Editing demands a yogi's stamina, flexibility, and steady mind.
~ Susan Bell in The Artful Edit
For over twenty years, I've edited books and magazines at the intersection of faith, science, and the search for meaning, working with psychologists, contemplative teachers, and thought leaders whose ideas have given readers new ways of seeing and living.
Early in my career, I was the staff copy editor and food and profiles editor of Yoga Journal, where our editorial team repeatedly won Folio Gold Awards for editorial excellence. At the Institute of Noetic Sciences, a nonprofit founded by Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell to advance our understanding of human potential through scientific research on consciousness, I was the senior editor of its membership publication, Shift—At the Frontiers of Consciousness. For several years after that, I worked with Edgar Cayce's legacy organization, the Association for Research and Enlightenment, as the editor of its quarterly magazine, Venture Inward.
Throughout my career, I've also edited books for Sounds True and, more recently, Ancient Faith Publishing—a relationship that reflects how deeply my reading life has grown in theology and contemplative traditions. I also work with independent authors—and here, the hard truth about publishing is worth naming. Platform sometimes counts for more than merit. A following that guarantees a return on investment can outweigh a book that would genuinely help its readers. All the authors I'm drawn to, whether published by an established house or on their own, have something real and valuable to say.
I came to this work as a child of immigrants who fell in love with the English language early. I wanted to speak and write it well. That love of language, combined with a lifelong passion for learning, led me first to the classroom and then to publishing. I taught English to high school students of all levels, from seniors studying AP English to those at risk, as well as English language learners in college and professionals working in the US. I earned my bachelor's in education and English at DePaul University and my master's in English at the University of Chicago, where the demands of the program sharpened my understanding of what makes writing work and stories resonate.
Officially, what I do is edit or write. Unofficially, what I do is grow with the people I work with as we think more deeply about the writing at hand and engage with the discipline and art of language to communicate something helpful, something meaningful, something inspiring.
Early in my career, I was the staff copy editor and food and profiles editor of Yoga Journal, where our editorial team repeatedly won Folio Gold Awards for editorial excellence. At the Institute of Noetic Sciences, a nonprofit founded by Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell to advance our understanding of human potential through scientific research on consciousness, I was the senior editor of its membership publication, Shift—At the Frontiers of Consciousness. For several years after that, I worked with Edgar Cayce's legacy organization, the Association for Research and Enlightenment, as the editor of its quarterly magazine, Venture Inward.
Throughout my career, I've also edited books for Sounds True and, more recently, Ancient Faith Publishing—a relationship that reflects how deeply my reading life has grown in theology and contemplative traditions. I also work with independent authors—and here, the hard truth about publishing is worth naming. Platform sometimes counts for more than merit. A following that guarantees a return on investment can outweigh a book that would genuinely help its readers. All the authors I'm drawn to, whether published by an established house or on their own, have something real and valuable to say.
I came to this work as a child of immigrants who fell in love with the English language early. I wanted to speak and write it well. That love of language, combined with a lifelong passion for learning, led me first to the classroom and then to publishing. I taught English to high school students of all levels, from seniors studying AP English to those at risk, as well as English language learners in college and professionals working in the US. I earned my bachelor's in education and English at DePaul University and my master's in English at the University of Chicago, where the demands of the program sharpened my understanding of what makes writing work and stories resonate.
Officially, what I do is edit or write. Unofficially, what I do is grow with the people I work with as we think more deeply about the writing at hand and engage with the discipline and art of language to communicate something helpful, something meaningful, something inspiring.
When we take edits and feedback from others, we see even more, because editing is a kind of interrogation,
a process by which we are refining and sharpening our thinking, a way to get our story straight.
~ Ryan Holiday
a process by which we are refining and sharpening our thinking, a way to get our story straight.
~ Ryan Holiday