Heather Dune Macadam & Simon Worrall - Taking New Clients Fall 2019

We are a selective, husband and wife team who offer a variety of services to projects that have strong stories by providing: manuscript assessment, proposal writing and organization,  editing and mentorship. Should we accept your project, we may offer our extensive contacts into the publishing world to help your book to the next level.

Heather Dune is an internationally recognized nonfiction writer whose latest book (999-The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz) has sold to 13 countries and will be released in the USA, Jan 2020. I have written fiction, as well as nonfiction, and am astute at helping you develop your story telling skills, organize your material. I am also very good at dialogue and character development. I was a professor of writing at Savannah College of Art and Design (GA) and SUNY Stony Brook (NY).

The former curator for National Geographic’s Book Talk column, which regularly scored in the high six figure hits on social media, Simon Worrall is a published nonfiction writer and novelist with 30 years journalism experience. He has the magic touch as an extraordinary editor who can make your work stronger and sharper and has worked as a mentor to writers like Tara Isabella Burton (Social Creature).  He is well respected and well connected in  European and American publishing communities. His book The Poet and The Murderer is being re-released in Spain (2020) by the exclusive publishing house, Impedimenta.  Simon is fluent in French, German, Italian and knows Chinese.

Step 1: Email a pitch on your project, what you are looking for: editing, mentorship, assessment.

Step 2:  Not every editor is right for every writer, so we don’t take every project. This is a relationship. If your project sounds like something we can serve, we can move to Step 3 and have a Skype meeting. Heather’s forte is human rights stories and nature; Simon excels at True Crime, Art and Culture. We have both written about war.

Step 3: We discuss what you want and what we think we can do and move forward:

• Manuscript Evaluation – we read your ms, supply a 1-2 page assessment and a Skype chat (about 1-hour) to discuss your work and vision for your work.
• Book Proposal – this is an extensive process that include writing sections on: Marketing, Audience, Chapter Development, and Sample Chapters. We advise and help you along the way, editing and honing your material. On average this process can take 2-3 months – there can be a lot of back and forth, especially in the area of chapter breakdown and sample chapters. (If we think one of our literary agents will like the material we will submit your proposal for you.)
• Editing – this is for writers who  have a book already written and are seeking a red-line edit. (Unlike most editors, if we do not feel your work is ready for a red-line edit, we will tell you that it needs another rewrite. You may not like to hear that, but we will not waste your time or ours by doing a red-line on a book that isn’t up to snuff.)
• Mentorship – You have a book idea. You have started writing but it isn’t going as smoothly as you hoped? This is for you. We give you constructive techniques to help make you writer better, stronger and not just more saleable but more readable! It can be fun too;) (Many of our clients start with mentorship and move up the ladder to editing and book proposals.)

We divide our lives and time between rural Wales and the Hamptons on the shores of Long Island and love helping writers find their voice and develop their latest literary vision.

“Working with Simon was an absolutely invaluable part of my development as a writer, ” she says. ” His depth and breadth of experience is staggering, and throughout our conversations, he’s not only helped me to improve the work I do, but also helped me to navigate the oft-daunting hidden rules of this complex industry, providing me with the kind of practical insight into the world of magazine journalism for which no amount of research can substitute. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to be mentored by him, and I can’t recommend the experience more highly to any writer looking to get serious about developing skills in any aspect of the field.”  Tara Isabella Burton,

“Heather Dune Macadam is a force to be reckoned with.  I was lucky enough to have her guidance both as a savvy, highly skilled editor and as a marketing genius.  She brings a level of experience, creativity and resourcefulness which not only bringing the best out of your precious work, but to the marketplace in an incomparable way.  On top of that, she’s a passionate, empathetic, inspired soul who is truly invested in helping other creatives reach their full potential.”        –Michael Pfaff, https://thestudentwithin.com

