SUZANNE SHERMAN
WRITING CONSULTANT
Book Proposals Ghostwriting
Editing Book Development
Website Content Writing Workshops
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PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND I have been an editor and writing consultant since 1983. Publishing companies include Ten Speed Press, McGraw-Hill, Chronicle Books, Ortho Books, Bay Books (KQED). Published writers include Keith Dorney (Black and Honolulu Blue: In the Trenches of the NFL), Robin Fisher Roffer (Make a Name for Yourself: 8 Steps Every Woman Needs to Create a Personal Brand Strategy for Success), Charles and Caroline Muir (Tantra: The Art of Conscious Loving), Elinor Gadon (The Once & Future Goddess: A Sweeping Visual Chronicle of the Sacred Female). Additional writing clients in memoir and nonfiction include psychologists, computer programmers, scientists, architects, cookbook writers, landscape gardeners, short story writers, beginning novelists. In screenwriting, I was a reader for HBO Pictures in Los Angeles, reviewing scripts for development executives. Since 1996 I have taught memoir writing and personal essay at Santa Rosa Junior College, University of California Extension, Southern Oregon University, and Rogue Community College (online course). I have been a featured speaker at writers conferences and have conducted creative writing workshops in the Bay Area for 20 years. My articles and poetry have appeared in national publications and literary journals. Lesbian and Gay Marriage: Private Commitments, Public Ceremonies, was published by Temple University Press. AREAS OF EXPERTISE I am an editor and consultant on memoir and other creative nonfiction, general nonfiction, fiction, travel guides, wine books, cookbooks, and screenplays. I write and edit marketing materials, such as brochures, newsletters (online and print), staff bios, and web content. I assist with all aspects of book development, from conception through completion. For book-length memoir I assist with shape and development of theme, and I help make the prose shine omitting the unnecessary, expanding the unexplored, helping maintain a voice and tone that is strong and convincing. Ghostwriting memoirs can include interviewing and writing a memoir for clients or helping a writer write his or her own memoir. Ghostwriting nonfiction is a collaborative process in which I assist an author in structuring and writing a book. If you are an expert in your field and need a writer to translate your knowledge to the page, I can make a perfect team. BOOK PROPOSALS I write or assist with the writing of query letters and nonfiction book proposals, and with assembling lists of agents or publishers to query. My proposals have secured author representation by top agents and have led to publishing contracts with both large and smaller publishers. WRITING INSTRUCTION I have taught the art of memoir writing to hundreds of people, ranging in age from 25 to 95. Novice writers have become published writers, and published writers have expanded their body of material. EDUCATION BA Creative Writing, University of California MA Creative Writing, San Francisco State University University of Iowa Writer's Workshop Squaw Valley Writer's Program (screenwriting) UCLA Extension (screenwriting story analysis) ________________________ THE SEASON TO WRITE! In California, the sun still warms frozen grasses by nine a.m., and daylight fades by five. In Minnesota it's below zero today, and a light snow fell over the same weekend I pulled out a suitcase to pack for a weekend at the coast. So it is in this time of contrasts autumn falling into winter, winter reminding us the end of the year is almost here. And there's no better time to be writing! The days are short, the nights are cold, and the canvas is clearing for 2009. I have a new writing workshop starting in January, in Sebastopol, California, and several online workshops you can start any time. Or maybe you're ready to finish your book and can use some help with the wording or with keeping your commitment to getting it done. Weekly coaching check-ins can help that happen. So be in touch, now or in the new year. I look forward to "meeting" you and helping you live your writer's life. If you have questions, email me (ssherman@ Suzanne |
