1. Tell us a little about yourself. What are your favorite hobbies, favorite movie star, tell us one crazy thing about you, etc.
 
CONTACT INFORMATION:
 
Frank W. Kresen
proof positive
frankkresen@hotmail.com
5901 Grand Ave.
Kansas City, MO 64113
816 523-6482
 
Kimberly Walsh
Artisan Graphic Design
artisangraphic@sbcglobal.net
5901 Grand Ave.
Kansas City, MO 64113
816 444-0476
 
My wife and my 12-year-old granddaughter are the most important things in the world to me. 
 
Music and creative writing have always played a very important role in my life (see below). I have written and recorded about 20 songs. I also have a special place in my heart for basketball — both playing and watching.
 
I edit, proofread, write, sing, play rhythm guitar and harmonica, and write songs.
 
2. Why did you decide to start your editing career? 
 
In college, I studied to be a minister in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967, with a major in Theology and Classical Languages and a minor in English (Composition and Literature). The next step in that system would have been four years of post-graduate seminary training — a step that I decided I didn't want to take. It was the mid-1960s, and the whole country was changing — Civil Rights, Women's Rights, the Vietnam War, radical protests against the government — not to mention the assassinations of people I'd looked up to in politics. I became more than a little disillusioned about politics and life in general, and I decided that being a minister was more my mom's dream for me than my own.
 
But when I was no longer studying for the ministry, I lost my deferment from being drafted into the Army and faced the very real prospect of being sent to fight in Vietnam. So, I took a church-sponsored job teaching English as a Second Language in Japan for one year (1970).
 
I'd been a social worker in Chicago for Cook County, Illinois, before I left for Japan.
 
I re-entered the social-work field when I moved to Kansas City at the age of 27, working for the Division of Family Services in Jackson County, Missouri. 
 
My particular area was abused and neglected children. It was an extremely stressful way to make a living. I saw some terrible things, the caseloads were too heavy to keep up with, the state/county bureaucracy was as antagonistic as some of the abusive parents, the pay scale was embarrassingly low, and it was the type of job in which you never got any closure. Cases would drag on for years — sometimes even decades. A lot of the work entailed writing reports on abuse and neglect cases and testifying in Family Court, providing testimony so that the judge would have a basis for placing the child with relatives or in the foster-care system.
 
Another thing I did when I got back to the US from Japan was to resume trying to make a go of it as a professional musician — a pursuit that lasted 46 years (1963 to 2009).
 
But I never gave up my day job, as my musical talents were only good enough to allow that pursuit to be a semi-professional career. If that semi-professional career can be said to have had a "peak," it would have been in August 1992, when the acoustic trio I was in at the time [Hug Squad] opened for The Lovin' Spoonful at Crown Center in Kansas City, in front of 20,000 people.
 
The Vietnam War was over, so I didn't have to worry about being drafted. But I knew that I wanted to decrease the stress in my life that social work produced.
 
I had always been good with the English language — good enough to teach in Japan. 
 
Sometimes, people will ask me, "What qualifies you to be an editor/proofreader? You can't get a college degree in either of those subjects." 
 
So, I answer, "I paid attention in third grade." It's the truth. If my questioner presses the issue, I respond, "39 years in business."  
 
Also, during my social-worker years, I had self-published two books in the BC Era (Before Computers). In 1977, I published a collection of the best of my poetry to date, Vanishing Into the Haze. In 1979, I gathered up the best prose and poetry of five friends of mine and acted as editor/critic/annotator/anthologist for As They Were: A Small Circle of Friends. 
 
I did attend a formal, two-day "Proofamatics" proofreading seminar offered by the publisher McGraw-Hill. In 1980, while I was still a social worker during the day, at night I worked as a Tutor in Writing, at the University of Missouri at Kansas City Writing Laboratory. I tutored individual students in writing skills and taught a series of group workshops on grammar, spelling, punctuation, and syntax.
 
Feeling confident that I could make a living in copy editing and proofreading, I decided to make a drastic career change. So, from 1981 to 1985, I worked in-house for several different typesetting companies in Kansas City. In 1985, I established my own freelance/independent contractor/vendor/outsource-model copy-editing and proofreading business, which I called "Proof Positive."
 
The rest is history. I finally was able to enjoy what I did for a living, and I never looked back. I successfully made the transition from hard-copy to computers in the late 1990s — about the same time that the "self-publishing revolution" began to take hold. Today, my business is about 80% literary clients and 20% corporate.
 
3. How many authors have you worked with?
 
I average about 100 books per year. 
 
