People often ask me what it is that I do for a living. I actually do many things but they all have a common
link: words. I put words on paper and on the Web. I do this for myself and for others.
So, what is it that I do for a living? I think wordsmith pretty much sums it up:
Wordsmith: a person who works with words; especially: a skillful
writer. - Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Working with words, my skills are in:
Bookmaking: No gambling involved, other than the gamble all authors take when they write
a book. In this context, bookmaking encompasses:
- Book Editing: An author loses credibility when their book contains misspelled words, improper grammar, or
doesn't have a consistent 'voice' or theme. Light editing is correcting spelling, grammar, punctuation. Heavy
editing is doing a major rewrite of the author's words. Ghostwriting is writing books for authors who have
a story to tell but who don't have the time, or don't have the skill, to write it themselves.
- Book Design: A good story needs to be matched with the right page layout, typography, cover design, and
interior graphics. Should it be paperback or hardcover; a small page size, 5x8 or 6x9, or larger?
- Book Production: Typesetting, incorporating design elements and front matter, and making the book press-ready for
the printer. Will the book also be distributed as an E-book? Once the book is press-ready, it may also be ready, with minor
modifications, to be distributed as an Ebook.
Self-Publishing: My first book, How to Survive Your Husband's Midlife Crisis, was published in 2003 by Perigee, a division of Penguin Putnam. Since that time, I have self-published four more books. Self-publishing eliminates the need for an agent (to present the author's book to publishing houses, negotiate terms, and
act as intermediary between author and publisher), a book proposal for non-fiction books (sometimes harder to write than the
actual book), and the lengthy process through editors, copy editors, marketing reps, graphic artists, and typesetters.
Web Publishing & Design: Since 1996, I have created websites for a variety of businesses, organizations,
and individuals. Some were fairly complex, others were very simple. My goal as a web designer has always been to create sites
that are easy for visitors to use and that are optimized for indexing by search engines. I prefer creating starter sites then
teaching the owners how to use online editing programs to make their own updates instead of keeping me on their payroll.
My own websites focus primarily on relationship issues such as dating, divorce, and midlife crisis. These sites, combined, get more than one million page views each month.
