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Gretchen Stelter

Gretchen R. Stelter is a former agent/editorial director for Baker’s Mark Literary Agency (the literary agency behind Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel, Never After, and Comics 101) and current ghost writer and editor. Click to  download her CV. Follow her on Twitter.

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Fiction

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proofreading

Jeremy Poldark by Winston Graham, 2010 (Sourcebooks)**

Farm Fatale by Wendy Holden, July 2010 (Sourcebooks)*

The Rich Are with You Always by Malcolm Macdonald, May 2010 (Sourcebooks)**

The Darcy Cousins by Monica Fairview, May 2010 (Sourcebooks)**

Beautiful People by Wendy Holden, April 2010 (Sourcebooks)*

Rumor Has It by Jill Mansell, May 2010 (Sourcebooks)*

The World from Rough Stones by Malcolm Macdonald, March 2010 (Sourcebooks)**

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Last Man in the World by Abigail Reynolds, January 2010 (Sourcebooks)**

Mr Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange, July 2009 (Sourcebooks)**

Perfect Timing by Jill Mansell, November 2009 (Sourcebooks)*

My Cousin Caroline by Rebecca Ann Collins, September 2009 (Sourcebooks)**

Millie’s Fling by Jill Mansell, September 2009 (Sourcebooks)*

An Offer You Can’t Refuse by Jill Mansell, April 2009 (Sourcebooks)*

Miranda’s Big Mistake by Jill Mansell, June 2009 (Sourcebooks)*

The Darcys and the Bingleys by Marsha Altman, September 2008 (Sourcebooks)**

Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe, October 2008 (Sourcebooks)**

Cosmos Incorporated by Maurice Dantec, July 2008 (Random House/Ballantine)

Gacha Gacha: The Next Revolution 5 by Hiroyuki Tamakoshi, November 2007 (Del Rey)

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copyediting

Amelia O’Donohue Is SO Not a Virgin by Helen FitzGerald, 2010 (Sourcebooks Fire)*

A Darcy Christmas (Darcy novella collection) by Amanda Grange, Sharon Lathan, & Carolyn Eberhart, 2010 (Sourcebooks)**

Romancing Mr. Darcy: Journeys Beyond Pemberley by Sharon Lathan, 2010 (Sourcebooks)**

Take A Chance on Me by Jill Mansell, 2010 (Sourcebooks)*

Loving Mr. Darcy: Journeys Beyond Pemberley by Sharon Lathan, 2009 (Sourcebooks)**

A Match for Mary Bennet by Eucharista Ward, OSF, 2009 (Sourcebooks)**

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(titles which involved a knowledge of differences in British & American English*; titles which involved Regency Era or other historical expertise**)

*graphic novel proposal references available upon request


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Nonfiction

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developmental editing/ghost writing

Awakening Kindness by Nawang Khechog, December 2010 (Beyond Words/Atria)

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proofreading & fact-checking

Choose Them Wisely by Mike Dooley, April 2009 (Beyond Words/Atria)

Why the Dalai Lama Matters by Robert A. F. Thurman, September 2008 (Beyond Words/Atria)

The Gabriel Method by Jon Gabriel, October 2008 (Beyond Words/Atria)

Obsessed with TV by David Hofstede, February 2008 (published by Chronicle Books/packaged by becker&mayer! books)

How to Believe by Jon Spayde, February 2008 (Random House)

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copyediting

Partnering with Nature: the Wild Path to Reconnecting with the Earth by Catriona MacGregor, April 2010 (Beyond Words/ Atria)

The Twelve-Step Buddhist by Darren Littlejohn, March 2009 (Beyond Words/Atria)

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revised editions w/ new material copyedited & old material proofread

Nurturing Spirituality in Children by Peggy Jenkins, July 2008 (Beyond Words/Atria)

The Master Key System by Charles Haanel, February 2008 (Beyond Words/Atria)

The Truth About Beauty by Kat James, December 2007 (Beyond Words/Atria)

The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles, October 2007 (Beyond Words/Atria)

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*thesis & dissertation references available upon request

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Corporate & Technical

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Shared Hope International: Copyedited and proofread rapid assessments that survey existing infrastructure of government agencies and social service organizations for the Department of Justice

Probe Inc. / Weidmüller: Copyedited raw translations of technical press releases

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 [...]