Testimonials
“Gareth has a lucid intelligence, and has seen the writer’s dilemma from every direction, having been a writer and editor himself, and now an architect of book projects. He has a particular gift for discerning the structure of a story in mountains of material; it’s as if he can look at the outside of a body and see the skeleton. I would recommend him without hesitation to any writer.”
— Ellen Barry, Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times journalist
“Gareth takes the idea of an editor to a higher level: He not only edits for content and form, he also teaches clients the secrets of good writing. He’s brilliant, experienced, and empathic.”
— Elyse Cheney, The Cheney Agency
“Whenever I hear that the Verto team is involved in a book I’m interested in, my excitement level goes up, and my anxiety goes way down. They are fast, creative and responsive—and always know how to help a writer find their way, sometimes re-imagining a project from the ground up. I’d enthusiastically recommend Verto to any publisher or author looking for a calm, experienced and empathetic collaborator who can deliver manuscripts of stellar quality with zero drama.”
— Niki Papadopoulos, VP, Editor-in-Chief, Portfolio (PRH)
“Kate empowers writers to do their very best work: Her encouragement and optimism make you feel as if you are actually capable of doing the Herculean task that lies before you. As my editor for 15 years, she helped me transform my sprawling reporting into riveting, emotionally resonant narratives. Kate’s keen storytelling instincts and fierce intellect inform every aspect of the process—from big-picture conceptual work to line edits—and she cares deeply about both the writer and the people on the page.”
— Pamela Colloff, staff writer at the New York Times Magazine and reporter at ProPublica
“Gareth was my book whisperer. He took a book that was filled with academic concepts and helped bring them to life for a mass audience. He taught me how to tell stories that would engage the reader in difficult material, propel them forward, and leave them wanting more. He was a tough taskmaster but also kind, generous, and enthusiastic. This would have been a very different — and less interesting — book without him.”
Barbara Walter, Rohr Professor of International Affairs at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego and author of the New York Times bestselling How Civil Wars Start.
“Working with Gareth and Kate is every writer’s dream: wise, skillful editors who are right next to you in the trenches. Writing a book can be an extremely lonely process. With decades of experience between them, Kate and Gareth bring wisdom, skill, and enthusiasm that make the process fun and extremely efficient. I feel so lucky to have them both on my team.”
— Journalist Jennifer B. Wallace, author of the New York Times bestselling Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic—and What We Can Do About It
“Gareth is an absolute lifesaver. Capable of managing complex storytelling, providing thoughtful framing devices for upmarket nonfiction, and building the personal connection always required for any great collaborative book project.”
— Jay Mandel, William Morris Endeavor
“I appreciated the candor and care of the Verto team in helping me think about my next book project.”
— Angela Duckworth, the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the NYT bestselling Grit
“What Gareth does is more akin to book neurosurgery than doctoring.”
— Chris Parris-Lamb, Vice President, The Gernert Company
“I have worked with many editors over a 35-year career in journalism and book writing and have only encountered a few with Kate’s abilities. They include a remarkable talent for structural editing, a deep understanding of how story works, and above all the capacity to communicate her insights to a writer. She is a delight to work with.”
— S. C. Gwynne, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of New York Times bestsellers Empire of the Summer Moon and Rebel Yell
“I came to Verto with a hot mess of a first draft — no cohesive arc, unclear central message, too academic. They dismantled my manuscript for parts and through their unique process built my book back, brick by brick, until it became a work of which I could be proud. They worked ceaselessly to help me meet my deadline. In the end, my editor was thrilled with the product (as was I).”
— Dalton Conley, the Henry Putnam University Professor of Sociology at Princeton University and author of The Social Genome
“Verto has been an ideal collaborator for my clients and me, offering a wealth of knowledge about the underpinnings of great books. From structure, to crafting stories, to integrating research, to establishing a point of view and tuning their voice on the page, writers can depend on Gareth’s steady hand to help them realize their full potential.”
— Christy Fletcher, founder of Fletcher & Company
“[Verto] raised the ambitions of the book and challenged me as a reporter and writer. This is a far better book, and I am a far better journalist, because of them.”
— Rhaina Cohen, author of The Other Significant Others
“Verto came in at a crucial point in the process, helping us sift through volumes of material to see the story we wanted to tell. Gareth’s organization, vigor, and talent with structure and ideas gave us important direction on a very complicated project that was unfolding in real time.”
— New York Times journalists Cecilia Kang & Sheera Frenkel, authors of the New York Times bestselling An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination
“Gareth is every journalist’s dream editor. He taught me to think through my material while I was gathering it—to figure out what story I could tell with what I already had, and what I still needed to get. It’s an approach that makes every part of the process less stressful and inevitably results in a better piece of writing.”
— Leon Neyfakh, host of the podcasts Slow Burn and Fiasco
“Midway through writing my first book, several chapters just weren’t gelling. The narrative wasn’t flowing properly, and I couldn’t figure out how to make the ideas really come to life. Gareth came to the rescue, helping me rearrange storylines and clarify hard-to-describe concepts. I’m so grateful for his extraordinary input!”
— Wharton School Professor Katherine L. Milkman, author of How to Change
“Alexis has an engineer’s understanding of structure, a psychiatrist’s grasp of human complexity, and a poet’s feel for language. Whenever we discussed pages I’d submitted, I felt she could see over the horizon line, past the narrative as it was and into what it might become. Thanks to her, my work has become stronger, and I have become a better writer. I recommend her wholeheartedly to anyone looking for a genuinely great editor.”