About Me
My journey in books started with four years as an editorial partner to the best-selling business author and CEO Keith Ferrazzi. Before that, I cut my teeth as an apprentice to the celebrity memoirist and oral historian David Rensin. Prior to working in book publishing, I first learned to tell long-form stories by writing screenplays (everything from a sci-fi fantasy about a modern-day Icarus to a biopic about the period Walt Whitman spent in New Orleans) and working as a screenwriting assistant. The storytelling muscles I developed using three-act structure and capturing voice are flexed with every book I write.
My skills have lead to a wide variety of past professional experiences, including: geopolitical analyst, startup cofounder, producer of the Social Capitalist podcast, and content strategist for brands like Verizon Wireless, Salesforce, and Scholastic.
What else should you know about me as a creative partner:
I’m active in the NY publishing scene. I live in NYC and work primarily on business books and memoirs published by the Big Five. I also freelance as a reporter for PubLunch, the newsletter that most people in publishing read every day.
High-profile people with a message love to work with me. I’m able to get their voice authentically on the page, with minimal disruption to their busy lives.
Editors love to work with me. I deliver great books on time, and engage with every step of the editorial process, from the initial edit to the final proof.
My authors feel exceptionally safe with me. They discover quickly that I listen with loving witness, holding their stories in confidence as we figure out together which elements belong on the page.
I’m ambidextrous – as comfortable using my left hand as my right. I believe that’s why I’m an unusual combination of artist and analyst; freethinker and taskmaster; empath and realist; writer and reader. Also, never ask me for directions; I confuse my right and my left.
Things you don’t need to know but may be of interest:
My home and office are in Flatbush, Brooklyn, across the street from a cemetery where my husband has family buried, to our great surprise. In a crowded, unruly city, I feel fortunate to live adjacent to a quiet and sacred space.
I’m from Washington, D.C., where I went to public school through eight grade and had parents who were very active in local politics and historic preservation efforts. I learned early that community can be family. After girl’s high school at the Madeira School, I went to college in Austin, Texas, graduating from the University of Texas Plan II Honors College. I lived in LA for 10 years and first worked for a political magazine, where I learned I did not want to share my opinions for a living.
I am mother to a daughter, a Black Lab and an orange cat with a very loud meow. I’ve been practicing yoga regularly for half of my life, and I love to amble in the great outdoors. I speak French and Spanish, both badly, and have lived in France and Germany. My daily snaps are on Instagram @saragracer. I read books every day.