This revolutionary diet and exercise program created by Alyssa Schaffer promises significant weight loss in just four weeks. I found the material immensely interesting, especially the numerous case studies of women who tried the program and saw results. Though I can’t say I’ve tried the program myself, I certainly learned some good tips working on Turn Up Your Fat Burn and its accompanying Turn Up Your Fat Burn Journal, and since they fall into my specialty category of health and wellness, I very much enjoyed the entire process.

First, I line edited/book doctored the book itself. What’s the difference between a line edit and book doctoring? For me, it’s this: Line editing includes light to moderate rewriting, but little in the way of reorganization. Book doctoring includes moderate to heavy rewriting, sometimes original writing, and reorganization to improve the flow and impact of the material presented. For this particular project, the work actually fell somewhere between these two services with light to moderate rewriting and some reorganization for an improved reading experience.

Next, I created the companion journal for this book. Prevention Books, the book arm of Prevention magazine, often pairs its books with such journals or diaries that make it simpler for readers to implement the programs. I love this idea as both a reader and a content professional—makes total sense to me! So to create the journal, I pulled material from the book to reflect the different weeks and aspects of the diet and exercise plans and slightly reworked it to suit the journal format. I then created tables that would enable the reader to track their progress accordingly. To round out the usefulness of the journal, I pulled material from editions of Prevention magazine and reworked them as needed. Finally, I wrote introductions and other bits of original material to pull everything together into a cohesive manuscript.

I love these kinds of projects. They don’t take very long, but the difference a good doctoring can make for a book already full of excellent information and advice is incredible. Sometimes when you’re working under a deadline or just have a lot of content, it can be difficult to see how it will all work best together. Sometimes when you do put it together, you overlook areas of repetition or your tired eyes skip over informational “holes.”

It’s very satisfying for me to help my clients bring their expertise to their audience in the clearest, most effective way possible! Plus, I’m always excited to learn more about health and wellness topics, which is why this category is one of my top interests and specialties. If you have a similar project, contact me so we can discuss your needs and figure out how I can help you achieve your publishing goals.

Founder of The Writer’s Ally, Ally E. Machate is a bestselling book collaborator, award-winning editor, and expert publishing consultant who loves using her insider knowledge and experience with the publishing industry to lead serious authors toward success. She and her team live to help make great books happen, whether that means showing a writer how to improve a manuscript, get an agent, or self-publish; or coaching an author on growing her platform to sell more books. Since 1999, she has supported hundreds of authors on their publishing journey and takes pride in serving as their books’ best ally.