it’s time to TELL YOUR STORY
So you’ve got a story to tell, but you don’t know where to begin.
Maybe your friends have told you that your life stories are so interesting that you should write a book.
Perhaps you’ve always wanted to craft the novel you’ve had in your head for years.
Or maybe you’ve toiled on a manuscript but need help taking it to the next level — or seek advice on how to shop it on the highly competitive publishing market.
The good news is I’ve been doing this for the past decade. And I’m a heck of a lot better than AI.
HOW I CAN HELP
With experience from the newsroom to the TV writers’ room, developmental editing for university presses, academic journals, and independent magazines — not to mention a rigorous background in writing and producing my own fiction, nonfiction, magazine journalism, and screenwriting — I’m a versatile editor who knows how to tailor your story to the genre of your choosing.
I’m also a practiced interviewer and workshopper, and through gentle guiding questions, I’ll help tease out the material you’re looking for — whether that’s the intricacies of your life story for your memoir or interrogate the plot beats of your novel — and deliver the best version of the story in your head.
Portrait by Molly Pan
Whether you need a developmental edit, ghostwriting, a book proposal or even a book design and printer consultation, I can help you achieve your goals — and stay on budget.
SERVICES
Professional Review. My bread and butter. A professional review involves taking a raw manuscript, assessing it, and considering how to improve it holistically — for the narrative as a whole, and for the purpose of meeting your audience. With this service, I’ll annotate your manuscript with extensive constructive comments, and a write-up, to show you how to improve it.
Developmental Editing. The next level—implementing the changes I’ve suggested in consultation with the client and delivering a complete, refined manuscript.
Copyediting. The essential grammatical and syntactical proofreading to meet a chosen style guide. Consistency and freedom from errors are essential to a professional product.
Interviewing. Maybe you just need material on the page. With my urbane, practiced, and worldly experience, we’ll sit down on Zoom or in person and go over the broad beats — and the finer details — of your story to give you the raw material to get started.
Ghostwriting. Sometimes, you need help from the ground up. With this service, I’ll anonymously write your project with your consultation, and tailor the tone and style to your taste.
Magazine-style profiles. Sometimes, you may not want a full memoir, but a magazine-esque essay to circulate with friends and family for retirements, funerals, weddings, etc. This is a great budget-conscious option for memorializing a story without the cost associated with a full book.
Query letters. Both fiction and nonfiction projects require query letters tailored to specific literary agents to help attract interest for your project. I’ll help you write yours and do the research to target agents who specialize in your genre.
Book proposals. Nonfiction books are often sold on proposal, rather than full manuscripts. I’ll help you develop and build the required materials (including comparative titles and samples) that are essential to selling a book with a traditional publisher.
Book design. If you’re looking to self-publish, you’ll want your book professionally designed (in terms of text layout) and with a real human-designed cover and the standard copyright information. I can do it all, or help subcontract to the book design professional of your choosing.
Ebook Publication. Kindle Direct Publishing is one of the fastest ways to get your story out there, but getting the manuscript online in the proper format requires patience and attention to detail. I can help you get your MS to e-book in no time.
Printer Consultation. When self-publishing, dealing with printers can be intimidating. I’ll help you research and negotiate different printers and their costs so that you can produce the self-published manuscripts of your choosing.
specialties
I specialize in clients with novel projects (genre or literary), memoirs about business and health, and stories that take place in the Middle East and Mediterranean world.
PAST CLIENTS
Past clients of my editorial services include:
Sillyboy: A Novel by Peter Vack (Cash 4 Gold Books, 2024), a “tragicomic deep dive into modern romantic dysfunction where jealousy, ambition, and Instagram threaten relationships, and the technologies we trust to validate us only fuel suspicion, humiliation, and ruin.” See Q&A with Vack, TV actor-turned-novelist, in the Los Angeles Review of Books.
My Fight for Survival by Fady Rizk (SALT Books, 2024). From publisher: “Fady A. Rizk’s inspiring memoir takes us from his thrilling youth fighting in the front lines of the Lebanese Civil War, to the cutthroat world of Wall Street, culminating in his most challenging battle yet—overcoming cancer and COVID.” Debuted as #1 bestseller in “Middle-Eastern Memoir” on Amazon.
A Journey of a Lifetime by Youcef Mikhail Rustum (Self-Published, 2025). “The world that Helani built, the world that I was born into, was a world apart.” The autobiography of esteemed cancer researcher Dr. Youcef Rustum, this book tracks his grandmother Helani’s humble origins in a Syrian village at the turn of the century to his remarkable pursuit of the American dream as a first-generation immigrant.
Hesitation Wounds by Amy Koppelman (Re-issue, 2023). The Independent-Publishing award-winning novel returns, this time in Kindle edition.
TEStIMONIALS
“Working with Harrison on my father’s memoir was one of the best decisions I made. He had an extraordinary ability to listen deeply, ask the right questions, and translate scattered memories and disorganized stories into a coherent, compelling narrative.
“Throughout the process, he was thoughtful, organized, and cost-conscious. The final manuscript exceeded my expectations — honest, engaging, and beautifully written. I’m profoundly grateful for his dedication, and I recommend him without hesitation to anyone considering telling their story.”
– Mike Rustum on Youcef Mikhail Rustum’s A Journey of a Lifetime
“Harrison helped me translate my dramatic life story into prose with the needed pacing and emotional reflection to make my manuscript a gripping, powerful read. His attention to detail and sympathetic, collaborative personality made a challenging project a highly rewarding one.
“That goes without saying — Harrison’s deep knowledge of my region of the world (the Middle East) was an added bonus in a terrific partnership.”
– Fady Rizk, bestselling author of My Fight for Survival
AI POLICY
I don’t use AI to write or edit anything. But I do use AI as a tool in transcribing interviews and other support functions. Whether we like it or not, LLMs are here to stay, and there are key ways AI can improve workflow and make the writing and editing process more efficient and affordable. That’s why my philosophy is that though AI systems may assist, they can never replicate or replace the human voice.
Get started today
So, what are you waiting for?
Reach out to hb.batonentertainment[at]gmail.com with your query and after assessing your needs, we can get started on a quote.