Developmental Editing + the Tuscon Festival of Books
+ August Meeting Invite
Hello everyone!
Here are the details for the August 2024 Meeting:
Authors’ Meeting
Google Calendar Link
Sunday, August 25 · 5PM PST, 6PM MST, 7PM Central, 8PM EST
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/exj-cgto-bxp
And onto notes from last time…
Have a book (to be) published this year?
Apply to the 2025 Tuscon Festival of Books
Lynne will be moderating this year’s Tuscon Festival of Books science book sessions! If you want to participate as a presenting author, you can nominate your book (or someone else’s) here.
Book must be published between January 1, 2024 and February 21, 2025
Any genre
Book must be traditionally published by a “well-established publishing house or one of their imprints.”
Application due September 6, 2024
Neither party (the festival nor the author) pays the other
Festival is March 15 & 16, 2025
If you don’t meet those qualifications, you can apply to participate as an indie author instead. It’s $45 for indie authors to apply for a chance to participate.
Lynne writes: “Last year, four NASW [the National Association of Science Writers] authors were among TFoB speakers: Kenneth Miller, Rebecca Boyle, Melissa Sevigny, and Ben Goldfarb. They spoke to large crowds and signed copies of their books for enthusiastic buyers.
I hope NASW authors who plan to attend the NASW meeting in Raleigh in November will come to the workshop Ellen Kuwana and I are leading and learn about our plans to boost the number of bios of NASW authors in Wikipedia.”
On Developmental Editing:
I’m currently doing a developmental edit. I wish I had known about this before the fact-check because I’m likely to purge a lot of stuff the FC’er checked!
Lynne shared this piece on what a developmental edit is, and FAQ’s about them. (Mostly focused on fiction.)
Developmental Editor Recommendations
I interviewed several developmental editors through recommendations and they were all great! If you’re looking for one who is available and who comes recommended, here are some with bios they provided:
James Buchanan
)
James Buchanan is an award-winning writer, developmental editor, and ghostwriter with nearly thirty years of professional experience. He helps authors achieve their literary dreams in the areas of creative nonfiction, memoir, nonfiction, and screenwriting. His areas of particular expertise include stories of trauma, coming of age, personal transformation, thought leadership, medical research, life sciences, intersection of tech and business concepts, psychology, as well as literary and upmarket fiction. James is also adept at drafting compelling book proposals to help his clients gain agents and publishers. To learn more about James as well as view a video of his Creative Mornings talk on creativity and his process, please visit his website at: www.orchardwriting.com.
(James also has a podcast here on Substack, atAliyah Baruchin
I am an award-winning health journalist, writer, and storyteller with over two decades of experience reporting for national publications including The New York Times, Scientific American, and Neurology Today. I love working as a developmental editor for nonfiction authors, particularly on health and science topics; I combine an incisive, wide-angle lens on structure and flow with meticulous attention to detail and voice. My work also includes editing of products ranging from articles and digital content to major reports and dissertations for nonprofit organizations, medical centers, and academia. I'm a seasoned collaborator and clear communicator, always working to make the story stronger. Learn about my background at https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliyahbaruchin/; read my work at https://authory.com/AliyahBaruchin; email me at abaruchin@gmail.com.Jennifer Chesak
Jennifer is the author of the forthcoming book The Psilocybin Handbook for Women: How Magic Mushrooms, Psychedelic Therapy, and Microdosing Can Benefit Your Mental, Physical, and Spiritual Health, to be published by Ulysses Press, distributed by Simon & Schuster, June 2023.She is a Nashville-based freelance journalist, editor, fact-checker, and adjunct professor with almost two decades of experience and a Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University's Medill. Her writing has appeared in Washington Post, Verywell, Healthline, Greatist, Health, Real Simple, Parents, Prevention, Runner’s World, Trail Runner, Women’s Running, Mindbodygreen, and more. She also serves on Healthline’s Medical Integrity Team. In addition to editorial work, her cornucopia of clips showcases a robust lineup of content marketing for several global and national brands.
Jennifer owns and operates a manuscript editing company, Wandering in the Words Press. She helps authors polish their manuscripts to perfection for sending to an agent or for self- or independent publishing. She also helps authors navigate the self-publishing process from start to finish.
Katie L. Burke is an award-winning features editor and science journalist. She is a senior contributing editor at American Scientist.
Katie writes:
"One service I offer to folks who have a book-in-progress is book coaching. In that role, I work with them for a six-month period when they are focused on writing, and the package is a lower rate than doing one-off coaching sessions with me. I find the book coaching process can help avoid some of the time-consuming developmental editing later. It also can help someone who is struggling to get the writing done and is unsure how to organize their book writing process.”
She provides:Developmental editing & writing coaching for science content:
Six-month book coaching package to crank out that book
Writing coaching to produce a feature or personal essay aimed at getting a big byline
Developmental editing for books, book proposals, features, op-eds, and news stories
Group coaching options
See you at the end of the month!