2023 in Review
This year I celebrated 25 years in book publishing!
Below are a few highlights from my work in 2023.
On May 2 in St. Paul, I was thrilled to celebrate with my indie author client Teresa Wilhelm Waldof when her book Wilhelm’s Way won the 2023 Minnesota Book Award in General Nonfiction.
The Body on the Beach, the second book in the Kat Dylan Mystery series by Chris Wieland, was published in October. I loved working with my publishing team: Leanne Franson (illustrations), David Robson (cover design), Patti Isaacs (map), Kellie Hultgren (copyediting), Zan Ceeley (proofreading), and Erica Smith (ebook production).
Congratulations to Margo Fowkes, whose book, Leading Through Loss (published in 2022), has won many awards, including an Axiom Business Book bronze medal, a Nautilus gold medal, a Foreword Indies silver medal, an IPPY gold medal, and an IAN Book of the Year award.
Mary Carroll Moore’s second novel, A Woman’s Guide to Search & Rescue, was released in October, and I attended her wonderful celebration, which featured a fascinating conversation between Mary and author Kate St. Vincent Vogl, great food, and a live band. Thank you once again to my publishing team for a successful collaborative production process: Jeenee Lee (cover design), Zan Ceeley (proofreading), and Erica Smith (ebook production).
A shout-out to my friend Mary Taris and her company Strive Publishing + Bookstore, based here in the Twin Cities. I was happy to provide pro bono page design and typesetting services for the middle grade novel The Three Stones of Ebon by David and Keiko Mello, published by Strive in December.
I’m a long-term member of the Professional Editors Network, and in November I was honored to be part of an online panel discussion sponsored by PEN: “Career Lessons We Learned the Hard Way.” I enjoyed getting to meet (even if only online) my fellow panelists, Tresa Chambers and Laura Poole.
Every quarter I host the Indie Author Marketing Chat, which has over the past year become a community of writers who support and encourage each other. For an hour over Zoom, the participants talk about how they are marketing their books, ask for advice and feedback from each other, and share the joys and challenges of being indie authors. I love how the chats have encouraged authors to celebrate every success and cheer on their peers. The group has also helped me stay more actively connected to several of my author clients after the publication of their books—a wonderful bonus!
Thank you to all my clients and colleagues for these and many other wonderful experiences of collaboration, community, and celebration this past year!