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SERVICES

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 


ò STRATEGIC PLANNING

r   Define business or project objectives, including timeline and costs

Conduct a market study

r   Outline a strategic plan for successful implementation of the objectives

Rate: $125 / hour


ò WORKFLOW DESIGN

r   Design workflows for complex projects involving multiple contributors or vendors

r   Implement project schedules with multiple stages and deliverables

r   Provide project-management consulting and tools

Rate: $100 / hour

 

ò PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Administer the schedule attributed to a project:

r   Keep in touch with the authors, contributors, or vendors

r   Ensure unforeseen contigencies are addressed (vacations, family emergencies, and other absences)

r   Update the schedule on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis based on the client’s preference

Rate: $65 / hour

 

ò PRODUCT EVALUATION: FOCUS GROUPS & REVIEWS

r   Recruit focus group participants, up to 10 members per group, with contact list provided by the client; if only adoption reports are available, recruiting requires building a contact list

r   Write and administer email correspondence with focus group participants, to include: initial invitation, participation confirmation with event details, and post-event thank-you note

r   Prepare focus group presentation with materials provided by the client in the timeline specified at the onset of the project

r   Conduct focus group, to include PowerPoint slides and videoclips if the videoclips are submitted by the client in the timeline specified at the onset of the project

r   Produce an executive summary of the focus groups within a week from the last event

r   Timeline typically is building contact list: 2-3 weeks; recruiting: 2-3 weeks; administering: 2-4 weeks; analyzing results: 1 week; with overlapping weeks

r   Time spent typically is 1.75 hours per participant to build a contact list and 1.75 hours per participant to conduct the focus groups and analyze the results

r   Same process and timeline for reviews; results include a cut-and-paste of the reviews and an executive summary

Rates: $3,000 for results from 25 participants

[indent] $3,600 for 30 participants

[indent] $5,625 for contact list and results from 25 participants

[indent] $6,650 for 30 participants

BOOK CREATION A-Z

ACQUISITIONS

[bulleted list]

Assess a book proposal to determine its potential as a signing (areas of experience: environmental science, modern languages, and psychology textbooks; mass market fiction)

Prepare the strategic plan for a successful signing: outline of steps, timeline for the steps, and special recommendations

[end bulleted list]

Rate: $125 / hour


PRODUCT DESIGN

[bulleted list]

Prepare the strategic plan for successful book development: outline of steps, timeline for the steps, costs, and special recommendations

Prepare the chapter template in a user-friendly chart with features, specs, and special instructions

Set up a step-by-step chapter development process

Prepare a detailed schedule for the project

Prepare writing guidelines for the project and select style conventions

[end bulleted list]

Rate: $100 / hour


WRITING

[bulleted list]

Co-author your fiction or non-fiction work

Provide instruction for writing fiction (novels and short stories) and non-fiction (trade or textbooks, journal or academic articles)

Help with blog development and writing

[end bulleted list]

Rate: by negotiation


MANUSCRIPT DEVELOPMENT

[bulleted list]

Assess chapter manuscript for story, flow, and organization, and make recommendations if the manuscript is missing any of these important aspects

Implement chapter template

Develop manuscript to ensure a good story, flow, and organization

Perform competitive benchmarking

Line edit manuscript to check that critical information is present and claims are supported; ensure uniformity of level, tone, and style; achieve clarity

Follow schedule

Repeat process with review results in hand for second and subsequent drafts

[end bulleted list]

Rate: $65 / hour


ART DEVELOPMENT

[bulleted list]

Develop art manuscript with figure samples and captions to complement text, and achieve a good balance between text and images

Check art manuscript against budgeted art counts

Perform competitive benchmarking

Ensure that art manuscript "tells a story"

Revise art manuscript with review results in hand for second and subsequent drafts

Work with style sheets from art house to provide detailed instructions on each piece of art

Include hand-drawn sketches whenever appropriate

[end bulleted list]

Rate: $65 / hour


COPYEDITING & PROOFREADING

[bulleted list]

Edit manuscript to eliminate redundancies and inconsistencies

Correct grammar or usage errors, and punctuation

Follow style conventions for project

[end bulleted list]

Rate: $50 / hour

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

ACQUISITIONS

[bulleted list]

Assess a book proposal to determine its potential as a signing (areas of experience: environmental science, modern languages, and psychology textbooks; mass market fiction)

Prepare the strategic plan for a successful signing: outline of steps, timeline for the steps, and special recommendations

[end bulleted list]

Rate: $125 / hour


Workflow DESIGN

[bulleted list]

Design workflows for complex projects involving multiple authors, contributors, or vendors

Create project schedules with multiple stages and deliverables

Provide project-management consulting and tools

[end bulleted list]

Rate: $100 / hour

 

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Administer the schedule attributed to a project by:

[bulleted list]

keeping in touch with the authors, contributors, or vendors

ensuring unforeseen contigencies are addressed (vacations, family emergencies, and other absences)

updating the schedule on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis based on the client’s preference

[end bulleted list]

Rate: $65 / hour

 

PRODUCT EVALUATION: FOCUS GROUPS & REVIEWS

[bulleted list]

