Endorsements


 

 

Praise for Short Bios


Over the years, our Chief Biographer, Steve Berent, and the editorial specialists at ShortBios have done hundreds of biographies — mostly short ones, many longer ones, too — and we guarantee 100% satisfaction.

We present here just a few (about 50) of the many compliments we’ve received from our happy clients after receiving their bio from us. These are unsolicited, quoted verbatim, and unedited. All are from emails sent to us from our customers.

They are presented roughly in order, from most recent (at the top) to older.
 

 

 

Praise for Our Larger Editing Work


Our ShortBios “StarMemoirs” editors have guided numerous writers through the process of writing books (as well as articles) that get published.

We present here some of the endorsements from writers whose writing (fiction and non-fiction) has been guided to publication by our developmental editor and expert writing coach, Karen Schaffer, who herself is the accomplished author of The Job of Your Life: Four Groundbreaking Steps for Getting the Work You Want (Prentice Hall, 1998) and The Complete Book of Resumes (Sourcebooks Inc.).

 

“My book Stop Selling and Do Something Valuable: Tools and Mindsets That Demystify ‘Value-based’ Sales, Service and Business Relationships would not be completed without Karen Schaffer, who has been collaborator, editor, coach, conduit to resources, publisher and creative director. Her good humor and tireless conviction have been an inspiration. She will gladly tell you how much work it took to channel 20 years of experience and many tools and stories into the form this book has taken. Every time I read another business book, I realize how unique and value-added she has made this offering.”

  Steve Walmsley, Walmsley & Co.

“Karen is fun, funny and flexible. She has really helped our business as a ghost writer. She uses our voice and finds new ways to communicate and simplify great depth of material. Anyone writing will enjoy and appreciate working with Karen. I would be happy to provide a verbal recommendation for anyone considering her services.”

  Entrepreneur, Speaker & Business Coach

“Have you ever really wanted to write and get published but always seem to get in your own way? Or it has seemed too big a goal to really pursue or believe you can do, despite knowing you have the skill in you…somewhere?
      I hired Karen, to be my “creative coach”. The goal of our work is to build confidence in my own creative process on the way towards the publishing of some of my own material. In the early stages, Karen would summarize our conversation, and then send back the notes. Sometimes I made sense, sometimes I felt I didn’t. Yikes should I keep going?
      Regardless of my trepidation, once a month Karen and I would have a session…and slowly some decent material began to emerge. Karen provided good questions for me to think about and a few short assignments in between – as I could manage them. When I got stuck, Karen offered her compassion as well as her extensive writing and publishing experience to keep me on the court.
      Karen eventually built me a table of contents for a possible book, then a list of possible articles. Really? I have this much in me? As a result, I am gaining confidence, and writing more on my own. It’s been a very collaborative, supportive and energizing process. Karen is helping me articulate my unique voice….and hey it’s actually fun!
      It’s very satisfying to see your creative soul have a safe path to be expressed, and a process that begins expansive and loose for discovery, then solidifies and focuses as the ideas come. Karen helps with the shape and form of the material, and now I have direction, a potential audience I’d like to start with, and a range of material worth pursuing. Momentum has replaced years of being stuck.
      I highly recommend Karen’s writing services for anybody who has a writer buried inside that wants to get out but doesn’t know how.”

  Kelly Cowan, The Boost Creative Leadership Group

“…I was looking to write a memoir based on some of my experiences and needed help. Rather than focusing on the memoir, Karen focused instead on my goals for publication. She taught me about what I would need to get published which – surprisingly to me – was a “query letter” rather than the whole book finished. During the creation of the query letter, Karen was very straight with me about my chances of publication in memoir form, and suggested tackling the subject matter as a non-fiction book instead.
      The query letter she wrote for this new project generated over 20 responses from agents requesting my proposal!
      I hired Karen to write the proposal and my first chapters. I am very pleased at how my book is shaping up and how easy it was to put together with Karen listening to my information and experiences and then through a couple of drafts, creating the perfect book outline. The writing she’s created for me speaks in my voice, and I like how she takes what I say and the notes I give her, and synthesizes it into a compelling and readable chapter. We have already got two agents committed to representing the project and I look forward to working with Karen on the rest of the book!
      I trust Karen completely – she’s guided me faithfully through each step of this process and she’s a lot of fun to work with too. I highly recommend her services and I’d be happy to provide a direct reference if you request my contact information from Karen.”

