Greater Boston
I am an assistant professor at Emerson College teaching book publishing courses and researching the book publishing industry, specifically developmental editing and book banning and censorship. I have over 20 years of professional writing, editing, and publishing experience in a variety of disciplines. Some of my clients include Beacon Press, Brandeis University Press, Westchester Publishing Services, and Burgess Lea Press (an imprint of Quarto Books). I am also cofounder and managing editor of Tree of Life Publishing and Consulting. Additional projects have included: * Ghostwriting 2 memoirs * Developmental and line editing of fiction and nonfiction books * Editorial evaluations for fiction and nonfiction manuscripts * Copy editing, proofreading, and fact-checking fiction and nonfiction manuscripts, including cookbooks * Publishing consulting and project management, including editorial direction and promotional planning * Co-founding and co-editing an online literary magazine, Wild River Review * Fiction and nonfiction book publicity campaigns for private clients and Harvard University Press I also have experience in designing and teaching writing workshops, higher education administration, standardized test creation, and office and nonprofit management. I am a member of PEN America, IBPA, ACES, EFA, and REAP.
Roles: Assistant professor of publishing in the department of Writing, Literature and Publishing; departmental internship coordinator. I teach in person and synchronously and asynchronously online. Courses: Graduate-level book editing; graduate-level book publishing essentials (overview course); graduate-level intro to book publishing for writers (asynch MFA course); WLP departmental internship coordinator.
Roles: Instructor of graduate-level book editing, directed study advisor, thesis chair, departmental internship coordinator, affiliated faculty liaison to the WLP department. I have taught in person and synchronously online. F18 - S23: Instructor to graduate students in the Writing, Literature and Publishing department. Book Editing course. SM19, F19, SM21 - S23: Departmental internship coordinator. Oversee undergraduate and graduate students completing internships for academic credit. SM19: Faculty advisor for a student's directed study on the developmental editing/ghostwriting of the translated memoirs of a Chinese woman who lived through World War II and the Chinese Communist Revolution. SM20: Faculty advisor for student's directed study on line editing for a middle-grade fiction/fantasy author. S21: Faculty advisor for a student's directed study on line editing for a fiction author; thesis chair for publishing student's magazine project F21: Faculty advisor for a student's directed study on dev, line, and copyediting a fiction manuscript S23: Faculty advisor for student's directed study on the romance book publishing industry F19; F20 - S23: Affiliated faculty liaison to the WLP department. I attend monthly WLP faculty meetings to report departmental news to the affiliated faculty.
I am the managing editor of a small publishing consultancy and independent press focused on story-driven quality narratives across genres--fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for adults, teens, and children. We publish a small, highly curated list and work intensely and in collaboration with our authors to craft books with a special focus on editorial development. We are seeking to expand our list to include more voices from historically excluded populations. My personal interests include LGBTQ+ writers; fat, neurodiverse, and disabled writers; Latin American voices; Indigenous voices; and voices from various diaspora. As a first-generation American and the bilingual child of political refugees, I am passionate about centering voices that are marginalized, "othered," excluded, or exoticized by traditional publishers. I work closely with authors on developmental editing and writing coaching, as well as providing line editing, copy editing, project management, consulting, and management of freelancers. We also offer a la carte editorial, design, and other publishing services.
I was the first part-time office manager for DWA Boston, a media agency specializing in technology marketing. As DWA Boston's first office manager, I focused on short-term and long-term organization, both in terms of physical space and in terms of office events and goals; creation and implementation of office policies and procedures; and organization and execution of special events and activities. I ordered supplies, accommodated guests and interview candidates, solved problems, managed maintenance needs, kept the office kitchen tidy and stocked, and performed ad hoc tasks to keep the office running smoothly and keep 45+ employees happy and working at their best.
Winans Kuenstler Publishing (under our imprint, Platform Press) specializes in Book-Driven Branding. Books are the business card no one throws away. By helping our author-clients tell their personal and professional stories, we boost their expertise and help build a platform that helps them gain more clients and visibility, get public speaking opportunities, and further grow their businesses and advance their causes. WKP provides high-end custom ghostwriting and book publishing services under its Platform Press imprint. We focus on high-end trade nonfiction. Company founder Foster Winans is a Wall Street Journal veteran and one of America's top ghostwriters. I managed the development, production, distribution, and marketing of books for thought leaders, professionals, small businesses, corporate branders, and others who want to tap into the leverage associated with authorship, with a focus on building the author platform. As part of this team, I was a project manager, editor, and ghostwriter. I specialized in working with authors on narrative nonfiction and memoir. I'm the co-author of "How I Roll: Life, Love, and Work after a Spinal Cord Injury," a memoir by J. Bryant Neville, Jr., published February 2012 by Platform Press. I'm the ghostwriter and editor of "Returning to Me: A Cuban-American Woman's Journey," a memoir by Ibis Lezcano Kramer, published December 2013 by Palmera Press (editorial and design services provided by Winans Kuenstler Publishing).
Demiurge Studios makes mobile and console video games (Marvel Puzzle Quest, SEGA Heroes). Part-time office manager and administrator with a specialty for problem solving, keeping things running smoothly, and anticipating people's needs to keep them happy. I managed day-to-day administrative and office duties for a busy video game studio, making sure it was a comfortable, great place to work for our talented team. No task was too great or too small: ordering supplies, stocking and cleaning the kitchen, assembling and rearranging furniture, ordering catering with an eye towards special dietary needs, receiving mail, signing in guests, securing vendors, rearranging and tidying the office, acting as liaison to building management, responding to maintenance emergencies and managing emergency and routine repairs, instituting procedures and policies to make our office run more safely and smoothly, scheduling and coordinating interviews and travel, making things more efficient, and providing general support to our staff. I administered a monthly company feedback survey and compiled the results and also set up the meeting deck for our weekly company meeting. One of the best parts of my job was helping make the office a more pleasant place to work through thoughtful details. Whether this was by offering more selections of tea, surprising folks with new choices at the cereal bar, installing a vending machine with snacks and soda, or accommodating dietary needs so everyone could have cake at birthday celebrations, I was driven by the philosophy that there's no such thing as an insignificant detail. I handled special administrative projects like updating our blog and social media, managing five-year and ten-year work anniversary reward programs, creating office emergency and procedures guides, and planning office events like parties and visiting student groups. I also gained experience with Lever recruitment software.