Credentials
SYNOPSIS
- Born in Tokyo, raised in Paris, living in New York City
- Educated in France, Japan, and the U.S.
- Languages: fluent in English, French, and Spanish; conversant in Japanese and Italian; have studied Latin and German
- Professional experience: Manhattan Editorial founder in 2009, consultant in publishing since 2007
I am an expert editor, knowledgeable and experienced in all areas of publishing including market research, acquisitions, manuscript and art development, product reviews, and sales. I have over a decade of corporate experience, most recently as an Editorial Director, at a variety of publishing companies including John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill, and Houghton Mifflin. The achievements I particularly prize in my career as an Editor are consistently signing over 150% of goal, maintaining a perfect track record of publishing books on time and within budget, and managing my book list through a 7% increase in sales. - Degrees: Ph.D., Harvard University, 1995; M.A., Harvard University, 1988; B.A., Sophia University, 1986 (Tokyo, Japan)
- Award of Distinction in Teaching, Harvard University, four consecutive times, 1992-1994
My credentials are also listed here by service provided.
I am currently at work on my first novel, complete in second draft. You can visit Non-Fiction and Short Fiction on this site for some writing samples. Also see the section that follows immediately below.
I have extensive and direct book development experience, garnered in a variety of roles.
Currently a consultant to major publishers in the Humanities and Life Sciences, I was previously College Division Director at a successful Modern Languages startup and Acquisitions Editor in Modern Languages at John Wiley & Sons. Prior to those positions, I honed my skills as Development Editor in Psychology at The McGraw-Hill Companies and in Modern Languages at Houghton Mifflin.
Since 1995, I have successfully dealt with all the common pitfalls of book development and worked with the best in the textbook industry.
Currently a consultant to major publishers in the Humanities and Life Sciences, I was previously College Division Director at a successful Modern Languages startup–a position focused on manuscript development–and Acquisitions Editor in Modern Languages at John Wiley & Sons.
As John Wiley & Sons’ Acquisitions Editor in Modern Languages, the company’s unique Humanities discipline, I successfully managed a $5 million booklist for three years between 2003 and 2006.
I achieved 150% of my signing goal in fiscal 2005, and 180% of goal in fiscal 2004. I signed four new titles in Beginning and Intermediate Spanish, and new co-authors for the list’s top grossing title.
All my titles published on time and under costs.
The list recorded a 7% growth in fiscal 2005.
I moved 30+ print supplements online to facilitate customer access and eliminate inventory costs.
Inspiring authors and colleagues was a key component of my effectiveness as an Acquisitions Editor. Part of my job entailed conducting focus groups, managing review panels, and writing cogent analyses of the results for upper management.
As an Editorial Director, I oversaw a $20-million book list and managed 10 project editors. As an Acquisitions Editor, I managed a $5-million book list, about 20 authors, and various vendors with a staff of two. As an Associate Acquisitions Editor, I managed the workflow of over 20 contributors ranging from authors to freelancers to company employees.
I have many years of teaching experience. As an Instructor between 1992 and 2003, I have designed, sold, and taught language courses in English, Spanish, and French at Berlitz centers in the U.S. and France; and extensively trained Japanese company employees in English with local language schools in Tokyo.
As a Teaching Fellow at Harvard in the 1990s, I earned four consecutive Awards of Distinction in Teaching.
