Our Team
Every member of the My Word Publishing team has a passion for writing, books, publishing, and design. While separately these skills are valuable, together they are unstoppable. When you let us help you become a published author, you are immediately taken under our wings to be walked through the process. Let us hold your hand as we traverse the road to becoming a published author together. Learn more about our My Word Publishing family below.
Polly Letofsky
Publishing Consultant
Donna Mazzitelli
Editor & Writing Coach
Catherine Spader
Editor & Writing Coach
Nick Zelinger
Cover Design
James Hallman
Editor & Writing Coach
Mary Walewski
Book Marketing
Gail Nelson
Ebook Conversion
Shelly Wilhelm
Children’s Book Development & Editor
Kirsten (K.B.) Jensen
Publishing Consultant & Fiction Editor
Bobby Haas
Editor & Writing Coach
Jen Bisbing
Development Editor & Proof Editing
Alexandra O’Connell
Editor & Writing Coach
Jennifer Jas
Non-fiction Editor & Writing Coach
Kristen Hamilton
Fiction & Memoir Development Editor
Jennifer Zelinger
Copyline Editor & Proof Editor
Victoria Wolf
Cover Designer and Interior Designer
Sir Oliver McDougall (Ollie)
CFO: Chief Furry Officer
Polly Letofsky
Publishing Consultant
After frustrating experiences with dodgy publishers, Polly Letofsky launched herself into learning every aspect of the publishing industry.
Years later, when she started to draft her plan for a new model of self-publishing, Polly wanted to set up a system that guided authors through the publishing of their own book seamlessly, swiftly, and affordably. A place where the author upholds all creative control, maintains all distribution rights, and all the profits end up in their hands.
Polly herself has produced hundreds of books, and has since gathered a team of professionals to help her to help authors.
To have Polly help you birth your best book into the world, please contact her here for a free 30-minute consultation.
Donna Mazzitelli
Editor & Writing Coach
Donna Mazzitelli is the Word Heartiste. When she started Writing With Donna in 2011, she had no idea how much people would need in addition to a good writer, editor and writing coach someone who does it with heart and intuition.
To date, Donna has helped dozens of men and women connect with their core inner voices and express their writing with authenticity and genuineness. Her gentle, clear guidance and non-judgmental approach allow people to navigate the places and spaces that sometimes can be difficult to explore.
Donna understands that finding our voices is critical to living an authentic life. The more we are able to connect within, the more our readership will connect with us. Everyone has stories to tell, information to share, and profound aha moments to reveal. Yet, not everyone feels comfortable conveying those life moments through the written word.
Whether you need help transferring those life events onto paper, a partner to co-author, a ghost writer, or another pair of eyes to review what you’ve written, Donna loves supporting you to bring your written words to life and into the hands of others.
The services Donna offers include content and development editing, and copy-line editing.
Catherine Spader
Editor & Writing Coach
Catherine Spader believes that everyone has a special story to tell. As a multi-award-winning fantasy author, her passion is to help other writers craft their stories into compelling fiction or non-fiction that readers can’t put down.
Catherine has more than 20 years’ experience as a freelance writer and editor and has published over 1,000 articles. Her fantasy series, The Wulfhedinn Series, received critical acclaim from Kirkus Reviews and the prestigious Starred Review from BlueInk Review.
Catherine is the owner of Quillstone Press and can be contacted at cathyspader@yahoo.com or visit her website catherinespader.com.
Nick Zelinger
Cover Design
Nick Zelinger is owner of NZ Graphics (NZGraphics.com)
A graphic designer for over 20 years, Nick Zelinger has worked for ad agencies and print companies; been an art director for an aviation magazine; has designed product packaging for manufacturers; created large signage for store fronts and company vehicles and Rapid Transit; designed promotional material for the Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies, KOA Radio and Clear Channel.
His book design work has garnered multiple national and international awards from USA Book News, Indie Book Awards, the IPPYs, the San Francisco Book Festival Award, the Valley Forge Freedom Medal Award, Colorado Independent Publishers Association’s EVVY Awards, and more.
James Hallman
Editor & Writing Coach
James Hallman started editing for one purpose: to help writers. He believes in working carefully with authors to ensure that the stories they wish to tell; the articles they seek to publish; or the research they want to present is as clearly and elegantly written as it can be.
He combines a deep knowledge of story architecture, a love of English’s unique capacity for elegance, and an eye for detail that makes the process of development an exciting and informative one. His advice and guidance has proved invaluable to many clients over his years as a freelancer, an educator, and mentor.
His previous clients have included academics, self-publishing authors, and traditional publishing houses. He is also a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association.
James provides the following services:
- A full range of editorial services, from basic copy-editing to full developmental work.
- Research assistance, fact-checking, and citation/indexing services.
Mary Walewski
Book Marketing
Mary Walewski of Buy The Book Marketing has 3 simple goals for her clients:
(1) De-mystify the internet and online marketing.
(2) Enable her clients to make good marketing decisions for their books.
(3) Enjoy the process! Mary offers personalized coaching on marketing and social media, marketing plans, social media assessment, setup and management.
Contact: mary@buythebookmarketing.com.
