Publishers Marketplace: ALICE ROSENGARD

"Alice Rosengard is a genius at showing writers how to achieve the books of their dreams. Her skill is truly breathtaking. She sees with uncommon clarity what authors intend and then uses her great experience and vast knowledge to help them reach their goal--at all times exhibiting a saintly patience. Her point of view is always the writer's; she guides, never imposes. If you're lucky enough to have her edit your work, you're very lucky indeed."

George C. Daughan, Ph.D., author of IF BY SEA
George Daughan's blogspot

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"Alice Rosengard has second, third, and fourth sights. I had been editing my novel, THE DEBBA, for quite a while, but could not get it to sing in the high clear note I was aiming at, nor could several editors help find the last subtle misalignments. Somehow a few bars were missing, or perhaps a few chords were de trop, or something. Then my agent recommended Alice. I shipped the manuscript over. Alice read it, asked questions, we discussed the book, and in a few weeks it was done. What others could not see for years she saw immediately. She made a few comments, pointed some things out, and the novel became tight, fast, and properly sonorous. It is about to be published in 2010, and I could not be happier with it. Later I learned that Alice’s nickname in the business is ‘the Magician,' and I can fully see why. I would strongly recommend her services to any writer in need of high-level wizardly help."

Avner Mandelman, author of THE DEBBA
Avner Mandelman's website

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"Alice Rosengard was not only a fine editor, but a supporting and encouraging friend--quick to respond and always ready with a suggestion or question that shed light on how I should handle the manuscript. She did what she promised, and she definitely helped make my book a better book."

Jay R. Tunney, author of THE PRIZEFIGHTER AND THE PLAYWRIGHT: Gene Tunney and Bernard Shaw
THE PRIZEFIGHTER AND THE PLAYWRIGHT'S website

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"Alice has the uncanny ability to save a writer from himself, while simultaneously encouraging the writer's best instincts. I brought her a novel that had nearly sold to a major house some years ago and that I had subsequently revised significantly, but not to my satisfaction. She compared both versions, and helped me sort out where the original was strong but could use a bit of help, and where the revisions were unnecessary. Ultimately, we arrived at a final version that I am confident is the best that it could be."

Ron Dionne, author of SAD JINGO
SAD JINGO on amazon.com

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"I am grateful to Alice Rosengard whose developmental feedback was important in shaping the plot. Many new fiction writers get so involved in the story development, characters, dialogues, etc. that they forget the context, "the story behind the story." Why are they doing this? What is the purpose? Alice focused my attention on the big idea and then gradually everything fell in place. I got the story and the characters. This is a great way of writing fiction, but I would not have discovered it without help from Alice."

Surinder Deol, author of ENDLESS LIFE (a novel)
ENDLESS LIFE on amazon.com

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"I have known Alice Rosengard for many years, and I have always admired her powers of observation, her intellect, and her talent in getting quickly to the heart of things. I had been searching for a long time for a publisher for my first book, Outer Beauty, Inner Joy: Contemplating the Soul of the Renaissance, but the introduction lacked the right focus. Alice came through for me in a pinch and provided just the right way to phrase a key point, which made everything fall into place. I found a publisher immediately after implementing her suggestion."

Julianne Davidow, author of OUTER BEAUTY, INNER JOY
Julianne Davidow's website

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"Alice Rosengard worked diligently to understand what was most important to me to highlight in the non-fiction book I wrote, FOR THE LOVE OF BABIES, so she could help me bring that forth to a greater degree. She read the manuscript with three hats on: from a publisher’s perspective, knowing what would help its commercial viability; from an editor’s eagle-eye point of view; and lastly from a reader’s viewpoint, giving feedback on what elements of the writing worked best to draw the reader in.

After reading and discussing with Alice the critique she prepared, as well as studying her line editing of several chapters, I was able to go forward and re-edit the rest of the book myself. The finished product is now a much better and more focused version of the book I wanted it to be."

