We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anna Hartzog a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Anna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I was working for a publishing company as the editorial director of the book imprint. I had started as an editor and project manager but over the course of several years grew to lead large-scale projects from conception to final product and overseeing the book production team. I loved the work I did but wanted a more flexible environment where I could have more control over my schedule and the big-picture decisions that were being made. At the same time, I had been running into a lot of people who were all telling a similar story: they had book ideas and wanted to put in the work to get them published. The issue they were having is that they weren’t experienced authors or social media influencers with giant audiences, so they were having trouble finding agents and publishers. Many wanted to self-publish but just didn’t know how. I realized that I knew how to help these people take their ideas and turn them into finished books. As the head of an editorial consulting firm, I can assist authors by meeting them where they are and helping to fill in the gaps of their projects to get their books out into the world.
Anna, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Village Editorial is a full-service editorial firm specializing in writing, ghostwriting, editing, assisted self-publishing, consulting, and project managing. I started Village Editorial as a way to bridge the gap between authors and the world of publishing. I strive to make the writing and publishing process accessible to others. Especially for larger projects, it can take a village to bring them to fruition. I maintain a network of publishing professionals and will assemble a team based on my clients’ individual needs. I love working with clients to understand their goals for their writing and helping clients achieve them. Sometimes, authors are looking to find just the right agent or publisher, so I work with them to get their submissions and query letters ready to submit. Other times, clients want to self-publish their work, and I serve as a project manager to help them find graphic designers, printers, copy editors, etc. to get their book ready for press while I help answer industry-specific questions about book binding, paper quality, and best practices for printing and distributing. I also work with clients as a writing coach and editor as they prepare their manuscripts and can help with marketing strategies on the backend. I love that I get to work with authors of so many genres. My current clients are authoring cookbooks, memoirs, coffee table books, young adult historical fiction, romantasy novels, middle grade magical realism, business books, and illustrated children’s books.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Even though I just started the business about 8 months ago, I’ve been so fortunate to have found success with building my company’s reputation and my client base. My initial reputation was built on my years of experience in the publishing industry. People knew I was a trusted leader and valued my understanding of the world of book publishing. I was lucky to get a few clients early on who championed me and were cheerleaders for my business. Through word of mouth from those clients and others within my personal and professional networks, I soon had new clients reaching out to me. Continuing to provide my authors with consistent feedback and knowledgable advice has lead to growth for the business.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I got to college, I decided to major in psychology. I thought I wanted to be a therapist. And while I enjoyed my psychology classes, and I’m sure would have enjoyed being a therapist, what I loved most of all were my English classes. I decided to minor in English and continued to become more and more captivated by the literature I was reading. I was in the honors college, which meant I had to write a thesis to graduate. I spent over a year working with a professor in the psychology department trying to come up with a project. Nothing seemed to fit. He finally told me that since I couldn’t stop talking about my English classes, maybe I should go over there and write a thesis with that department! After a lot of tears, that’s just what I did! When I graduated, I decided that if I loved English, then that meant I should be an English teacher. I went to graduate school and got a master’s degree in secondary English education. I taught high school and community college English classes for six years. While I enjoyed some parts of my job, I never felt like it was what I was meant to do longterm. I could tell I was burning out and needed to figure out a career move. My husband and I were pregnant with our first child, so I decided to take a break from teaching to spend time with my son and find a better fit for work. That year, I was asked to volunteer with a nonprofit as the assistant editor for their magazine. They figured I could be helpful since I had a strong language arts background. It didn’t take me long to fall in love with writing, editing, and publishing. I began applying for editorial jobs in Birmingham, Alabama, where we lived. I was hired by a mid-size publishing firm to work on special projects, including seasonal magazines, custom content, and book production. I finally felt like I had found the industry where I was at home. It was a winding path to get me here, but I’ve learned a lot along the way!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.villageeditorial.com/
- Instagram: @villageeditorial
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/village-editorial/
Image Credits
Becca Beers; Emily Milay