“Heather and Simon have been a huge influence in shaping my voice as a writer. They have helped me eliminate flowery language, hone in on human moments and organize my thoughts. Heather Dune has a gift for giving clear constructive criticism, for thinking up creative exercises and for writing absolutely beautiful prose. Simon knows exactly how to identify problem areas, strengthen a story through details and dialogue, and push writers to their greatest potential. It is not an exaggeration to say I am the successful freelance writer I am today in large part thanks to their instruction, editing and guidance.” Dayna Troisi, GO Magazine @daynatroisi

As well as being  internationally acclaimed nonfiction authors and novelists, Heather Dune and Simon have been published by  The New York Times, National Geographic, Newsweek, the Guardian UK, The Independent (UK), The Financial Times, The London Times, Stern (Germany), The Daily Mail, NPR’s All Things Considered.

We look forward to hearing about your project!

“Heather Dune is that rare editor who really does make my writing better. She helped me enormously with my latest book, my first venture into fiction and it is fair to say that her editing skills, her ear for dialogue and sense of narrative voice and structure, as well as her patience and sympathetic manner, were a major factor in helping me secure Harper Collins as my publisher. I cannot recommend her highly enough.” Simon Worrall

“Simon has the gift! As soon as I finish writing an article, chapter or book, Simon is the first person who gets the manuscript hot off the press. If I am not sure something is working he can tell me what is wrong with it and point me in the right direction.  His pen always makes my words stronger, cuts weedy sentences so they bloom, and makes me a better writer. I would not have a best-seller today, if it were not for his astute editorial sensibility and support.”  Heather Dune Macadam

 

SUMMARY

• Internationally Acclaimed Authors
• National Geographic Contributors

EDITORIAL / BOOK DOCTOR / CONSULTANTS

• AN HONORARY MAN – How One Woman Tamed Iraq and Lived to Tell the Tale
  • by Anna Prouse (EFA Client)
• NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BOOK TALK
  • Nonfiction Interviews              Weekly Column
• 999 – The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Jewish Transport to Auschwitz
  • by Heather Dune Macadam – Nonfiction – Kensington Books – Jan. 2020
• THE VERY WHITE OF LOVE
  • by Simon Worrall  – Fiction  – Harper Collins, June 2018
• THE NIGHT DRIVER
  • by Matt Graham (Oliver Stone’s co-writer) – Thriller – in submission
• THE ONE ARMED DIVA
  • by Dayna Troisi – Memoir  – in process
• CITY OF LIES – Love, Sex, Death, and the Search for Truth in Tehran
  • by Ramita Navai  – Hatchette Book Group, 2014
• RIVER OF DESIRE
  • by Simon Worrall –  Nonfiction Narrative  – 2010
• MURPHY’S LAW: a Paramedic’s 9/11 Memoir
  • by Philip Torrence – Memoir – 2009

 

STUDENT’S AWARDS, PUBLICATIONS AND HIRINGS

GO, Vice, Buzzfeed, SELF                             Dayna Troisi                    2016-18

Soul Stripper Series-Kensington Books    Katana Collins                 2013-present

McKinsey & Co. Executive Editor              Feifei Sun                           2015-present

Time Magazine, Editor, Vanity Fair

Asst. Editor to David Friend,                      Feifei Sun                           2008-2015

VICE, Huffington Post, Nerve                    Matt Terrell                       2010 – present

Edge Magazine, UK                                      Jacob Cholak                    2007

NY Times Sunday Magazine                      Mary Chi Kim                  Sept. 17 2006

Public Radio WXLV-FM                              Lauren Stewart               Fall 2006

Public Radio WXLV-FM                             Marshall Dungan              Fall 2006

The South                                                       Kristen Bolt                        May 2006

Nick News w/Linda Ellerbee  Assoc. Prod.  Colleen Katana             2006-2008

Sesame Street, Assoc. Prod                         Carla Lopez De Azua         2006-2009

Prof. Journalists Excellence Awards        Matt Terrell                       2007

First place – Radio News & Feature          Matt Terrell                      2007

 

http://heatherdune.com/

More information: View PDF file

Years in the field: 30
Years freelancing: 30