Sue L. Hall, M.D., author of FOR THE LOVE OF BABIES: One Doctor's Story About Life in the Neonatal ICU
Sue L. Hall, M.D.'s website

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"Alice Rosengard is a star. She assisted me with editing my award-winning book, FAUST'S GOLD: Inside the East German Doping Machine, an overview of the criminal trials against German doctors who inflicted harm on young Olympic athletes. Alice worked closely with me as I wrote the book. She was instrumental in getting the manuscript into solid working order and met the publisher's tight deadlines--and she was a good sounding board on the book's structure. Her work was an important element leading to the success of the book: it has received national news attention for seven years and continues to be recognized as major source on drugs, ethics and sports. Alice is a wonderful editor to work with."

Steven Ungerleider, Ph.D., author of FAUST'S GOLD
Dr. Steven Ungerleider's website

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"Alice came into my life when my oral biography of Abbie Hoffman was orphaned at Doubleday. Hired as a freelancer, she took a massive manuscript (over 1000 pages!) and whittled it down with the precision of a brain surgeon. Then, when we were pleased as punch with the editing, she took up the fight with the powers that be at the publishing house and made sure our vision remained intact. I would highly recommend her to anyone in need of a nice literary pitbull (with or without lipstick)."

Larry Sloman, author of STEAL THIS DREAM: Abbie Hoffman and the Countercultural Revolution in America

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"Alice Rosengard is, quite simply, the gold standard for editors. Detailed, judicious, scholarly: these are the attributes that a writer needs from an editor, and that's what Alice brings."

Terry Gavin, author of SHAVING WITHOUT A RAZOR
Terry Gavin's website

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"As a novice author, it’s easy to over-inflate the importance of every word that you write. Through my work with Alice, I learned to place a premium on brevity, guiding the reader where I wanted them to be by the most direct route. It was an invaluable lesson that continues to shape everything that I write. The positive feedback that I receive from readers of my e-books is continuing validation of my work with Alice."

Lamar Jones, author of THE SECRET OF ADORATION
Lamar Jones's Publishers Marketplace Web Page

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"Alice Rosengard is a talented editor and a consummate professional. She is meticulous in her analysis of a manuscript. More importantly, she always managed to keep my voice intact."

Kathleen Reid, author of A PAGE OUT OF LIFE and PARIS MATCH

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"I was too close to my work, and where I perceived continuity, Alice saw confusion. What I put down as back story, Alice pointed out as blatant exposition. I was free to disagree, but when I woke up the next morning, I knew she was on target. Points of view were changed; clutter was discarded, and the resulting manuscript shined."

Peter Hoffmann, author of CARNAL WEAPON
Carnal Weapon website

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"Alice is the secret weapon of a number of lucky editors and authors. Her ability to get completely inside the head of an author while maintaining the critical sensibility of an editor is uncanny. She always brings a fresh focus that solves problems in an insightful way. And it doesn't hurt a bit that she's fast, utterly reliable, and fun to work with."

Fran McCullough, author, former Senior Editor at Dial Press, Bantam, Harper & Row

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"I have known Alice Rosengard for thirty-five years, both while she was on the staff at Harper & Row and in recent years during her freelance career. I have followed many books where she provided crucial editorial advice to the author. Most particularly, she worked on one of my books, MEETINGS WITH THE ARCHANGEL, a novel by the poet and translator Stephen Mitchell. She gave the author invaluable structural advice and helped him think through what was his first novel. She is an unusually sympathetic but tough-minded critic who could provide guidance to any author. A first-class mind."

Hugh Van Dusen, VP, Executive Editor, HarperCollins

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"For twenty-eight years I have benefitted from Alice Rosengard's extraordinary knowledge of how to fix a book. She's a book doctor to match an editor's dream."

Larry Ashmead, VP, Executive Editor, HarperCollins

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"Alice Rosengard is one of the great unknown treasures of publishing....clear-headed, eagle-eyed, and gifted with perfect pitch."

Rick Kot, Executive Editor, Penguin Putnam

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"'Editor' or 'book doctor' don't suffice to describe Alice Rosengard; maybe 'magician' comes closer to the mark. I've seen her streamline the most complex, disheveled nonfiction into symphonic cohesion, and I've seen her polish the most rough-hewn fiction to a thrilling gleam. Either way: magic."

Eamon Dolan, VP, Editorial Director, Eamon Dolan Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt