What’s the difference between a book you should read and a book you want to read? What’s the difference between a book that readers never finish and a book readers can’t put down? The secret is often found in expert collaborative editing. I’m not talking about typos and proper grammar. (That’s copy editing.) I’m referring to the art of taking a rough manuscript and transforming it into a book that everyone is talking about. A book for which word-of-mouth goes viral.
Sometimes, the secret is organization. Sometimes the key is how you set up the opening. Other times, what’s needed is a better articulation of the core thesis -- or a more compelling promise. A meaningful collaborative edit starts by asking: what problem does this solve? And then: do the examples make sense, are there enough stories, are we answering the questions readers will naturally ask, have we made it easy for the reader to move through the whole book, is something missing? A great collaborative editor will revise and rework the manuscript to answer all those questions, turning a rough or incomplete draft into a barn-burner.
All my life, I have been an editor. As much as I love writing, I love helping other people write great books even more. For the past 25 years, my career has been dedicated to making sure interesting ideas and good manuscripts become great books. I can take your rough draft, even if it’s in pieces, and craft it into a powerful, influential and successful book.