Lyon, Elizabeth Redditt 1950–

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Lyon, Elizabeth Redditt 1950–

PERSONAL: Born 1950, in Toledo, OH; married (twice; divorced twice); children: one daughter, one son. Education: Whittier College, B.A.; Azusa Pacific University, M.A.

ADDRESSES: Office—Editing International, 3355 N. Delta Hwy, Ste. 146, Eugene, OR 97408. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Educator, writer, and editor. Lyon's Literary Services, founder and operator, 1988–2002; Editing International, president, 2002–. Also teaches master classes in novel craft at Writer's Retreat Workshop, Erlanger, KY.

WRITINGS:

Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write: How to Get a Contract and an Advance before Writing Your Book, Blue Heron (Hillsboro, OR), 1995, revised and updated, Perigee Books (New York, NY), 2002.

The Sell-Your-Novel Tool Kit: Everything You Need to Know about Queries, Synopses, Marketing, and Breaking In, Blue Heron (Hillsboro, OR), 1997, revised and updated, Perigee Books (New York, NY), 2002.

A Writer's Guide to Nonfiction, Perigee Books (New York, NY), 2003.

A Writer's Guide to Fiction, Perigee Books (New York, NY), 2004.

National Directory of Editors and Writers: Freelance Editors, Copyeditors, Ghostwriters, and Technical Writers, and Proofreaders for Individuals, Businesses, Nonprofits, and Government Agencies, M. Evans (New York, NY), 2005.

Also author of self-published Mabel: The Story of One Midwife, distributed by Midwifery Today magazine. Contributor of articles to periodicals, including Writer and Writer's Digest, and to The Writer's Handbook, A Complete Guide to Novel Writing and Language Awareness, Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Elizabeth Redditt Lyon has developed a career as a writing coach and editor, and has written several books aimed at helping writers to both improve their writing and market their books and articles. On her Home Page, Lyon noted, "All writers work on craft forever. My goal since I became a writing teacher, author, and editor has been to find and share the good advice out of the flood of not-so-good advice."

In A Writer's Guide to Nonfiction Lyon covers everything from getting started and troubleshooting to marketing and expanding horizons. The author also explores the writing of various genres of nonfiction, including memoirs, travel writing, and technical writing. The book includes "maps," or specific guidelines, that are designed to help the writer get organized, focus on an audience, and conduct research. Janice Bees, writing in Kliatt, felt that while the book's weakness coms from a lack of writing examples from other writers, it "is strong when it comes to describing how to structure, organize, and research your nonfiction piece, and how to tailor and market your piece to a target audience." In a review in Library Journal, Herbert E. Shapiro felt that Lyon writes primarily for "readers interested in the practicalities of publishing and marketing their work."

Lyon is also the author of A Writer's Guide to Fiction. Writer contributor Steve Weinberg noted that, in this book, she focuses specifically on the craft of writing, including such elements as characterization and "mapping the plot line, composing effective settings, descriptions and imagery, [and] finding the appropriate ending."