Making Musicians, a
I worked with Laura on my bestselling book on music instruction, Making Musicians. Laura took a ream of unpolished pages, helped me organize and refine all the material, and put together a book that now sells by the armload whenever I have speaking engagements. The editing process was deep and thorough. Even when Laura was wrong she was right because her questions helped me figure out what I actually wanted to say and how I wanted to say it. She paid especial attention to my voice and my values, which made me more confident about my messaging overall. Frankly, without her the book would probably still be sitting in Google docs. I now consult with her frequently for all my upcoming projects. She has been a real partner with me in my goals for my book and my career as an author.
All for You: A World War II Family Memoir of Love, Separation, and Loss
Without Laura Matthews, my family memoir about my parents’ flight from Nazi Germany would never have been published. Laura saw what my manuscript needed—tighter structure, fewer words, and a clear storyline holding the chapters together. Laura’s comments and recommendations were spot on. When I cut passages that didn’t move the story forward, the remaining sections became stronger and more effective. Laura insisted I include myself in the story, something I had previously resisted. Doing so gave the reader breathing space between sections of difficult subject matter. These “personal interludes,” as I call them, showed the profound affect my parents’ story had on me. This unanticipated result was healing—and also freeing. Laura is a professional and experienced editor whom I recommend unequivocally.
Marv Taking Charge: A Story of Brave Love and Courage
When I chose Laura as my editor, I had a mass of personal notes, emails, and blog posts about our experience with my husband’s terminal lung cancer. Laura immediately superimposed the Save the Cat! framework and patiently worked with me from there for almost a year to create a smooth story line with a narrative arc. Laura also suggested adding “In Retrospect” entries where I could look back and add my thoughts and feelings about that time, along with some of my husband’s own words from his memoir. When my book won the Chicago Writers Association Indie Non-Fiction Book of the Year award in 2023, the reviewer noted: “Roelofs journals Marv’s story, seamlessly weaving in her own thoughts and observations.” He told me later at the awards ceremony that reading Marv’s contributions made the book even more valuable to patients and families going through a similar experience. I appreciated Laura’s careful attention to every word in my manuscript and am thankful for her much larger vision than mine for the final story!
Posted on the author’s social media page; book is in process of publication
I can’t recommend @thinkStory highly enough as an editor (and author support person). She took me on as a client knowing about (or maybe because of) my anxiety about the editing process, and she has become a core part of my writing team and a huge support in getting this done right and also just getting it done. Thank you, Laura.
The Clarity Journal
Working with Laura was a pleasure. She had such insightful ideas about how to make my book better, and I truly believe her editing has made me a better writer. It wasn’t just that she gave grammatical corrections (which were always spot on)—she also really helped me think about the reader and what will inspire them to continue reading. It’s always hard to hire an editor to edit a book you’ve poured your heart and soul into. It can be a very vulnerable and nerve-wracking process, especially for a first-time author. I am so grateful for Laura’s professional guidance and her ability to work with me to transform my piece into something crisper and a delight to read.
Hold Onto the Good, an inspirational story about grief
I cannot say enough good things about Laura. I was a first-time author myself and had no idea what to do once my first draft was finished. She gently guided me and my story to produce something I am very proud of. She was very professional, thorough and always available when I needed her advice or guidance. My book turned out even better than I could have imagined. Even after publishing, she continues to check in with me regarding marketing and sales of the book. I felt her fees were very reasonable and yes, I would hire her again.
~~Wendy L. Mease
Broken Trust, a financial thriller
We engaged Laura Matthews to help us edit our first financial thriller, Broken Trust. She is an excellent editor who has been willing and able to challenge, provide alternatives, and teach us about the intricacies of weaving story arc and plot lines into a thriller. She also has a strong network of other professionals to help authors like us who want to self-publish manage that process. Laura is good at project and time management. She kept us moving to meet the goals we set and helped us achieve our goal. We will continue to use her on our ongoing writing projects. We love working with her!
~~Bonnie and Mike Hartley
God Sent Me: A Textbook Case on Evolution vs. Creationism
Being politically active comes to me intuitively, writing about it doesn’t. If it wasn’t for Laura’s skilled editing, my book God Sent Me with its message about defending our liberty would not have been as readable. The book is meant to be inciting and to wake citizens up from sleepwalking through our democracy. Without Laura’s talent, the message would have been lost. Thank you so, so, so much, Laura!