  Alexis G.

“Karen has been working with me on finalizing my book, Love Lessons from My Son … Our Journey Through His Cancer. Karen’s understanding of book writing coupled with her support of my process have been invaluable in helping me see the strengths of my undertaking as well as how to further strengthen not only its content, but its form. Karen knows her stuff! Her insights are based on practical experience as well as a practiced sense of what works and what doesn’t. I especially appreciate her ability to grasp the personal challenges of writing about a powerful and challenging experience in my life without going into ‘therapist mode.’
      I highly recommend Karen for anyone who is at any stage of the writing process.”

  Sheila M. Kelly, Certified Professional Management Coach, Aegis Coaching Services and Integra Leadership, Inc.

“IQ PARTNERS Inc. is an Executive Search and HR Services firm and over the past 5 years we’ve had several occasions to utilize Karen’s professional writing skills. Her biggest writing project with us was a detailed 40-page booklet called “Top Resumes the IQ Way”. It included substantial content and needed to reflect our IQ PARTNERS mission of being warm, helpful and friendly, while also being highly professional. Feedback has been highly positive, with readers being very engaged with what could easily have been dry material, and able to improve their resumes with what they’ve learned. Even our own office staff uses this booklet when they are first learning how to coach others on improving their resume.
      Karen also regularly supports us with newsletter articles, website writing, and the penning of our professional bios. She is extraordinarily able at interviewing a subject and then creating succinct bios that capture the interesting quirks and professional capabilities of each person.
      I would add that in considering writing a book of my own, Karen Schaffer is one of the few people I’d trust to write it other than myself.”

  Bruce Powell, Managing Partner, IQ PARTNERS Inc.

“Karen has a way of making me feel great about my material while inspiring better ideas.
      I’ve given Karen query letters and the related finished script when I’ve not been getting any response. It can be a very annihilating experience when you’ve put your heart and soul into something, endless months and in some cases, years…and yet it’s like a dead fish on the water. So in these humbling times, I’ve worked with Karen, left her with my letters and/or script, and she’s gone in like a missionary, letting me know where what I think I’m expressing is coming out muddied or confusing, how it’s “landing”, where the great idea got lost, or sometimes as simple as a new way to pitch it.
      Karen is also incredible at the very beginning of projects, on script treatments or a few paragraphs of a new idea in development. Karen, such an amazing reader, with a great take on what’s hot and what’s hidden, has been an invaluable boost to me to get back on the go with a new script or other writing project.
      For rewrite help, Karen is brilliant. Karen has the gift of walking in, reading some of my work and capturing the message when I’ve lost the plot, literally. She sees what I’m trying to do, even though I’m failing to execute it winningly and then she gives just clear, simple ideas that might achieve what I’m after that I’ve either used or I’ve felt so buoyed by her supportive and boldly honest critique that I surge forward with my vision restored and energized.”

  Martha McGrath, screenwriter

“I required tricky web content in a short time frame. …Karen…quickly assessed the project scope and gave me clear pricing and delivery. She interviewed me to both capture correctly the parameters of the project and some insights into my business. Within the time frame, she returned with excellent writing pieces, some that were brand new and some that were upgraded edits of previous writing. All of them incorporated challenging website optimization words while still being entertaining and informative and many of the pieces worked interchangeably as requested.
      Karen understood my business, the writing tone and voice I wanted and produced first-rate work that described Critical Pathfinders’ offerings in a compelling way.
      I also hired Karen to ghost-write some articles for me. She helped me with two articles and did an awesome job. Karen is a true professional with a talent for writing.”

  Andrew Long, Chief Pathfinder, Critical Pathfinders Adventure Training Inc.

     

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