Many of those books come from a single source, 1106 Design in Phoenix, AZ. They are a company that fills the niche that was created by the fact that many self-published authors need help with the editing, proofreading, cover design, and interior layout/formatting of their books. The people at 1106 Design are extremely professional, and they're some of the nicest people you'll ever meet in the publishing industry. To be clear, they are not a publishing company, per se. They are what can be called a "self-publishing assistance" company, offering the services I mentioned above.
 
The rest of my literary work comes from individual authors — from coast to coast and from all around the globe — who find me on LinkedIn or by word of mouth and hire me for my copy-editing and proofreading services for their books. (I have no time to be active on any social-media platform except the one for professionals — LinkedIn. Please visit my LinkedIn Profile Page ["Frank Kresen"] for much more detail and a photo of me and my beautiful wife, Kim Walsh, who is a stone-cold professional graphic designer with 25 years of experience and a specialization in book covers and interior layout/formatting of books. From time to time, author clients of mine will choose Kim for the design aspects of their book, and Kim and I will find ourselves working together on a book project.)
 
4.       What has been your favorite project so far?
5.       Are you working on anything new?
 
My personal creative-writing projects take the form of poetry, songs, and non-fiction.
 
Works-in-Progress:
 
1. When It Rains, It Pours: Fifteen Chronologies From the Dawn of the Eighties
Essays/Experimental Non-Fiction based on autobiographical experiences.
 
2. Johnny, They Hardly Knew Ye…
Commentary on the Life and Career of the Late John Stewart, an American Musical Original

(I've been working on this off and on since 2008. It is an extraordinarily in-depth essay on John Stewart (1939-2008), simply one of the most gifted and talented singer/songwriters this country has ever produced — "The Best Singer/Songwriter You've Never Heard Of," as I like to say.
 
6. Tell us about your services, in as much detail as possible.
 
a. What do you expect from the author when you start a project with them?
 
I expect that they'll be honest and forthright. 
 
I expect them to be serious about their writing.
 
I expect that they will pay me on time. 
 
About 10 years ago, I went through about a one-year time period in which three separate authors failed to pay me after I'd sent their completed manuscript back to them.
 
That made me change my policy about that. Now, my terms state plainly that I will hold on to the manuscript until my invoice is paid in full.  
 
b. What should the author expect from you during the project?
 
This is a very important question, and I'm glad you asked it.
 
I always strive — right from the beginning — to make the author aware that I limit my services exclusively to line-by-line copy editing and character-by-character proofreading. 
 
I am not what people would call a "Developmental Editor," which is a term that describes an editor who will work with the author on sharpening the development of characters and plots. 
 
I don't do that. 
 
If that's what an author is seeking, I have a list of Developmental Editors to whom I can refer them.
 
I concentrate solely on guaranteeing that the author will be able, following my work on the book, to take their manuscript to anyone, anywhere, confident that it displays the highest standards of commonly accepted norms for correct English-language usage. Even with limiting my services to this narrow range, I have always had almost more work than I can handle.
 
c. How long does it usually take to finish a project?
 
My average copy-editing and/or proofreading speed is 10 pages per hour. 
 
But that factor doesn't come into play very often, for two reasons:
 
1) I charge by the word.
 
2) I always allow the author to set the deadline date. I have found that it simply works out better that way: Expectations — on both sides — are clear. It's my responsibility to schedule the amount of work I have intelligently and to allot a certain number of pages to complete per day in order to meet the author-established deadline. I have become a very savvy scheduler — and I have never missed a deadline. 
 
d. Do you offer different types of editing services? If so, what are they?
 
See above.
 
e. What is the best advice you can give to make the project go smoothly?
 
It's helpful to me if the author submits a "Style Preferences" list — that is, a list of how they prefer how to handle different "Matters of Style."
 
"Matters of Style" cover the entire range of non-critical ("soft") compositional issues: Use of the serial comma; capitalization of certain terms; periods in acronyms; American English vs. British English; how to express dates, etc.
 
f. Can you give us pricing?
 
My basic rate is two cents per word. Using the multiplier "$0.02/word," authors can do the math themselves, if they want to.
 
But most authors will ask me for a quote, based on the word count.
 
The advantage of a pricing structure based on word count is that it is a "fixed-rate" approach. 
 
Charging by the hour, by the page, or by the project are all "variable-rate" approaches:
 
VARIABLE-RATE APPROACH:
 
BY THE HOUR: Different editors and proofreaders have different editing and proofreading speeds.
 
BY THE PAGE: Not all pages are equal when it come to the number of words on them.
 