Gail Nelson
Ebook Conversion, Ebook Designer, Illustrator & Children’s Book Designer
Gail Nelson is passionate about books in all forms. She is a chain-reader of both print and e-books and she enjoys discovering new children’s book apps. As a graphic designer and children’s book illustrator, she loves to help authors bring their books to life. Gail has been working with self-publishing authors since 2004 and is efficient and productive with an eye for detail. She specializes in formatting manuscripts for the e-book market and developing apps from children’s books. To connect with Gail, please visit e-book-design.com.
Shelly Wilhelm
Children’s Book Development & Editor
Shelly’s extensive experience with children’s books and the publishing world has developed her knowledge of trends in children’s books. She understands what people are buying and what they are looking for. We’re thrilled that she landed in our laps at My Word Publishing, and has jumped on board to be our children’s book developer as well as a publishing consultant.
To see more of Shelly’s work or to contact her for a consultation, click here.
Kirsten Jensen
Publishing Consultant & Fiction Editor
Kirsten Jensen is a bestselling crime novelist and a publishing consultant with My Word Publishing. She is also a fiction editor, a ski downhill instructor and a former crime reporter. Her first novel, Painting with Fire has been downloaded more than 70,000 times. Her second book, A Storm of Stories, veers into more literary territory with themes of love, craziness and impossibility.
If your book is fiction and you’re interested in an editor, or if you’d like a free consultation about publishing your book, you can connect with Kirsten by clicking here.
Bobby Haas
Editor & Writing Coach
Asked about his favorite kind of books to edit, Bobby Haas is fond of answering “any book written by a committed and enthusiastic author.” Writing can sometimes be a difficult, lonely task; creating a book is a magnificent achievement. Haas loves particularly the collaborative nature of the editing process, the trust and communication that evolves while the writing becomes the book.
“Everyone has a story,” Haas says. “My job is to help writers find it, and then help them strengthen their voice and their craft in order to tell it well.”
A former newspaperman ¬– both writer and editor ¬– Haas understands the pressure of producing. He balances his frequent calls for “Clear, Concise, Compelling” with a nurturing, supportive attitude. He has helped novelists, psychologists, business mentors, motivational speakers and more achieve the dream of holding their book in their hands.
Haas’ novel Midnight Valiant – A Parable was a finalist for Best Literary Fiction from CIPA. He offers Coaching, developmental, copy, and line editing. He can be reached at WriteOn@BobbyHaas.com
Jen Bisbing
Editor & Proof Editor
While in grad school, Jen studied literary criticism, and for two years, she read more books than she thought was humanly possible. Week after week, class after class, she took apart story after story. What she learned is that strong opinions about the same body of work will probably always differ. However, if an author writes with clarity about his or her theme, readers will have greater insight and appreciation. So that’s what Jen does now—she helps authors with clarity. And to further assist authors with illuminating the heart of their books, she obtained a Chicago Manual of Style Postgraduate Editing Certificate from the University of Chicago.
From basic copyediting to full developmental work, Jen specializes in making books consistent and polished. Contact her at jennifer@jenniferbisbing.com.
Alexandra O’Connell
Editor & Writing Coach
Alexandra is an award-winning book editor and writing coach, and the 2017-2018 President of the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. She was worked on books on business, leadership, personal development, spirituality, health, and memoir, as well as fiction. Her work includes developmental, content, and line editing. Find Alexandra at www.alexoconnell.com.
Jennifer Jas
Non-fiction Editor & Writing Coach
Jennifer Jas is a professional editor, proofreader, and writer who polishes and refines manuscripts for My Word Publishing. She serves as a developmental editor who improves the content and organization of nonfiction books. She also has an eye for detail and loves to comb through any type of manuscript as a copyeditor or proofreader. Jennifer has edited 50+ published books. She’s passionate about words and ensuring they are as accurate as they are engaging. Contact her directly at jennifer@wordswithjas.com.
Kristen Hamilton
Fiction and Memoir Development Editor
Fiction book editor Kristen Hamilton is the owner and sole employee of Kristen Corrects, Inc. (www.kristencorrects.com), where she provides manuscript editing services for veteran and first-time authors. Kristen earned a degree in English/writing at Boise State University and has over a decade of manuscript editing experience, having been editing since 2003. To date, she has edited over 300 books for self-publishing and traditionally publishing authors, and several authors whose books she has edited have won awards and have topped Amazon’s bestsellers lists.
Reading is Kristen’s passion, so when the workday is over, she can usually be found curled up with a good book (alongside her three cats, Sophie, Charlie, and Jack). She loves watching cat videos and scary movies, eating pizza, teaching herself French, and traveling, and she is likely planning her next vacation. She lives outside of Boise, Idaho.
Jennifer Zelinger
Copyline Editor & Proof Editor
Victoria Wolf
Cover Designer and Interior Designer
Victoria brings 27 years of graphic design, branding and strategic marketing experience to create beautiful and creative custom book cover and interior designs for authors in every genre. She has won multitudes of awards for your book covers.
Sir Oliver McDougall (Ollie)
CFO: Chief Furry Officer
Sir Oliver McDougall reminds us to occasionally get away from the desk and eat, chat, and maybe go climb a tree.
Are you interested in becoming a publishing consultant?
Contact Polly to hear how you can start your own business.