Nonfiction Editing
An advantage of being a book doctor is that I have worked on a wide array of books. Editors and agents in many fields of nonfiction have sought out my editing skills. The basic areas in which I help nonfiction authors are four: developmental editing, line editing, ghostwriting, and proposals.
Developmental editing consists of analyzing the large-scale elements of a book: how its chapters are organized, how the sections in the chapters are organized, and how well each section leads to the next. One of the most common problems authors have is assembling all the bits and pieces of what they know into a long, seamless narrative. Many times the subject matter itself is excellent, but the way it's put together doesn't seem logical. After years of experience I look first at the whole picture and how to make the big pieces fit in the puzzle.
Line editing is a skill that is learned only through long practice. The proficiency gained over the course of hundreds of line edits can be put to work in shaping your manuscript. Less effective words and sentences are pruned out or reworded. Professional language is made reader-friendly. Topic paragraphs and transitions from one section to the next are inserted, subject to the author's approval.
My writing skill is a major reason that authors, agents, and editors contract my services. I was a writer before I became an editor, and I have a strong intuitive feel for how to make sentences, paragraphs, sections, and entire chapters flow smoothly. That sensitivity has often been called “magic“ by colleagues. My method is to work intensively with the author’s prose and then fill in the gaps as needed, sometimes extensively. I will ask authors to supply specific additions, such as clinical results, quotes from authors in the same field, and especially anecdotes that illustrate the point you are trying to make. I can “translate“ any technical material so that it becomes engaging prose that can be understood by anyone. Because I have worked in so many fields, I know the level of sophistication or, by contrast, plain speaking that a particular nonfiction book needs for its market. With thorough rewriting, a challenging read can become reading excitement.
Getting a foot in the door is a vital step in nonfiction writing. I help authors write proposals they can sell to a publisher. A professional proposal comprises parts such as the Overview, Market, Competition, Chapter Summaries, and Sample Chapters. I edit and rewrite as needed to turn a proposal into a powerful selling tool that will earn a good advance before you've even finished the book.
Here is a partial list of nonfiction authors I have edited (with titles, because nonfiction authors are less well-known):
Adventure: Johan Reinhard, The Ice Maiden, Jon Bowermaster The Birthplace of the Winds, Heidi Howkins K2: One Woman's Quest for the Summit, Rick Ridgeway The Big Open
Biography: Kelsey Grammer So Far, Dave Pelzer A Man Named Dave, Peter Harry Brown Howard Hughes, Geoffrey Giuliano Behind Blue Eyes, James Comer Maggie's American Dream
Business: Ivan Chouinard Let My People Go Surfing, Lewis L. Maltby Can They Do That?, Philip B. Crosby Running Things, Mark Stevens Sudden Death, King Icahn, Barbara Reinhold Toxic Work
Family: James Comer Waiting for a Miracle, Raising Black Children, Roberta Golinkoff & Kathryn Hirsch-Pasek Out of the Mouth of Babes, Nancy Boyd & A. J. Franklin Boys into Men
Health: Mehmet Oz Healing from the Heart, Charlotte Libov Beat Your Risk Factors, William S. Appleton Prozac and the New Antidepressants, Gabriel Rotello Sexual Ecology
History: Rodolphe Kasser The Gospel of Judas, Bruce Henderson Fatal North, Peter Hutchthausen K19: The Widowmaker, Robert Shogan The Riddle of Power, Von Hardesty & Gene Eisman Space Rivalry
Memoir: Ariel Dorfman Desert Memories, W. S. Merwin The Mays of Ventadorn, Howard Norman My Famous Evening, Jo Arden Maeder When I Married My Mother, Jesse Sublett Never the Same Again
Psychology: Richard Carlson You Can Feel Good Again, Geneen Roth When Food Is Love, Ronald Levant Masculinity Reconstructed, Lynn Ponton The Sex Lives of Teenagers
True Crime: Robert Beattie Nightmare in Wichita: The Hunt for the BTK Strangler, Jerry Bledsoe Blood Games, Before He Wakes, Stephen G. Michaud & Roy Hazelwood The Evil That Men Do
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