-AUTHOR, EDITOR, EDUCATOR,
CURRICULUM AND PROGRAM DESIGNER-
ERIN CONWAY
Once upon a Guatemalan roadside, I waited for a bus with Jorge, a member of my staff. Jorge was
incredibly motivated, had recently started college, and was assigned the special responsibility of instructing the preservice teacher course we provided. Jorge turned to me and said, "I never used to believe that you could connect to a book."​
Specialties and Services
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Author Coach: (flat rate varies by session frequency)
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Identify short, medium, and long term goals and action steps
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Enhance self-awareness as relevant to writer strengths and weaknesses
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Provide support and accountability, celebrating successes and navigating setbacks
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Identify strategies and exercises that blend writer and writing growth areas
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Manuscript Development: (flat rate)
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Story coaching (i.e. genre, audience selection, format, narrative sketch, market trends, recommended books and authors as reference points)
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Editorial assessment (high level feedback including strengths and recommendations)
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Chapter-by chapter analysis (detailed feedback on story structure, pacing and character arcs)
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Manuscript Editing Options: (per hour varies with detail level of edits)​
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Line editing for clarity and engagement by sections/chapters (both light editing for basic corrections and heavy editing are available)
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Copy editing for grammar, punctuation, and syntax corrections (AP or CMoS)
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Other services as needed (i.e. fact-checking, proofreading)
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LEARN MORE about
​I was simultaneously punched in the stomach and patted on the back. I was proud, or at least satisfied, that he connected to books now. However, I was shocked that we had worked together for several years, and I didn't know he, or other staff for that matter, could feel a lack of connection with books. Presence of physical books aside, Jorge’s reading experience had been complicated by a marginalized identity as a Kaqchikel identifying child in a Ladino school system and a second language learner struggling to read in his second language, Spanish. This was a question of access on multiple levels.
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Several years after my conversation with Jorge, I sat outside a classroom with another member of my staff, Jeremias. He held up the book More Than Anything Else which relates how Booker T. Washington learned to read. I had been unsuccessful finding a large number of books set in Guatemala so I had made choices based on other types of connections, in this case low access to education and reading materials.
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“This is a great book,” Jeremias told me. “We have this experience. I understand how he feels.”
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My personal and professional lives always maintained books at the center, but the years during Guatemala framed my expanded definition of access in the years that followed. A cornerstone of access is increasing opportunity for author voices. Since childhood, I nurtured my dream to be a published author. As an adult, I understood the value of a new dream, elevating the voices of others.
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​Project Highlights
*Founding member of Educational Resources review process and committee (UW-Madison, Division of Extension) *Project development and assessment for instructional materials. *Line and copy editing for literacy instructional manuals for nonprofits and libraries (English and Spanish) *Line and copy editing for newsletters, blogs, and social media (English and Spanish) *Developmental, line and copy editing for postsecondary students (college applications and coursework) *Manuscript assessment for aspiring authors in a variety of workshop settings
Available Services based on
*Insider knowledge on selection criteria in schools, libraries, and nonprofits *Specific criteria for underserved populations, specifically cultural relevance, low literacy/reluctant readers, and nondominant English speakers *Knowledge of current children’s and young adult publishing landscape *Personal and professional publishing networks
Experience
My experience building book collections and relationships began with organizations and today is focused on individualized coaching. Since my first position as a classroom teacher, books challenged me to design, adapt and implement the power of storytelling for a variety of audiences. I grew my skills through connection with books and communities, specifically youth, families, educators, and librarians. (BIO)
What do you like best about teaching?”
I replied, “The storytelling.
In summary my experience includes literary content development and evaluation, logistical processes in the publishing industry, and product analysis and marketing. The result is services anchored in community storytelling and educational resource development that increases a sense of ownership of the story and thus the book. I provide this lens to my work with authors. Even when the book is not owned through purchase, it needs to be "owned" through affinity.