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About Us

Who are you guys anyway?

At Cogitate Studios, we read, write, edit, and design art for books.

What do you mean by “we” exactly?

We are two freelancer cogitators residing in Portland, Oregon:

Gretchen R. Stelter is an editor and writer who specializes in British/Australian English, young adult literature, and everything Jane Austen. Click to see her full title list. Click to  download her CV.

Henry A. Covey is an editor, writer, and designer who enjoys working on most historical literature and biographies, anything science and physics, some project management, and everything Adobe. Click to see his full title list. Click to download his CV.

Both are nerds who love the vibrant, quirky universe of a good book and the company of a stubborn crossword.

Editing & Writing, eh?

Ghostwriting, developmental editing, copyediting, proofreading, and reviews. We’ve edited book proposals, published books, academic papers, legal contracts, business plans, reports for the Department of Justice, and a lot more.

What does that type of thing cost?

We like to review work to see what each individual project and author needs before we just throw numbers out there. For some general guidelines, you can visit the Editorial Freelancers Association.

Have more questions?

Visit our title lists or Contact Us:

Gretchen Stelter: gretchen(at)cogitatestudios(dot)com

Henry Covery: henry(at)cogitatestudios(dot)com

We’d love to send you more info, samples, or set up an online or face-to-face consultation.

The Archives

Notes on Composition & Books

The Alchemy of Editing

May 25, 2010

The Alchemy of Editing

The  longer title for this post is: Why You Must Love the People You Work With. Editing is, in many ways, more creative than people realize. Proofreading, of course, is a relatively straightforward job, requiring the editor have a knowledge of grammar rules, current trends (yes, even grammar has them), and house style guides. That [...]

Happy Grammar Day

March 4, 2010

Happy Grammar Day

Today, March 4, 2010 is Grammar Day! This year, National Grammar Day is hosted by Mignon Fogarty, also known to many of us as Grammar Girl. (Today is also, coincidentally, my father’s birthday; happy birthday, Dad!) So, what does one do to celebrate Grammar Day? Well, to begin with, I’m not going to give you [...]

Richard “Book Brahmin” Dawson

March 4, 2010

Richard “Book Brahmin” Dawson

In homage to Shelf Awareness’s awesome Book Brahmin feature, and so Gretchen’s reading tastes aren’t all you get to hear about,” I’ve crawled out from underneath my paper mountain to complete an auto-anthropological survey of recent bibliographic habits. Hang on to your bookmarks ’cause here we go! On your nightstand now I’m on page 50 [...]

And the Survey Says (I prefer to hear that in Richard Dawson’s voice)

February 27, 2010

And the Survey Says (I prefer to hear that in Richard Dawson’s voice)

On the Baker’s Mark site in July, I posted a blog in homage to Shelf Awareness’s wonderful Book Brahmin feature. In honor of the fact that I actually have different answers to these questions at this point, and to the fact that I’m crunched for time with deadlines, I have updated it here. I’m going [...]

Graphic Novel Editing

February 5, 2010

Graphic Novel Editing

Growing up, I had a thing for Peter Parker. Not Spiderman, believe it or not; I thought the sweet, bumbling, ultra-smart high schooler was just my type, not the latex-wearing crime fighter. Anyone mocked for being a nerd and a bookworm was…well, someone who reminded me of me to be honest. And basically, my crush [...]

Portland Is a Book-Lover’s Town

January 23, 2010

Portland Is a Book-Lover’s Town

While contemplating Gabriel H. Boehmer’s book, City of Readers, on my walk to Bread and Ink past Jane Brewster’s mural near Murder by the Book, Hawthorne Blvd Books, and Powell’s Books on Hawthorne, I realize Portland, Oregon, is a book lover’s town.

Every Project Is Nuanced

January 17, 2010

Every Project Is Nuanced

Editing goes through phases. The amount of editing a manuscript needs depends not only on how it has been prepared but also on the audience for which the work is intended and the publication schedule. Click here to see a larger version of the image above. Estimating how long the editing will take requires looking [...]

Notable Titles Cogitate Has Edited

Whist, Blood Pudding, and Pride & Prejudice

May 14, 2010

Whist, Blood Pudding, and Pride & Prejudice

A lot has happened in the past month, causing me to neglect the dear blog. In the past four weeks, I had a nasty cold that held on for at least two of those weeks, both parents came to visit, I worked on no less than five editing projects, and a number of books that [...]

Beautiful People (Wendy Holden’s, not Marilyn Manson’s)

March 29, 2010

Beautiful People (Wendy Holden’s, not Marilyn Manson’s)

This week, I’m finishing up a proofreading job for Sourcebooks Landmark by the talented Wendy Holden, and it occurred to me that this amazing author’s first book to come out from Sourcebooks Landmark (though previously published in the UK) is coming out in April. So, yes, I did actually proofread Beautiful People for Sourcebooks, but [...]

Test Your TV Knowledge

January 30, 2010

Test Your TV Knowledge

I proofread and fact-checked David Hofstede’s Obsessed With TV for Becker & Meyer. The book contains over 2,500 trivia questions on television shows, icons, awards, and general knowledge. It also includes a cool computerized module embedded in a corner of the cover that allows gamers to compete against themselves or friends. Published by Chronicle Books. [...]

Elemental Love Styles Published

January 16, 2010

Elemental Love Styles Published

In Elemental Love Styles, Dr. Craig Martin defines the romantic character–leanings of the four elements and explores how each type interacts with themselves and their partner. I was the copyeditor on it for Dr. Martin’s publishing house, Beyond Words/Atria Books. The great thing about this editing job was that the author and editors before me [...]

D Is for Dissertation

January 14, 2010

D Is for Dissertation

Actually, we got an A on the project, not a D. Dr. Denis Bedat is a brilliant, competent experimenter and an innovate and thorough scientist. For his dissertation, he configured specialized hardware/software to power a cybernetic nuero-feedback device to test the degree to which conscious control during sessions of multi-sensory therapy enhanced dominant cortical brainwave [...]

Everyone Loves Perfect Timing (by Jill Mansell, NOT the David Lee Roth song)

January 11, 2010

Everyone Loves Perfect Timing (by Jill Mansell, NOT the David Lee Roth song)

In this fresh and funny contemporary romance by bestselling author Jill Mansell, Poppy Dunbar’s whole life gets turned upside down after a chance encounter. This was the fourth Jill Mansell book Sourcebooks hired me for; the assignment was to get this romp ready for its stateside edition, which included Americanizing (to a certain degree) pop-culture [...]

The Grove Review #4

January 11, 2010

The Grove Review #4

The Grove Review, vol. II, no. II In this issue of the Grove, we managed the art and editorial departments, which included overseeing submissions, editing, permissions, the interior and cover design, and proofing. The cover is our design, as well. The issue produced a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but it was well worth [...]

Behind The Secret

January 10, 2010

Behind The Secret

Of all the books I worked on as the managing editor at Beyond Words, The Secret stands out as the most thrilling—not due to its bestseller status, but the time it took to produce the book. Most hardcovers on Beyond Words’ list took a year of gestation before their pub date. The Secret took four [...]