Sales How-To Books
Internal memo to publishing team:
Laura, our black-belt editor, got this 40,000 word manuscript from me and had it back to me two days later in brilliantly clean, edited format, with all essential queries clearly marked. One word: Wow!
Having gone over her work I can attest that she did not sacrifice quality along the way. Also I want to note that she incorporated and edited ten pages of complex last-minute text replacements in that same time frame. She will be reviewing all of the coming layout work with her usual detail-sensitive microscope, too.
Thank you, Laura! Your work is simultaneously so good and so subtle that I feel it needs to be recognized in a message like this. It doesn’t just happen.
~~Y.T., corporate editor-in-chief at large sales training organization
Note from author:
To Laura: A huge thank you for all of the work you are doing editing my manuscript. I love the changes you have made—they are making the book read so much better.
~~L.F., author of book on sales
Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients
I would have had a hard time producing my book Financial Blogging without Laura. She helped me overcome my feeling of being overwhelmed by the decisions involved in taking my book from manuscript to a finished product. Laura helped me choose my book designer and manage the tedious process of ensuring that my book’s design worked. She caught many problems that I would have missed. Laura’s help also included copyediting and proofreading.
Decoding Your Past
Laura did an amazing job of helping me focus Decoding Your Past. She is an fantastic story analyst and editor.
The Gospel According to Mamma
The Queen of Damn Good Advice
I want to sing praises for my gifted editor, Laura Matthews, for her editing expertise and talent on my first two books, The Gospel According to Mamma and The Queen of Damn Good Advice. Her superb skills helped me produce books that will be forever special to my heart—and hopefully the hearts of many others, too.
Laura’s skill at discerning the writer’s intent while staying true to the original voice is the perfect blend to improve and strengthen any writing. Her meticulous attention to detail and flair for storytelling gave my writing the care it needed to help me clarify and expand upon my ideas and insights.
I highly recommend her services to any author.
How to Be Rich
I hired Laura as the editor for my first book, How to Be Rich: The Couple’s Guide to a Rich Life Without Worrying About Money. This was the best choice I ever made with this project. This was a particularly challenging project because it is a “How to” book written as a fictional tale so the advice had to be woven into the narrative.
Service providers rarely impress me. However, Laura exceeded my expectations. First, Laura has an unusual talent of understanding the main idea of the project and crafting words to tell that story succinctly and make it entertaining. Second, she is a great listener and pays attention to her client’s goals, but doesn’t shy away from gently redirecting when needed. Finally, and probably most important, Laura meets her deadlines and is prompt when returning phone calls and emails.
After only the first week of promotion, the book that Laura edited and helped me craft is already a huge success. How to Be Rich has over 30 five-star reviews on Amazon. It ranked as high as 9th best seller in the Personal Finance category on Amazon and 2nd in the Top 100 Rated Introduction to Investing books on Amazon—this is second only to Dave Ramsey who has a very popular radio and television show. This book would not have been this successful without Laura’s contribution. I will hire Laura for all of my future book projects.
~~Chuck J. Rylant, MBA, CFP
The Leadership River
Laura Matthews is an editor who understands where to draw the line between good writing and personal style. Most everything that Laura suggested enhanced my manuscript.
And, what I really appreciated was Laura’s sensitivity to my voice. She checked throughout the process to be sure that my voice stayed true to me. Laura is easy to work with and responsive.
We worked virtually together without a hitch. I highly recommend Laura.
~~Kerry Hamilton, author The Leadership River: Translating Vision into Action
Other comments on Laura’s work:
Your editorial evaluation was awesome, it boosted my confidence one hundred percent, and I thank you. I wish that I knew a small percentage of what you know.
~~R.J.
Thanks, Laura, for the great job and the warm feedback, which really felt good. You were able to take away the concerns I had about the content of my book and its appeal to the target audience.
~~M.M.
Thank you for taking the time to understand and edit our manuscript. Your feedback has been a great value to us. You provided feedback with professionalism, honesty, and respect. We could not have asked for more. In addition, your positive comments and “best wishes” have encouraged us. We never expected as much out of the editing process.
~~R. & N. B.
I want you to know how much your personal note meant to me. I have wondered so if I even had a viable book. That question had been weighing so heavy on me these past few weeks knowing a professional editor was working with it. Your letter meant so much to me. I danced and cried through the office after reading it. I don’t think I hit earth again until Saturday. I wrote the book because I had to. Your note let me know you felt that was my intention and that I do indeed have a viable book. Thank you for taking the time to let me know on a personal level that I am on the right track to meet my dream.
~~V.P.D.