BY THE PROJECT: There is simply too much diversity among projects to be able to quote an accurate price in advance.
 
The advantage of a pricing structure based on word count is that it is a "fixed-rate" approach.
 
FIXED-RATE APPROACH:
 
Once a quote is given based on word count, it will never change (unless the word count changes). There are no "surprises" at invoice time. The price will be exactly as quoted.
 
This is important, because some unscrupulous editors/proofreaders will "pad" their invoices, claiming it took much more time than it actually did or that the project, in general, was more complicated than the author made it out to be at the beginning. The result is much like "Sticker Shock" when buying a car.
 
That will never happen with my business.
 
DISCOUNTS:
 
One of the things — beyond expertise and experience — that attracts authors to use my services is my unique system of discounts. I offer four categories of discounts:
 

1. Introductory — 25% 

          This is available to any first-time user of my services, on a one-time-only basis.
     
     2.  Volume — Simply put, the higher the word count, the higher the additional discount.
 
          1 – 32,499 words, regular rates; 32,500 – 64,999 words, 5% off; 65,000 – 97,999 words, 10% off;    
          98,000 – 129,999 words, 15% off; 130,000 – 162,499 words, 20% off; 162,500 words or more, 25%   
          off.
 
     3.  Non-Profit: proof positive is happy to discount its services by 10% for clients who can substantiate  
          their status as a registered non-profit entity.
 
     4.  Multiple-book Discount
 
          Last but not least, if the author will sign a written agreement to give me at least one other book to  
          work on in the near future, I will offer them the highest discount available under my pricing 
          structure: 50% (!!!) Both the first and second books will enjoy the 50% discount.
 
     g. Would you like to share anything else about the editing process?
 
7. What advice would you give upcoming authors?
 
Be patient. Writing and publishing a book is a marathon, not a sprint.
 
Read the classics and other great works of literature. See what great writing looks like.
 
Write about things you love or are highly important to you. Your readers will be able to tell if your heart is not in it.
 
Trust your editor — and give him/her the tools he/she needs to work with, such as the "Style Preferences" list, described above.
 
Write, write, write — and then re-write, re-write, re-write. 

I was filling a prescription in the back of the pharmacy when an older gentleman walked in. T greeted him at the counter with a smile; this is the conversation that followed.

T- “Yes, we have that ready for you.”

Customer- “I thought you guys would call me when it’s ready?”

“Let me pull up your information and see if we have your correct phone number.”

“Sure, sound’s good.”

“Is your phone number 867-5309?”

I jerked my head around so fast, I almost gave myself whiplash. I couldn’t believe she had actually said that with a straight face. I was already signing the lyrics. It then dawned on me she didn’t catch it. I leaned back further to see if this guy would roast her or at least laugh.

“No, that’s not my number at all. That's not even close. I don’t know where you got that one.”

Seriously? He didn’t have a clue either.

“Oh okay, I’ll erase this and put your new one in.”

She added the new number, rang him up, and he left. The whole thing had gone completely over their heads, I was the only one that had caught it. I was standing there with my arms folded when she walked back into the back.

T- “What?”

Me- “Really?”

“What!”

“You have no idea what just happened do you?”

“No, what?”

I repeated the number.

“What about it?”

“Sing it.”

“What, the number?”

“Yes.”

She looked at me like I was crazy so I began to sing.

“867—”

​"Oh!"

I shook my head as it all came together for her, she began laughing hysterically.

“How are you still alive?” I asked walking back to my station.

Props to whoever put that phone number in.

Tell us a little about yourself. What are your favorite hobbies, favorite movie star, tell us one crazy thing about you, etc.
I’m Gabriela Kochanowski, a freelance illustrator based in Los Angeles, California! I have a degree in Illustration with an emphasis in Entertainment from Laguna College of Art and Design. 
A favorite hobby of mine would have to be going to music concerts or festivals. Music has been and always will be a big part of my life. Favorite movie star will always be Leonardo DiCaprio. One crazy thing about me... well I was born in
Poland! I came to California when I was 2.5 years old, so I don’t remember much, but I’m still proud to say I’m Polish! 
 
Why did you decide to start your illustrating career?
Starting my illustrating career wasn’t really a choice I kind of just fell into it. I always loved drawing and creating things from a very young age. When I grew older I fell in love with cartoons and animated films, so my goal has always been to get into the animation industry to help create characters. Right now I’m finding myself illustrating for children’s books and loving it, but I do want to end up at an animation studio at some point. (My dream is actually Walt Disney Animation Studio)
 
Have you worked with authors before?
Yes, I have illustrated for one other author last year and released a book with her. I am currently still working with the same author to create more non-fiction children’s stories based on her real life experiences. 
 
