Editor Profiles

Allen Harris is a multi-number-one New York Times bestselling writer, editor, and collaborator. He has worked closely with many high-profile authors including Dave Ramsey, Charles Stanley, Jay Sekulow, Michael Hyatt, Rachel Cruze, and Trudy Cathy White, and he has edited bestsellers by several powerhouse authors including Glenn Beck and John Maxwell. 

An accomplished writer, ghost writer, substantive editor, and collaborator, Allen has worked on more than seventy-five nonfiction books—including a dozen national bestsellers—and has published more than one thousand articles, workbook studies, and devotional pieces since 2000. His work centers primarily on the topics that interest him most: ministry, business, leadership, politics, personal finance, and technology. He also enjoys collaborating with fascinating people and families to help turn the timeless stories of their personal and professional lives into treasured memoirs that will endure for generations to come.

Allen lives with his wife and daughter in Nashville, TN.

Allison Grimenstein landed in the freelance editing world in 2013 after being introduced to the nonfiction editorial team at Thomas Nelson by another freelance editor. Allison quickly found she loved the work, as her detail-oriented nature and passion for books make her well suited to this field. She has an undergraduate degree in psychology, with a minor in English, from the University of Tennessee and a master’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

Over the years, she has worked on nearly four hundred titles and has been contracted for jobs in a variety of genres by various teams and imprints within HarperCollins: fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, self-help books, calendars, among others. She has copyedited and proofread books by many well-known Christian and New York Times bestselling authors, including Charles Martin, Joanna Gaines, Colleen Coble, Kristy Cambron, and Kristin Chenoweth.

Candace Floyd has worked on more than 150 projects for Thomas Nelson / Harper Collins Christian Publishing since 2015. Her work includes copyediting, proof reading, and writing marketing materials.

 As former managing editor of Relish magazine and food editor of American Profile magazine, Candace Floyd worked with hundreds of food writers to develop stories about food trends, farmers and growers, chefs and restaurants, and new ingredients and curated recipe submissions to the magazines and websites from readers. She coedited five cookbooks produced by Relish and American Profile:  American Profile’s Hometown Cookbook (featured on QVC in 2006), Hometown Get-Togethers, Hometown Recipes for the Holidays, The Best of Relish, and Seasons and Celebrations. After leaving Relish, she wrote Little Everyday Cakes, published in 2018 by Spring House Press (now Blue Hills Press.)

Before her work in cookbook publishing and food magazine management, she worked for several years in the history field. She wrote illustrated histories of New England and America in World War II, managed a reprint/repackage of Shelby Foote’s The Civil War, and contributed articles to several encyclopedias, including The Encyclopedia of the American West, The Environmentalists, and Dictators and Tyrants.

Carrie has worked in publishing for twenty-five years, beginning her career at Baker Publishing Group in Ada, Michigan, after graduating with an English major from Hope College in December 1997. While in-house, she worked in subsidiary rights but was also trained as a proofreader and dabbled in a few copyediting projects for the company on the side. 

After her first child was born in late 2004, Carrie left her in-house position to join the world of freelancers. She has focused primarily on proofreading trade books, both fiction and nonfiction, but has also done some work in copyediting. She has worked on titles for Baker Publishing Group, Harper Collins Christian Publishing, Penguin Random House (WaterBrook Multnomah), and Kregel Publications. Carrie lives in Big Rapids, Michigan, with her pastor husband, three children, and cat.

Darcie began her work as an editor in 2006 at Thomas Nelson Publishers. She then edited for a media company before she began freelance editing and coaching in 2014. Her clients have included Thomas Nelson, Zondervan, Harvest House, StoryBrand, IF:Gathering, The Readable Bible, Fierce Marriage, and others. 

The daughter of an artist and an engineer, Darcie finds that editing employs both her creative and her analytical sides. While she specializes in spiritual growth, self-help, and memoir, she also enjoys editing cookbooks, study guides, and children’s books. She’s especially passionate about marriage, singleness, recovery, healthy sexuality, and women’s issues. Darcie has her editing certificate from the University of Chicago and a BA in English from Belmont University. She lives with her husband in Nashville, TN, where when she’s not reading, she enjoys cooking, gardening, and design and DIY home projects.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/darcieclemenrobertson

Elise has been compiling indexes for a variety of genres of books and publications for more than five years. She is experienced in subject, name, and Scripture indexes as well as index updates. She loves the variety of genres that indexing can cover. Elise has worked with clients including Moody Publishing, Wipf and Stock, John Wiley & Sons, the University of Nebraska Press, Penguin RandomHouse, and many universities and other presses across the country and in Europe. Some notable projects include: The Moody Handbook for Messianic Prophecy, American Autopsy (BenBella Books), The Mysterious Sofia (University of Nebraska Press), The Wonder of Creation (Thomas Nelson), Courage Under Fire (Blackstone Publishing).

Elise and her husband are pastors in Sturgis, South Dakota. They have two young boys. “It is a blessing to be able to have a job I love and the freedom to do ministry in my community and spend time with my family,” she says.