Recruit focus group participants, up to 10 members per group, with contact list provided by the client; if only adoption reports are available, recruiting requires building a contact list

Write and administer email correspondence with focus group participants, to include: initial invitation, participation confirmation with event details, and post-event thank-you note

Prepare focus group presentation with materials provided by the client in the timeline specified at the onset of the project

Conduct focus group, to include PowerPoint slides and videoclips if the videoclips are submitted by the client in the timeline specified at the onset of the project

Produce an executive summary of the focus groups within a week from the last event

Timeline typically is building contact list: 2-3 weeks; recruiting: 2-3 weeks; administering: 2-4 weeks; analyzing results: 1 week; with overlapping weeks

Time spent typically is 1.75 hours per participant to build a contact list and 1.75 hours per participant to conduct the focus groups and analyze the results

Same process and timeline for reviews; results include a cut-and-paste of the reviews and an executive summary

[end bulleted list]

Rates: $3,000 for results from 25 participants

[indent] $3,600 for 30 participants

[indent] $5,625 for contact list and results from 25 participants

[indent] $6,650 for 30 participants

QUALIFICATIONS

[also append this section to Business Management w/o the title "Business Management"]

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Currently a consultant to major publishers in the Humanities and Life Sciences, I was previously College Division Director at a successful Modern Languages startup--a position focused on manuscript development--and Acquisitions Editor in Modern Languages at John Wiley & Sons. 

As John Wiley & Sons' Acquisitions Editor in Modern Languages, the company's unique Humanities discipline, I successfully managed a $5 million booklist for three years between 2003 and 2006.

I signed four new titles in Beginning and Intermediate Spanish, and new co-authors for the list's top grossing title. I achieved 150% of my signing goal in fiscal 2005, and 180% of goal in fiscal 2004.

The list recorded a 7% growth in fiscal 2005.

All my titles published on time and under costs.

I moved 30+ print supplements online to facilitate customer access and eliminate inventory costs.

Part of my job entailed conducting focus groups, managing review panels, and writing cogent analyses of the results for upper management.

[end of section to append to Business Management]

[also append this section to Book Development w/o the title "Book Development"]

BOOK DEVELOPMENT

I have extensive and direct book development experience, garnered in a variety of roles.

As a writer in my own right, I am at work on my first novel. You can see some of my stories in the Short Fiction and Lifestyle sections of this website.

Currently a consultant to major publishers in the Humanities and Life Sciences, I was previously College Division Director at a successful Modern Languages startup and Acquisitions Editor in Modern Languages at John Wiley & Sons. Prior to those positions, I honed my skills as Development Editor in Psychology at The McGraw-Hill Companies and in Modern Languages at Houghton Mifflin.

Since 1995, I have successfully dealt with all the common pitfalls of book development and worked with the best in the textbook industry. My experience includes line or copy editing, and proofreading.

[end of section to append to Book Development]


ACQUISITIONS

[bulleted list]

Assess a book proposal to determine its potential as a signing (areas of experience: environmental science, modern languages, and psychology textbooks; mass market fiction)

Prepare the strategic plan for a successful signing: outline of steps, timeline for the steps, and special recommendations

[end bulleted list]

Rate: $125 / hour


PRODUCT DESIGN

[bulleted list]

Prepare the strategic plan for successful book development: outline of steps, timeline for the steps, costs, and special recommendations

Prepare the chapter template in a user-friendly chart with features, specs, and special instructions

Set up a step-by-step chapter development process

Prepare a detailed schedule for the project

Prepare writing guidelines for the project and select style conventions

[end bulleted list]

Rate: $100 / hour


WRITING

[bulleted list]

Co-author your fiction or non-fiction work

Provide instruction for writing fiction (novels and short stories) and non-fiction (trade or textbooks, journal or academic articles)

Help with blog development and writing

[end bulleted list]

Rate: by negotiation


MANUSCRIPT DEVELOPMENT

[bulleted list]

Assess chapter manuscript for story, flow, and organization, and make recommendations if the manuscript is missing any of these important aspects

Implement chapter template

Develop manuscript to ensure a good story, flow, and organization

Perform competitive benchmarking

Line edit manuscript to check that critical information is present and claims are supported; ensure uniformity of level, tone, and style; achieve clarity

Follow schedule

Repeat process with review results in hand for second and subsequent drafts

[end bulleted list]

Rate: $65 / hour


ART DEVELOPMENT

[bulleted list]

Develop art manuscript with figure samples and captions to complement text, and achieve a good balance between text and images

Check art manuscript against budgeted art counts

Perform competitive benchmarking

Ensure that art manuscript "tells a story"

Revise art manuscript with review results in hand for second and subsequent drafts

Work with style sheets from art house to provide detailed instructions on each piece of art

Include hand-drawn sketches whenever appropriate

[end bulleted list]

Rate: $65 / hour


COPYEDITING

[bulleted list]

Edit manuscript to eliminate redundancies and inconsistencies

Correct grammar or usage errors, and punctuation

Follow style conventions for project

[end bulleted list]

Rate: $50 / hour