How many of your illustrations have been published?
I have illustrated for one book that has officially been published. It is called “The Baby Has Down Syndrome.” I’ve also had two sticker designs released on a website called “The Feminist Sticker Club” and its sister website “The Cat Sticker Club.” 
 
Are you working on anything new?
I am always working on new projects! Being stuck on one thing is not fun. I love to immerse myself in multiple projects, ideas, or personal sketches. 
 
Tell us about your services, in as much detail as possible.
 
a. What do you expect from the author when you start a project with them?
I expect the author to know exactly what they’re looking for in the illustrations. Having them explain what they envision for each page is very helpful for me as the illustrator. Makes my job a lot easier! As much explanation and detail from the author as possible will allow me to work quicker and come up with better ideas. Also, having a signed contract detailing the project/book does help. I’ve had authors email me and message me on Facebook interested in my services only to end up being ghosted or having them change their mind and go with another illustrator. This is very unprofessional to me. 
 
b. What should the author expect from you during the project?
The author should expect me to communicate well and ask questions when I’m unsure about something. I always try to update weekly or biweekly if possible. The process includes sending sketches first, color samples, final line-work, and final illustration. I always let the author have the final decision on which illustration they prefer for their book. 
 
c. How long does it usually take to finish a project?
Completion of projects depends on author timeline and/or illustrator timeline. I’ve completed a book within a month and I’m currently working on books that have taken longer than a year! I think I actually do prefer taking my time on books and making sure they come out perfect. Rushing a book is not fun, it’s stressful and I get so uninspired by it. 
 
d. Can you explain how the illustration project will work once started?
The illustration project works however the author and illustrator set it up. Like I mentioned earlier in section B- The process includes sending rough sketches first for the author to choose from. Next is usually color samples for the author to choose as well. Once the important details are chosen I create the line-work and color in the final illustration. I always let the author have the final decision on which illustration they prefer for their book. I’m sure this process is different for other illustrators, but I found that this works best for the authors I work with. 
 
e. Can you give us pricing?
For me, pricing can range anywhere from $50-$175 per page and totaling from $1,500-$5,000 for the entire book. It depends on how detailed the pages are and if it includes a background or not. To be completely honest, authors are getting a great bargain at this price. I have seen other long time professional illustrators and big time publishers quoting anywhere from $4,000-$10,000 per book for illustrations. The average children’s book has about 32 pages. 
 
f. Do you work across the US?
Yes! I live in California and work with clients all over the US. I communicate through email and it works very well for me. 

g. Would you like to share anything else about the illustration process?
No.
 
What has been your favorite project so far?
Not to be an author’s pet or anything, but truly my favorite project has been Laura’s Halloween book. I absolutely LOVE Halloween season. It has to be my favorite “holiday.” The colors, the candy, the costumes. I LOVE IT ALL!!! This has really been a dream book for me to work on. Definitely some of my best illustrations work is in this book. It’s going to be a beautiful and colorful book once published. I really can’t wait for it to be done, but I will also be sad that it’s over because it’s been so fun to illustrate these pages. 
 
What advice would you give upcoming authors?
Upcoming authors, if you are very serious about becoming published and getting your book noticed, please save up some money for your illustrator! It’s definitely not cheap and I know money doesn’t grow on trees, but this is a serious career. Illustrators probably need to pay their own bills, student loans, buy food, pay rent, buy materials, etc. Illustrating is how we make a living and it’s a serious job. I’m sure there are some illustrators that will do the job for cheap, but I guarantee you your illustrations will not turn out how you may have imagined. I always put in 110% for my authors and I try to go above and beyond to create great relationships with them. Illustrating is everything to me, but I do find myself struggling to make ends meet. I will be completely honest, it is HARD to make a living off of freelance illustrating. So treat us well please!
 
Personally, I have come to realize that I’d rather illustrate fiction than non-fiction! I love drawing fantasy and creatures that are out of this world. Drawing realistic stories can sometimes come to be uninspiring. (This is just a personal preference, but I will always illustrate for both!)
 
You can find my portfolio at www.gkillustration.carbonmade.com
On Twitter and Instagram I am @gkillustration
Thank you! If anyone is interested in working with me you may email me at gabrielakochanowski@gmail.com

Tell us a little about yourself. What are your favorite hobbies, favorite movie star, tell us one crazy thing about you, etc.

