editorial projects

ABOUT THE PROJECT

"The Recipe for Yellow" is a contemporary fiction novel by debut author Stephanie Bruno. The story follows 35 year old protagonist Pia, as she copes with the complexities of life, death, and never leaving your childhood home. Four generations of women living under the same roof sets this book up for moments of laughter, vulnerability, innocence, and deep reflection as we watch these characters' minds and lives change with the seasons.

CLIENT PROBLEM

When Stephanie came to me with this manuscript, I could tell that it was written with love. However, the story needed some rewiring, redirecting, and a lot of technical edits. Pia felt too young, there were gaps in the story that left me with questions about the characters' pasts, and potential futures. The tense changed from past to present every other sentence. While the first draft oozed potential, we had a lot of work to do.

MY SOLUTION

During my developmental edits, I paid close attention to character development. I quickly realized that Pia needed help, like professional help. I suggested that Stephanie weave in a new storyline, where Pia goes to therapy. This gave her character a vehicle in which she could move forward and grow, making us as the readers root for her. After 2 rounds of edits and revisions we got the story to a place that felt whole and ready to be shared with the world.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

"The Old Folks at Home" by two time author Kevin Mednick, is a memoir with some fictional twists. Set in 2008, this story follows middle aged Carl as he is faced with the challenge of moving his divorced elderly parents into the same nursing home. The catch? They hate each other. The story is told through flashbacks, alternating between past and present, as Carl recalls the dysfunction and hysteria of his parents divorce, and the nuances of growing up in a small town. All in great humor, I should add.

CLIENT PROBLEM

Kevin's original manuscript was around 400 pages long! His memories of his childhood are so vivid and he did an incredible job describing Carl's flashbacks. However, the story wasn't very cohesive and felt very scattered. As the reader, it was hard to place myself in the story because at the beginning of each chapter, I had to work to understand where exactly I was (time period, location, etc.).

MY SOLUTION

In order to preserve Kevin's precious memories and tales of his hometown adventures, I suggested that we put aside any chapters that felt special but didn't quite fit the story. Those stories will be compiled into a separate short story collection. Once we had the fat trimmed, I was able to organize the story to feel more functional. In order to do this, I alternated the chapters between past to present until the two timelines conjoined. Now, readers can focus on the writing and know exactly where they are as they commiserate alongside Carl through the journey of his life.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

"Comedy Comedy Comedy," is a collection of jokes, cartoons, insights, essays, you name it by actor and stand-up comedian Dave Konig. Dave's writing is quick and witty, making this a fast paced page turner. His writing explores the narrative of an artists inner psyche, making light of the dark, and accepting humanity. This was a very fun project to work on.

MY SOLUTION

In order to make this collection feel professional, I helped dave choose a book size and font that would level up his words and make this book stand out on shelves. Once design elements were finalized, I moved on to formatting and made sure that each piece of writing flowed into the next seamlessly, but also stood alone gracefully. This was achieved by customizing spacing and stealing from poetry book format guidelines, while adding a personal twist.

CLIENT PROBLEM

While Dave had his manuscript fully edited when he came to me, he needed help formatting his book into...well, a book. The structure of this book is very unconventional, constantly switching writing forms from poetry to prose to playwriting, and everything in between.