Leila Sales, founder of the Book Engineer, has edited books published by Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Chronicle, Scholastic, Lerner, Arctis, Sleeping Bear, The University of Chicago Press, and elsewhere. Leila spent more than a decade as an acquiring editor at Viking Children’s Books and has been running the Book Engineer as a freelance editorial and publishing consultancy since 2018. See some of the many books she’s edited here.
Some of the services we offer to publishers are as follows:
- Developmental editing
- Book packaging
- Managing brands and series
- Acquisitions
- Ghostwriting and co-writing
- Creating young readers adaptations
- Adapting other media (film, TV, etc.) into books
- Editing translated books for the American market
- Maternity covers
If there’s another service that you need and don’t see listed above, just ask.
Leila is a rare combination of creative and pragmatic, artistic and business-oriented. She is an all-around joy to work with, and a true collaborator. Working with her is as productive as it is fun. Any author trying to improve their writing would be lucky to have Leila’s thoughts on their work. Funny, gregarious, well-read, smart, and professional, Leila is a credit to the book industry.
—Joy Peskin, Senior Executive Editor at Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers
Here are a few example scenarios of services we have provided to publishers:
- When a publisher wanted a book to meet a specific cultural moment, we packaged the book for them from soup to nuts.
- When an editor went on leave, we managed her list, ensuring that all her books stayed on schedule and all her authors were cared for.
- When at auction a publisher promised both an adult and a young readers edition of a book, we created the young readers version.
- When an established author was struggling to write a manuscript under contract, we worked with her, her agent, and her editor to develop a promising concept and deliver a publishable draft.
- When an author’s brand grew so large, and with such a rapid publishing schedule, that extra hands were needed to manage it all, we came on board.
- When a publisher was updating backlist titles for a modern audience, we managed the process.
- When a book was orphaned and no in-house editor had the expertise or bandwidth to take it over, we stepped in.
- When an editor acquired a celebrity-authored book, we ghostwrote the manuscript, creating a story that both reflected the celebrity’s voice and values and met the publisher’s needs.
- When a publisher licensed a new brand, we developed potential book ideas to help secure the license and ensure that the publishing program would be a success.
If you have editorial needs like these or others, please contact the Book Engineer.
Leila is that rare type of writer: a mind-reader. Her ability to see what a book needs on both the macro and the micro level is why she excels on both sides of publishing. Incredibly versatile in the types of stories she contains, she is among the best natural voices in children’s fiction working today. She is also one of the funniest people I’ve ever worked with.”
—Taylor Norman, Editorial Director, Holiday House