Editorial Freelancers Association
Member Profile
Abraham J Gutmann
I was born to be an editor. In my twenties, while living in the Middle East, I edited, printed, and published spiritual books in the Sufi tradition. Upon returning to the US, I employed my writing skills to complete my graduate studies in history. Ever since then, I have pursued a career that has included substantive line editing, ghostwriting, developmental editing, and translation for clients in fields as diverse as spirituality, politics, memoir, self-help, relationship counseling, and science fiction.
I was honored to create the book Vaster than Sky, Greater than Space, by the renowned spiritual teacher, Mooji, published by Sounds True in 2016. Since its publication, it has been a bestseller in the genre and has been translated into eight languages. Before that, I was the co-translator and co-editor of From Suffering to Joy: The Path of the Heart by the Brazilian spiritual teacher Prem Baba and William Ury, author of the definitive text on conflict mediation, Getting to Yes and co-founder of the Harvard Negotiation Project. (The first twenty pages of both books are available for preview on amazon.com).
My most recent editing work to be published is Letters of Gratitude to American Heroes of Social Justice. My contribution to this work was beyond a substantive edit (tracked changes available).
I have extensive experience working with transcripts turning them into lively flowing text, yet retaining the directness and vibrancy of the verbal exchange. I can take a roughly-written draft and greatly improve it. I can guide the developmental aspects of the editing because I have an eye for how the material fits together. My role in the Mooji book was to choose material and edit transcripts of talks. The publisher’s request was to turn the oral material into text that would then appear to have originally been written rather than spoken. I believe that we succeeded in accomplishing that goal.
I am also available for translating from Arabic, Portuguese, and Spanish. I studied these languages during the years I lived abroad in cultural and linguistic immersion. My knowledge of languages has made me adept at turning the English of non-native writers into vivid native English.
I am in the process of publishing a memoir of the travels of my youth, entitled In the Heart of Sufism: A Middle East Odyssey. I am also publishing a compilation of the highlights of the books I published back then, The Timeless Sufi Wisdom of Shaykh Nazim (both books are available to prospective clients).
I work well with people and thrive on the feedback clients give me so that I can bring my editing into line with their expectations.
Lafayette, CO
US
Home phone: 303-665-1238
Cell phone: 720-376-4242
Email: abegutmann@gmail.com
More information: View PDF file
Years in the field: 20
Years freelancing: 12
Abraham Gutmann
I was born to be an editor. In my twenties, while living in the Middle East, I edited, printed, and published spiritual books in the Sufi tradition. Upon returning to the US, I employed my writing skills to complete my graduate studies in history. Ever since then, I have pursued a career that has included substantive line editing, ghostwriting, developmental editing, and translation for clients in fields as diverse as spirituality, politics, memoir, self-help, relationship counseling, and science fiction.
I was honored to create the book Vaster than Sky, Greater than Space, by the renowned spiritual teacher, Mooji, published by Sounds True in 2016. Since its publication, it has been a bestseller in the genre and has been translated into eight languages. Before that, I was the co-translator and co-editor of From Suffering to Joy: The Path of the Heart by the Brazilian spiritual teacher Prem Baba and William Ury, author of the definitive text on conflict mediation, Getting to Yes and co-founder of the Harvard Negotiation Project. (The first twenty pages of both books are available for preview on amazon.com).
My most recent editing work to be published is Letters of Gratitude to American Heroes of Social Justice. My contribution to this work was beyond a substantive edit (tracked changes available).
I have extensive experience working with transcripts turning them into lively flowing text, yet retaining the directness and vibrancy of the verbal exchange. I can take a roughly-written draft and greatly improve it. I can guide the developmental aspects of the editing because I have an eye for how the material fits together. My role in the Mooji book was to choose material and edit transcripts of talks. The publisher’s request was to turn the oral material into text that would then appear to have originally been written rather than spoken. I believe that we succeeded in accomplishing that goal.
I am also available for translating from Arabic, Portuguese, and Spanish. I studied these languages during the years I lived abroad in cultural and linguistic immersion. My knowledge of languages has made me adept at turning the English of non-native writers into vivid native English.
I am in the process of publishing a memoir of the travels of my youth, entitled In the Heart of Sufism: A Middle East Odyssey. I am also publishing a compilation of the highlights of the books I published back then, The Timeless Sufi Wisdom of Shaykh Nazim (both books are available to prospective clients).
I work well with people and thrive on the feedback clients give me so that I can bring my editing into line with their expectations.
