Skip to content

Making Words Into Stories

Writing and Editing by Therese Arkenberg

Menu
  • About Therese
    • Contact
  • Book, Story, and Article Editing Services
  • Blog
    • Writing Advice
    • Editing
    • Book Reviews
    • Work and Career
  • Writing
    • My Stories
    • Jonathan Titchenal’s Writing
Menu

Query Letters, Market Research, and Formatting for Self-Publishing

When the manuscript is ready to go, I can help you pursue your plans for publication, whether they include:

  • Revising your query letter and synopsis
  • Preparing sales copy and marketing materials for self-published books
  • Finding publishers, literary agents, journals, and/or contests to submit your writing to
  • Formatting books for print-on-demand paperback and hardcover publication through Amazon, Lulu, or Lightning Source (doing this the right way can earn you more royalties!) and/or for ebook publication through Kindle, Draft2Digital, and other distributors
  • and more

I specialize in formatting fiction, memoir, and creative nonfiction, laying out text beautifully and efficiently on the page. For poetry or graphic-heavy books, another formatter may serve you better. (However, I do line edit poetry and love to read it!)

Client Testimonials:

“Thank you so much for your editorial comments and assistance with my book proposal. I got a publisher that is a wonderful partner in the genre of my current manuscript. Your knowledge of the particulars of use of words is exceptional and your comments are always insightful. Your timely input helped me feel joined in what could have been a daunting process.”  – Lisa

***

Meeting Therese was a God-send. She has prompted, helped and encouraged our efforts to get Mom’s story out of our boxes and hands….Without Therese’s editing help and direction on how to submit work for publication, this story, Shadow, the True Story of a Sandhill Crane, would still be a hidden manuscript in a box in one of our basements or attics… Therese helped us decide what our market audience would be. What age group was this book going to reach? Where there environmental groups that would be interested in marketing such a book? What publishers should we submit the draft to? What would a contract look like with a publisher? What timelines do they use?
Therese gently and logically took us through all the steps we needed to think about when trying to find and publish Mom’s book…Our Mom’s book has been accepted for publication and both my sister and I know this would not have been possible without Therese’s expert help.”  – Sue Wood and Alice Lundstrom

Get the Latest Updates

Editing

  • Line editing and Copyediting
    • Proofreading
  • Developmental and Structural Editing
  • Query Letters, Market Research, and Formatting for Self-Publishing

Other Links

  • Goodreads
  • LinkedIn
  • LibraryThing

Recent Blog Posts

  • Recommended Reading on Writing and Editing
  • The Essential Information: A Quick Grammar Guide to Restrictive Commas and “That” vs “Which”
  • What you should know before using the TechSoup Discount for Quickbooks Online Plus
  • What Happens When My Manuscript Gets Edited? Part Four: Disagreement and Clarification with Your Editor
  • What Happens When My Manuscript Gets Edited? Part Three: Developmental and Structural Editing

© Therese Arkenberg and Words Into Stories, 2026. Duplication of this material without permission from this site’s author is prohibited. Excerpts may be used if credit is given with direction (such as linking) to the original content.

© 2026 Making Words Into Stories | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme