Praise

“Melanie is a total pro and a pleasure to work with. My clients have truly benefited from and enjoyed collaborating with Melanie on book proposals and books that sell.”

~ Wendy Sherman, Wendy Sherman Associates, Inc. Literary Management

“Melanie Votaw’s experience and devotion to the crafts of writing, editing, and publishing bring my heart and voice alive on the page with grace, depth, precision, and radiance. I am grateful to have her by my side for each of my books and wouldn’t want to write one without her.”

~ Nancy Levin, author of the Hay House books Jump and Your Life Will Appear, Worthy: Boost Your Self-Worth to Grow Your Net Worth, Permission To Put Yourself First, and Setting Boundaries Will Set You Free

“Working with Melanie Votaw on my book, The Good Death, was an incredible experience. We laughed, we cried, and we stayed on track. Her professionalism and talent are the absolute best. But I think there is magic that she brings to her work and her life that you just don’t find very often in this world. I will be forever grateful to her for helping me bring this book to life. Here’s to many many more together!”

~ Suzanne B. O’Brien, RN, Founder of Doulagivers and author of The Good Death

“Melanie has been incredible to work with. She has such depth of knowledge when it comes to wellness and mindfulness that I felt as though she understood me, my story, and my method of teaching. She was easily able to translate my ideas into a cohesive proposal that “popped” on the page. Additionally, she was amazing at keeping with deadlines and keeping me on task. She is a skilled and quick writer who can bring your ideas to life. I can’t recommend her enough!”

~ Erin Stutland, creator of Shrink Session and author of the Hay House book, Mantras in Motion: Manifesting What You Want Through Mindful Movement

“I will forever be blessed by the way Melanie brought my memoir to life. I knew I wanted to work with her after I learned that she worked on Nancy Levin’s books and so many Hay House authors. The first time I talked with Melanie, I felt instantly connected by her kind and nurturing spirit and knew she was the one for me. God knew I needed her keen eye, expertise, professionalism and motivational support to lead me into becoming the author I was meant to be. There are not enough thank yous in this world to acknowledge my appreciation for everything she did for me. I highly recommend Melanie with my whole heart and soul to anyone who is in need of a book coach or editor. She is a Godsend.”

~ Marla Lackey, author of Faith and a Tube of Lipstick

“When I met Melanie, I was feeling overwhelmed and discouraged about ever finishing my first book. Working together over the past four months, I’m pleased to say that every interaction with her has been a confidence-booster. She has proven to be professional, highly efficient, and affordable. I know I made a wise investment. But best of all, her delightful sense of humor kept me moving forward with a happy heart. With her intuitive gifts and seamless editing, she preserved my ‘voice’ while making the message sing. Wherever you are in the writing process from ‘I’ve got a book inside me’ to ‘Help! I’ll never get this book finished,’ you will be glad you made the decision to work with Melanie. My final draft is now complete, and with her support, it all happened with joy and ease.”

~ Lee Sumner Irwin, author of Radiant Wise Woman: Breaking Free from the Myths of Menopause and Aging

“Melanie, who you must know has ghostwritten many bestsellers, is a brilliant writer. What you may not know is that she’s also amazing at helping a first time author take a concept and turn it into a cogent proposal. She was very patient with my many questions!  She was encouraging and helped me take it from concept to what some of the bigger agents in the literary business have called a solid, well written proposal. And my subject is not straightforward. It is not an easy thing to put into words, and Melanie helped me make it clear and accessible. She’s also very knowledgeable about the industry, about getting an agent, etc. and is generous in sharing her wealth of knowledge. I highly recommend working with her.”

“Melanie Votaw is a gifted editor, who was able to approach my nearly completed (or so I thought) manuscript, Self Belonging, with a laser-focused eye on just what parts of the piece needed to be rearranged, removed, or tweaked to transform the book into a page-turner. Here’s what one author said, who recently looked over the piece to give me his opinion: ‘You have identified and synthesized your material in a way that I have never seen before…’ I am convinced that Melanie’s keen insights contributed enormously to this author’s experience of the material. Furthermore, in working with her, I never felt judged or criticized–instead, simply just supported in getting my message out to readers in the best way possible. Melanie was great with deadlines, efficient, and really good at what she does. Hire her!”

“Melanie Votaw is a talented writer/editor who helped me with the editing of one of my books and was instrumental in the polishing of my manuscript. I admire her work ethic and have already recommended her to a friend, who has also been very happy with her work. I would not hesitate to recommend Melanie again to anyone who needs writing or editing assistance.”

~ Debra Fine, Author of the Hyperion book, The Fine Art of the Big Talk

“Melanie Votaw is fantastic to work with. She gives her clients personal attention, she’s a total professional, and she knows her stuff. I highly recommend her…. Her feedback was knowledgeable and valuable. On the personal side, she is warm and caring and smart.”

~ Dorri Olds, professional writer

“Melanie is a joy to work with, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone who needs help with editing/writing. She is very dependable and works hard to meet deadlines. Melanie will go the extra mile to make sure her work meets or beats expectations. She is very ‘client-conscious,’ consistently checking back to make sure the work she is doing is consistent with what the client needs. A delight to work with!”

~ Brenda Bence, Founder and President of BDA International, Ltd. and author of The Forgotten Choice, Leading YOU™: The Power of Self-Leadership to Build Your Executive Brand and Drive Career Success, Would You Want to Work for YOU™, Smarter Branding Without Breaking the Bank, and Master the Brand Called YOU™

“I worked with Melanie in multiple ways. Early on, we discussed my ideas for the book and possible titles. Later, she did a developmental edit and most recently worked on a book blurb for publication. She has been very responsive and insightful in all our interactions and added tremendous value. I would not hesitate to recommend her, and I look forward to working with her on my next project.”

~ Donna Ferris, author of Bounce Back Stronger and host of the Bounce Back Stronger podcast

“Melanie is a super loving woman. She can see your divine gifts. She is authentic, committed to serving, and talented. If you want to finish your book with a system that is proven, Melanie is your girl.”

~ Georgia Saler Histon, RDN

“Melanie’s skills are evident as an editor when proofing a project or doing a full edit on someone’s written work. The amount of time to detail is greatly appreciated where she notices mistakes overlooked by other eyes. Highly recommend her to other authors.”

~ Gregory G. Allen, author, speaker, arts enthusiast

“Melanie Votaw edited my “How To” manuscript and did a spectacular job! She corrected all the grammatical errors, reworked many poorly worded sections, and suggested the deletion of sections which were self-congratulatory, speculative, previously presented, or detraction’s from the main theme. She turned a raw manuscript into a professional one, and I am gratified by the result. I would recommend her to anyone who wants a professional editor.”

~ Mike Ghelardi, book author

“Thank you so much for all of your help with our speech for the California Dental Association show in San Francisco. The convention was a great success, and the presentation you delivered played a large part in bringing people to our booth. The professional presenter even thanked me for writing a speech that was in a conversational tone. Over the course of two days, we tallied more than 500 people who sat through our presentation. I look forward to our next project together.”

~ Alex Frangadakis, Director/Business Development of California Dental Arts

“One of my first choices when I’m looking for an excellent Word Chef. Fast, creative, dependable, great writing, a pleasure to work with.”

~ Dan Davenport of Davenport Marketing Communications