My name is George Lunsford. I am 52 years old. I severed in the U.S. Navy for 4 years where I was a Gunnersmate 3rd class. I severed aboard the U.S.S. Taylor FFG-50 with some of the best men, I have ever had the honor to know. I’ve worked numerous jobs in my lifetime and have been doing the same type of work for almost 20 years now. I am married to a wonderful lovely lady named Susan and together we have 4 kids and 3 grand kids. I am a very driven person. If I decide to do something, I work till I do it. I don’t really have hobbies I stay to busy. My favorite movie star is “John Wayne”.   One crazy thing about me? Well I am a kind of a nerd. I collect comics and action figures.

Why did you decide to become an author?

Well I have always saw things very different than most people. I see stories in everything, and I dream in color and in sequence. (meaning I dream in story form from the beginning to a conclusion). I have died in my dreams. I enjoy writing and one day while talking to my friend and publisher I decided to write a book and did.

How did you get into acting, producing, and directing?

I blame an old friend that had a local comic book shop. He did a commercial for his shop and asked me to be in it. BOOM I was hooked. I look for parts not having any idea how to find acting jobs or how to act. I finally found my buddy Dave Boyer. Dave wanted to be a film maker and I wanted to act so; off we went. We made a bunch of short film with him and I both taking turns writing the scripts. Then as I built my resume, I got bigger jobs. I have done commercials, music video (Steep Canyon Rangers- Long Shot), public service announcements, book trailers, indie feature films, and lots of shorts. I have been very lucky to work with film makers like Dewayne Ethridge, Chad Taylor, Mike Garland, and many others.  

When did you publish your first book?

June 2018 Legends, Myths, Monsters, and Ghost Volume 1 The Southern USA Edition.

How many books have you published?

I have published 2 books

Would you ever write in another genre?

I plan on doing horror, Sci-Fi, and action books.

Out of all the scary stories you’ve written about, what’s your favorite?

I have loved researching all the stories for my books. My favorite stories so far are Robert the Doll and the true story behind Jaws.

Are you planning on publishing another? Tell us about it.

I am working on Volume 3 of my book series “Legends, Myths, Monsters, and Ghost.” I hope to release it in November.

Are you traditionally published or self published?

That’s a tricky question. I have a small publisher. I do most of my own marketing. I set up my signing events and interviews. My publisher handles the setup which includes formatting, cover, ISBN number, and handles the stuff with the distributor.

Tell us about your radio show!

My talk show is about all things creepy. The show covers cryptid creatures, curses, hauntings, UFO stuff, serial killers, and anything else I can come up with. I talk about this stuff from all over the world not just America. I have over 37000 listeners in 187 countries. My show comes on every Tuesday night at 8 PM EST on WBUZ95.com.

Tell us about your writing journey, in as much detail as possible. How did you find a publisher? When did you decide you were ready to publish? What was the hardest part in the publishing experience? Easiest? Did you edit your own work or did someone else? Did you do the cover design? How long (from start to finish) did it take you to publish your first book? If you could do anything different, what would it be? Would you like to share anything else from your publishing experience?

My friend Alfred Adams was publishing books of biographies of famous people. He wanted to have a script written on one of his books. He saw my page on production hub and called me up. I worked on the script and become friends with Al. I turned the script in and that was it. Later on, I decided to write my first book and Al said lets do it. The hardest thing was all the research. I found different story versions for every story. The easiest thing was the writing. I love the writing. I am a very lucky man My lovely wife does all my editing and let me tell you she can be tough. She is not a yes woman. After the first book she toughened up now she makes sure it is all right before it goes to print. My covers are done by the same guy that does the formatting. This series of books average 6 months to write and research then a month or two for set up and to distributor. So about 8 months total. If I could change anything it would be, that I should have started writing sooner. If I could give any advice it would be find a small publisher or self -publish. Watch these publishing companies that charge you thousands of dollars you don’t need them.

What advice would you give upcoming authors?

My advice to new authors is WRITE. You need to put your ideas on paper or on a computer. You can always go back and organize it and spell check it. Don’t let anyone discourage you, take classes, and never stop. Don’t get frustrated with lack of sales or interest in your book.  Just keep going and one day you will have a best seller.  If you do make it to be a professional, don’t let it go to your head. Get your book to reviewers.

Tell us about your first book signing.

My first signing was at the Bigfoot festival and I had 25 books. I sold all my books with in 10 minutes of the festival starting. My first book signing at Barnes and Noble I sold 9 books.

Is there anything else you’d like to share or want the readers to know?

I just want to thank you for this interview, and I hope everyone does well with their books. My God bless you all. 
 
Thank you George, it was a pleasure!