About Me (and you)

It’s time to write that book you keep talking about.

You know it is.

You have something to say that can help people. You know how to inspire people to make profound shifts in their lives, but you’re just so busy doing your work—seeing clients and patients and producing content that helps them in so many ways—that slowing down to actually DO it has been way too difficult.

When it’s time (now), you need the process to be efficient. Clean. Clear. You need to stay on track and have a guide to help you know what you should include and what you shouldn’t so your book can help as many people as possible as fast as possible.

Accountability.

Deadlines.

Professional feedback every step of the way from a publishing pro who will not just help you finish, but who can help you get published.

That’s where I come in.

My name is Gretel Hakanson, and the thing that lights me up the most in the world is helping experts develop a book that ignites readers to make transformations in body, mind, or spirit.

After 15 years of editing health, wellness, and lifestyle books for authors and trade publishers, one thing became very clear:
Writing a transformational nonfiction book is not easy.

Authors do not sit down start at page one and sail through until “the end.” There’s often lots of rewriting, revising, deleting huge swaths of text, confusion, incoherence, frustration, insecurity.

My zone of genius is helping you get clarity from the very beginning so you stay on track the entire time—from idea to proposal to manuscript. And I have tools and processes to do that—a system, which is about turnkey as you can get in the publishing industry. I have worked on more than 150 published books in the health and wellness space, and I’m a certified book coach with Author Accelerator.

What I do

I help brilliant, health-minded leaders get their ideas out to the world. From proposals to publishing, start to finish, let’s do something amazing together.

Gretel showed me how to write with greater clarity, coherence, and confidence. She has a knack for helping you make your writing clearer and knows exactly where you need more examples and transitions, resulting in smooth and seamless writing. Her judgment is spot on, and she helped me turn my book into something I am very proud of.

~ Tamar Black, PhD

Gretel was a valuable contributor to 10 nonfiction professional books for architects, engineers, and contractors that I wrote over a six-year period. Gretel was always “present” for the books, treating them as if they were her own. I found quickly that I could trust her judgment and professionalism in all aspects of book creation, editing, and preparation for publication.

~ Jerry Yudelson

Love Is an Action Verb Gretel went above and beyond before I even hired her, having thoroughly read the 3,000 words I gave her for my estimate. In our initial conversation, I was amazed at how deeply she was thinking about my topic, my readers, and my writing. She returned my manuscript with comments that were spot-on. There was not a single piece of feedback that I disagreed with, and all comments were given with a unique combination of humility, respect, clarity, and knowledge. I am left feeling a renewed love for my book after she worked her magic and helped me wrestle with some things that just weren’t working and were driving me crazy.

~ Laura Silverstein

From the moment we met, we felt a connection with Gretel through her professionalism and attention to detail. She took a keen interest in our topic, and we felt her passion for our purpose and for the children we serve. She ultimately made the book a better version of itself.