Susan’s Services
Susan will take you step by step through the following, as needed, to get your book done.
Introductory Service
What do you really want to Create? Through illuminating questions, Susan helps you clarify your vision, the scope of your project, and the purposes of each part of your book. Who do you want to read your book? What are their demographics? How will they benefit by your book? This is the beginning of structuring and designing your book.
Coaching/mentoring
With Susan’s help you will find the time-frame for your story, and identify the key people, events, and self-realization vital to telling your unique story. An outline is written. Susan keeps you focused and moving through assignments. Susan sets periodic targets to achieve completion of your book. Learn more about techniques of writing creative nonfiction.
Interviewing and Research
Interviewing you is an ongoing activity from day one. The choice parts of the transcripts will form the spine of your book. As in-depth interviews with you proceed, you will realize the many layers of your character, strengthen your voice, and discover the themes that will color and shape your story. Research on Susan’s part is ongoing for her to understand the world of your story.
Discovery Writing
Then, together, you write your manuscript utilizing the transcripts from the interviews and your conversations with the coach as a basis for your book.
Editing
Susan will make as many passes over the written material as needed for deeper discovery of character development, to ensure narrative build and momentum and to make certain every word, sentence, paragraph, and chapter has purpose and furthers the story. As an editor, Susan makes sure dialogue is real and true to the spirit of any recalled conversations. All the elements needed to make for a moving manuscript ready for publication are carefully examined.
Proofreading
Susan’s proofreader inspects the manuscript for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors and any problems in timeline that are not as clear and logical as needed.
More editing
More editing is usually needed after the proofreader and any chosen readers you want to read it have given you and Susan their insights and corrections. Typesetting is the art and mechanics of designing the look of the inner pages of the book which may include enhancements of photographs and graphics. Layouts include headers, fonts, title treatments and the positioning of text with photographs.
Cover Design
The cover of your memoir is the first page of your story. Under Susan’s guidance you may choose to work closely with one of our professional artists/graphic designers to create covers that convey the message of your story in an exciting, inviting way.
Audio Book Production
If desired, Susan directs a professional voice-over actor selected to bring your book alive under the supervision of my sound engineer in his studio. This is edited into an audiobook with specifically composed music to go between chapters.
Memoir Workshops
When Susan puts together a workshop, the 6 – 8 students meet once a week for 4 hours in 10-week increments. The workshop can be extended for as long as students want instruction and guidance throughout the development of their books.
“From the moment she presented a sample chapter about my father’s past, to her book signings on the occasion of our 50th anniversary, Susan demonstrated creativity, understanding, team leadership and poise in the corporate setting. She is not only talented and professional, but unstoppable in her persistence for completing projects on a deadline. I’d been trying to get this book done for years. Susan wrapped it up in months.”
“It has been a delight working with Susan Stroh on my memoir about how I was one of the first female fire fighters and how that shaped my life today, contributing to my success as a trainer and speaker. We went on a writer’s retreat to structure my book, to edit some of the chapters and to plan the rest of the book. It was a process during which Susan was able to bring out the real flavor of my life and show me how to get it onto a page so that the reader would get the full benefit of my experience.”