Georgette Beatty has more than twenty years of professional experience in editing print and digital content, and she’s committed to helping authors produce the best work possible for their audiences.

Georgette has a bachelor’s degree in communication from Purdue University, with minors in English and psychology. She started her professional editing career at Scholastic Reading Counts!, a technology-based reading motivation, management, and assessment system used in schools. She then spent nearly eleven years as a project editor at John Wiley & Sons, Inc., working on titles in the For Dummies line.

Georgette launched GCB Editorial Services, LLC, in 2015 and provides development editing, copyediting, and proofreading services for print and digital products on a freelance basis. Prescriptive nonfiction books are her specialty; children’s picture books and middle grade books remain her first love.

Georgette lives outside Indianapolis with her husband and daughter. In her free time, she enjoys reading, baking, running, practicing yoga, and traveling. Feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgettebeatty.

As a writer, writing coach, and editor, Holly has partnered with hundreds of authors to tell their story.

In her seventeen years of professional experience, Holly has worked with professional athletes, CEOs and founders, TV personalities, and social media influencers. Holly also enjoys working with first-time authors and takes a coaching approach to all her projects.

Many of the projects Holly has worked on have been award-winning best-sellers, including titles that have topped lists like: Amazon’s #1 New Release, Amazon Top 100, and Amazon’s Best Seller.  

Holly is passionate about connecting with clients who want to leverage their story for good.

Holly lives in Atlanta with her three daughters. She is a self-professed cat lady with an addiction to sour candy.

Jamie Chavez worked for more than ten years in the Christian publishing industry (and more than twenty as a freelance copywriter) before she found her niche as an independent writer and editor in 2004. As an editor, Chavez believes goodwill and relationship with an author are as important as her way with that author’s manuscript. She wants to be on the author’s team, and can lead when it’s called for. (In fact, she’s worked with many authors repeatedly, book after book.)

Raised in California’s San Joaquin Valley, Ms. Chavez was educated in both California and Middle Tennessee, where she also raised her son, and currently resides with her hilarious Irish born and bred husband who also serves as a reference for all Irish material in manuscripts.

Chavez counts many national publishing houses as clients, many authors and agents as friends, and spends her days in the swanky second-floor office in the pink house with the green door making good books better. 

Jean Kavich Bloom has been in the publishing industry for more than thirty-five years. For nearly twenty-four years she worked at Zondervan publishing house, finishing her career there as an executive managing editor. In late 2011 she took her freelance editorial services full-time when she and her husband returned to Central Indiana to be near family. 

Jean is often engaged by Christian publishing houses, offering several levels of editing for both fiction and nonfiction books: substantive, line, and copy—the latter two often in combination. Several of her publisher clients request that she work directly and collaboratively with their authors, and some engage her to perform all three stages of editing for a single book, providing unique continuity. In addition, she offers non-byline writing services upon request. Among Jean’s clients are Harvest House, Baker Publishing Group in several of their divisions, Kregel Publications, and HarperCollins Christian Publishing. She’s worked with several other publishers as well, and in the last decade plus she’s provided editing for more than 130 nonfiction titles and more than 110 novels and novellas, including a Christy Award winner and three Carol Award winners. 

Professional and author recommendations are conveniently located on Jean’s website, bloominwordseditorial.com.

Jessica DiDonato fell in love with books during her senior year of high school, particularly while studying Greek mythology and the classics. Homer’s Odyssey was a favorite, and it set her on her own epic journey to becoming an editor. With a background in book publishing and corporate communications, Jessica now works as a freelance copy editor, proofreader, production editor, transcriptionist, and publishing consultant.

Katherine Guenther worked as a typist for an indexer for over a decade before transitioning into working as an indexer herself.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in Theater and French from the City College of New York. She resides in uptown Manhattan and enjoys working on as wide a variety of projects as possible.

A full-time career editor since 1988, Kathleen Samuelson’s experience spans a variety of media, from high-circulation newsstand magazines to respected association journals, from scientific white papers and doctoral dissertations to fiction and nonfiction books by bestselling authors. She is well-versed in several style guides, including The Chicago Manual of Style. Her bachelor’s degree is in English, and she holds a Professional Clear Teaching Credential in Secondary Education, English from the University of California.

Kristin is a freelance editor and writer based in Redding, California. She currently serves independent clients and publishers through her business: Spring Services: Writing, Editing, and Tutoring (www.kristinspann02.wix.com/spring1). Through three vendor groups, she has served as a freelance copyeditor, proofreader, and writer for HarperCollins Christian Publishing, completing nonfiction and children’s fiction projects for Thomas Nelson, W Publishing, Tommy Nelson, and Nelson Books. She’s also directly contracted with Salem Books and Igniting Souls Publishing for nonfiction copyediting projects. She’s worked on titles by the following authors, and many more: John Trent and Gary Smalley, Liz Marie and Jose Galvan, Hank Hanegraaff, Pat Robertson, Jeremy Camp, Devon Still, Lori Allen, Sheridan Voysey, Laura Story, Tamara Bundy, Valorie Burton, and Jay Payleitner.

