. I recently designed the book’s cover and will soon dive into the design on the inside pages. We hope the book will be out by March. Stay tuned. This is a great one for any businessperson or presenter to have! Read an excerpt from Virtual Presentation Mastery.
A family memoir. Around the start of the new year, I delivered copies of a book I’ve been working on for about three years to the family that hired me. I was invited into this very special project by a woman I know from the community. Aware of my storytelling skills, she asked if I could write a book about her mother’s life; I was very eager and honored to say yes. I spent many mornings interviewing this matriarch, and then I interviewed the woman who’d looped me in and her siblings. I delved into written records ranging from obituaries of other family members to letters and medical records and wrote a manuscript that is about 100 pages long. After a process in which family members made edits to the book, I designed it and had copies printed for children and grandchildren. It was incredibly rewarding because the matriarch in this story is one of the loveliest people I have ever met—positive, supportive, kind, thoughtful. Ah, we should all read this story to be inspired toward gratitude.
Children’s story. Recently, I was asked to read and offer feedback on a children’s book that is still in the works by the author and illustrators. The protagonist is a young girl who enjoys gardening and a rabbit that sometimes ravages the garden. The illustrations were stunning and colorful and the rhymes the story is told in were engaging. I told the author where I think she needs to focus some attention, and she is back at it. I hope I can one day buy this book for my granddaughter!
Discovery session. Authors frequently reach out to me to talk about an idea they have for a book and to learn how I might be able to help them self-publish. My services range from ghostwriting to writing coaching to copy editing and book design. Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Kevin Arnold about his book project, and we engaged in what I call a Discovery Session. Basically, I discovered more about Kevin’s book project, offered him feedback on his writing to date, and offered suggestions, recommendations—and a hearty thumbs up to keep writing. Learn more about Kevin’s book, and read his comments about the experience of working with me in this blog.
The story of a life. A good friend hired me to read her late mother’s memoir, and because I can’t work with her mom, I was to copy edit the book only. I was grateful to learn more about my friend’s mother and her interesting life, and I was struck by how much this memoir reminded me of the other I have been writing and mention above; the two women were both so positive, educated, and community minded! My friend will now work with a self-publishing company she has ties to to get her mom’s book in print for family members only.
Shoplifting stories. For about a year now, I have been working with a man named Mark Scamman, on his book, called Larceny in the Aisles. Mark is a retired grocery store manager, and his book is a series of stories about the many ways in which people stole from the stores he worked in over the years, all in one chain. Mark also writes about the laws on shoplifting and his opinions on how they have become more lax over the years. I will be writing more about Mark and his book in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
If you or someone you know is writing a book or has an idea for a book, please reach out to me as I’d love to help!
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