Congrats to Cynthia B. Ainsworthe for being a semi-finalist in the IPPY Book Awards in the romance category!

As an author myself, I know how important it is to find the right editor, one who respects the integrity of the manuscript, edits with a firm but gentle touch, and shares industry wisdom with the writer. 

My goal is to find the strengths of the author and the manuscript and to encourage these talents to flourish. In addition, I strive to work with my authors to showcase their manuscripts and make them shine. Since I am an agent with current sales to major publishers and independent publishers, I am particularly aware of what sells and what has a better chance of selling with a good editor and a little polishing.

I have been editing for 36 years since I graduated cum laude with a BA in English from UCLA. I was a journalist for the Lafayette, Orinda, and Moraga Suns newspapers and covered the Berkeley riots. Let me tell you about that some day.

A bit more about me, I am a best-selling author with six books to my credit, two of which have been nominated for the Frankfurt Award. I've been in Time Magazine, and I was a front cover story for Wired Magazine. The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage credits me with changing the book business when my romantic comedy, BING, BANG, BOOM, was the first ebook to make the crossover to brick and mortar stores at Barnes and Noble, Borders, Bookstar, and Dalton's. I was nicknamed "The I Love Lucy of the Publishing Industry" when I spoke at the National Writers Conference because of my ground-breaking innovations in combining art and technology.

I've been invited to be a guest twice on the literary talk show "Connections" on National Public Radio, I was interviewed as a pioneer in electronic publishing and print-on-demand. Subsequently, I toured with all of my books. 

Connections Interview 1 (Transcript)

Connections Interview 2 (Streaming Audio)

The lessons I learned sitting in bookstores across the country, seeing how their managers communicate with the distributors and the readers, are an important part of my services as your editor. You need to know the ultimate destination of your manuscript - the bookstores, the readers, the reviewers, and the press.

I've written screenplays for the Hollywood legends you see every year on your television screens at the Academy Awards. One famous producer won six Oscars for one film.

I wrote the first ebook, a time-travel romance called ROCK-A-BYE, BABE, on the net in 1996 about rock star/composer, Bryan Adams, who published the beginning in print. VH1 and MusicSpace both ran the serial, which can still be read on their archived old links. 

Many of my clients continue to be in the field of entertainment. I encourage the development of both traditional projects and those more innovative. Accordingly, I have had five of my short stories published by Sterling McFadden. Two of my stage plays have been produced.

Publishing and touring led me to other niches in the industry. I'm the Editor-in-Chief of WORDSMITH, a writers' publication critically acclaimed on National Public Radio and at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. 

Also, I'm the current President of Ventura Area Romance Authors, a past President of Los Angeles Romance Authors, and the President of Gold Coast Fiction Writers.

In addition, I'm the Executive Producer of STUDIO E Entertainment, the first multimedia studio on the web, at www.studio---e.com. We released PARAGONS in February 2002. It is a celebrity anthology of short works, prompted by 9/11, celebrating courage in the face of adversity, with all money going to charity, at http://welcome.to/paragons. It has been downloaded over two million times by the Military Download Library.

My publishers on the net were Book-On-Disc.com at www.book-on-disc.com for BING, BANG, BOOM, a romantic comedy; STEAM HEAT, a thriller; and DOUBLE-DIP PENGUIN SURPRISE, a children's fantasy; and The Fiction Works at www.fictionworks.com for KISS AND DON'T TELL, a mystery. All four will be re-released this year. BING, BANG, BOOM, written with Jim Carrey in mind as the lead, has been optioned as a screenplay.

Also, please find a link on my website to the landmark article I wrote for INKSPOT, entitled Rocking the Publishing Cradle or Rocking The Literary Boat?

The same website has the link to my exclusive interview with actress/activist Doris Day.

For something completely innovative, I'm the originator of THE AUTHORS THEATRE, which will be a webcast and will also be distributed on CD as a readers' theatre of renowned authors performing their own work in spoken-word videos filmed in their towns or the towns of their characters.

I was interviewed by Famous Veggie in their celebrity section at www.famousveggie.com.

Because of my environmental work, I'm the author and photographer for PINEAPPLES IN THE TIDES, a vegan cookbook with celebrity taste-testers photographed in Malibu, California, which proves that the most luscious chocolate cream pie you've ever had can be made out of tofu.

My beauty and health book, BEAUTIFUL YOU! HOW TO LOOK LIKE A MOVIE STAR, will be released in innovative packaging with a print book, DVD with a full weekend spa and exercise video, and my own line of organic beauty products.

Last spring, I became the Editor-in-Chief of SEE Magazine, a new literary endeavor produced under the auspices of Studio E Entertainment. Our line-up includes celebrity author interviews and a fiction writing contest with publication as the prize.

I've been privileged to edit the fiction and nonfiction manuscripts of many fine established authors as well as talented aspiring writers. I'm thrilled to open my mail and find autographed copies of their published books, and quite sentimental if they have mentioned me on the acknowledgment pages.

My mother wrote short stories for Collier's Magazine, and my father was a Broadway director and writer who won the Moss Hart Scriptwriting Award. When my clients tell me I was born to write and edit, I tell them, "And I was born to help you be the best writer you can be."

May I green light your project and place it in development?

Please contact me directly at goldduets@aol.com