Lisa has nearly 20 years of experience as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader and has worked on a wide range of projects for mainstream and Christian publishers, including HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Penguin Random House, Turner, and Grandin Hood Publishers. She has proofread and edited hundreds of titles in numerous genres, both fiction and non-fiction, including cookbooks, devotionals, biographies, and memoirs.

An avid reader and well versed in the Chicago Manual of Style, she has an eye for detail and makes it her goal to reflect that in her work. She strives to preserve each author’s individual style and has enjoyed working on books by such authors as Dr. David Jeremiah, Sadie Robertson Huff, Charles Martin, Colleen Coble, Chip and Joanna Gaines, and John Maxwell.

Over twenty years ago, while a freshman in college, I wrote my first book. Mercifully, only four hard copies were printed, and now I think it’s safe to say that they'll never resurface except perhaps as potential blackmail material.

Somehow, somewhere along the way, someone (who had way too much confidence in my abilities) hired me to be the “voice” of an international nonprofit. Thankfully, their belief in me paid off with millions in donations, and I’ve been writing professionally ever since.

Today, I have the honor of working with the best clients this Texas girl could ask for—whether it’s ghostwriting the memoir they’ve dreamed of publishing for years or crafting the website content they need to launch their business. Every word is part of their story, and it’s my great privilege to tell it.

Natalie Hanemann is an award-winning editor and ghostwriter. She formerly worked at Duke University Press and later served as Acquisitions Editor at HarperCollins Christian (formerly Thomas Nelson). In 2012, she founded her own editing business and has helped hundreds of authors to craft their stories into successful books including Jerry Jenkins, Cristina Baker, Mesu Andrews, Mallory Ervin, Jill Kelly (wife of former Buffalo Bills Hall of Famer Jim Kelly), and Christy Wright (former member of Ramsey Solutions). Her editing expertise is contracted by such publishing houses as Penguin/Random House and HarperCollins, as well as by authors who publish through hybrid or independent means. 

In addition to editing, she is also a writing coach and ghost writer. Titles as a ghostwriter include The Exchange by Becky Castle So Far So Good by Jody McBrayer (member of music group Avalon), and Grace Space by Dr. Heather Penny. She recently earned her Masters in Theology and writes and teaches ways to cultivate a deeper spiritual life. She lives on a small farm in Chapel Hill, Tennessee with her husband, children, two Aussies, and half-dozen barn cats.

Phil Newman is a seasoned writer and editor who has contributed to and shaped content for multiple nonfiction and fiction titles, collaborating with an array of publishers and authors. His sweet spots include manuscript developmental editing, chapter and study-guide writing, marketing copy (cover/flap/cat), copyediting, PPPs, and eagle-eyed 1P/2P proofing. Phil is a regular contributor to Cityview magazine. He's also an accomplished hiker, keyboardist, disc golf player, and soccer referee. He is based in Franklin, Tennessee.

A veteran in the publishing industry, with nearly 30 years’ experience in editorial for publishers and authors nationally and internationally, Renee is a graduate of the University of Memphis. She is experienced in all stages of the publishing process and can perform an array of editorial tasks, including editing at all levels, indexing, proofing, writing, and project management. Her work covers various genres, including academic, biblical theology, adult fiction, children’s (including tweens/teens) fiction and nonfiction, nonfiction, such as medical, biography, history, business, political, inspirational, and cookbooks.

Renee has an in-depth command knowledge of The Chicago Manual of Style, the Bible, and Christianity in general. She has spent the last five years managing academic, mostly theological projects and indexing large theological volumes. She has also written numerous study and reading group guides as well as articles for PastorResources.com.

Sandra Judd is an editor, proofreader, and indexer with more than 30 years of experience in the publishing industry. Her clients have included university presses, large, mainstream publishers, and smaller presses and professional organizations. Over the course of her career, she has edited or proofread more than 1,500 books. 

She has edited more than 20 volumes in the Health Reference Series published by Omnigraphics, all published under her name as editor. She has prepared indexes for more than 50 books. She has extensive experience in Christian publishing, and the titles she has worked on include both fiction and nonfiction, memoirs, devotionals, Scripture commentaries, and self-help titles.

Whitney is a detail-oriented and encouraging collaborative writer, author coach, and editor with an affinity for fact-checking and in-house experience. She has worked on nearly 250 published titles, including multiple New York Times bestsellers, since 2015. Her experience spans all stages of the writing and editorial process. As a collaborative writer, she has worked with businesspeople looking to expand their reach and is also credited on two children's titles with HarperCollins: I'll Be There (and Let's Make Friendship Bracelets), a nonfiction middle-grade book, and Broken Crayons Still Color, a picture book. 

Her editorial experience has included substantive editing, line editing, copyediting, proofreading, and sensitivity reading—for both fiction and nonfiction, including YA and children's, women’s fiction, self-help, and celebrity memoirs. She has also written dozens of jacket covers and coached authors through various stages of the writing and querying process. Her passion is for helping authors share their unique and diverse stories from all walks of faith and stages of life.