From
the San Diego Union-Tribune
By Arthur Salm, Book Editor
The fun part of AuthorAssist, says
owner Patricia Benesh, "is seeing people just blossom, seeing them take
an idea and run with it."
Patricia Benesh runs a very personal business.
That it happens to be almost entirely on the Internet turns out to be beside
the point.
AuthorAssist, a complete service for publishing and promoting books,
has clients from around the world -- wherever English is spoken,
or, more important, written.
"You become intimately involved with them.
You become really good friends," Patricia said of the writers she
works with. "In some cases I've met them, but in most cases I haven't.
We exchange pictures, even recipes. I've seen into the souls of these
people, because I've seen the manuscripts in their original form, and they
come from the heart."
... more
Patricia Benesh's articles have been published in numerous books, journals, business periodicals, and writes for the Huffington Post, Examiner.com, Suite 101, EzineArticles, Publetariat,and other online publications. She is the visionary behind AuthorAssist, which draws English-speaking writers from around the world, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, and the Cayman Islands. AuthorAssist has provided literary services to more than 200 new writers of adult and children's books. Patricia is a former professor at The Johns Hopkins University in the field of Human Communications, specializing in literacy and readability. She holds a doctorate from Johns Hopkins and advanced degrees in counseling and business administration. She has spoken at numerous US and international conferences and is recognized in Who's Who in Education. Through her work at the San Diego Children's Hospital, she keeps her fingers on the pulse of many new children's books -- and their appeal to youngsters of different cultural backgrounds.
Colleagues and clients say ...
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Patricia
Benesh |
Continued from the San Diego Union-Tribune
By Arthur Salm, Book Editor
AuthorAssist helps writers who have
manuscripts at any stage of development. The goal is to show clients what
it takes to bring their manuscripts up the commercial stage of development
-- and then to help them do it. Price depends on the state and length of
the manuscripts, and the type of editing requested.
A recent project is Down to a Soundless Sea,
a book by writer Thom Steinbeck, son of the writer John Steinbeck.
"That was a case where the manuscript was
quite finished and polished," Patricia said. "We just did a line edit."
But there are other cases where the author starts from scratch.
In the manuscript review, one of the services
AuthorAssist offers, she comments on everything: character, plot,
theme, pace, logic, style, veracity, point of view and dialogue --
and that's only for fiction.
One thing most writers need to educate themselves
about, she said, is the nature of the publishing industry. Patricia
pointed out that when people take up painting, or the violin, they generally
do it for the joy of making music or putting paint on canvas. But
they're convinced that if they put words on the page, it's going to be
published.
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Lisa Williams
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Lisa Williams, PhD, MBA, MA , author of Leading Beyond Excellence, is founder of EPI Publishers, whose mission is to positively impact society. EPI is the publisher of many acclaimed products, including books, audios, and videos in the areas of leadership, business, career development, self-help, inspiration, spirituality, psychology, philosophy, and personal growth. A respected researcher, national columnist, and award-winning speaker. Dr. Williams is the President and CEO of Williams Research, Inc.
A former professor at Penn State University and two-time endowed chair holder, she is dedicated to developing excellence in future and current leaders. Major corporations and President Clinton's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection have sought her advice.
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Carolyn Marsden is the author of several children's books. Winner of The Sunshine State Young Readers' Award, The Pennsylvania State Young Readers' Award, and Booklist Top Ten First Youth Novels of 2002, The Gold-Threaded Dress (Candlewick Press, 2002), is a middle grade novel about Thai immigrants. Mama Had to Work on Christmas (Viking Children's Books, 2003), is a middle grade novel set in San Diego. Silk Umbrellas a middle grade novel set in Thailand
(Candlewick Press, 2004), Two middle grade novels, Moon Runner, and The Quail Club will be published by Candlewick Press, in 2005, and 2006, respectively. For eight years, Carolyn was a writer-in-residence in Arizona and California, sharing poetry and creative writing techniques with students in kindergarten through high school. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children from Vermont College where she won the Candlewick Scholarship Award. Carolyn is fluent in Spanish.
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Carolyn Marsden |
Karen Braun |
Karen Braun has been copyediting for thirty years, wielding her red pen over a wide range of material including books, corporate publications, catalogs, legal documents, and doctoral dissertations. She co-authored a series of children's books and established a children's paperback book distributorship of national renown. Karen has a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Columbia University with a minor in English. She's been seen reading newspapers and novels with red pen in hand -- just for fun!
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