“Having known and worked with Eric for nearly two decades, I consider him both a colleague and a friend who has taught me a lot and enriched my professional life.

“Eric is gifted in his understanding of and relationships with authors; an author himself, he genuinely likes fellow writers and is sincere, sensitive, diplomatic, and patiently persistent in his approach to them and their work. Eric just seems to know how to recognize individual authors’ strengths and pull the best from them. He works to form a true bond, and I have never known an author to feel anything but gratitude and amazement at Eric’s steadfast shepherding of their work through whatever stages of support are required—development, reorganization, revisions, or wordsmithing.

“As an editorial director and senior editor, I have worked closely with Eric and reviewed his work on dozens of books for people of all ages on topics ranging from school climate and leadership to social-emotional and life skills. He can tackle chapter books, picture books, poetry, fiction, prose, how-to manuals, and essays. In particular, Eric has a special touch when it comes to writing and editing books for kids. He obviously has a deep affinity for children and teens and understands what interests them, what motivates them, what worries them, what appeals to them, and what makes them laugh. He seems to effortlessly incorporate humor and create art specs that are clever and original without being snarky or corny. 

“When a project calls for an editor who’s genuinely curious and collaborative, who has a deft hand and a creative imagination, Eric always comes foremost to mind.”

—Marjorie Lisovskis, Senior Editor, Free Spirit Publishing

“Eric was absolutely fantastic to work with. I approached him with a conceptually difficult and structurally all-over-the-place piece of writing. He not only found the story-line, he helped me find the right voice, scene development, and audience. It would be no exaggeration to say Eric saved me easily over 100 hours of head scratching and going around in circles. What I appreciated just as much was Eric's ability to meet me where I where I am at as a writer - that is amateur - and nevertheless treat my story with an incredible degree of respect and seriousness. His recommendations and feedback were extremely thoughtful, detailed, and motivating. He found every opportunity as an editor to improve me in general as a writer. And each time - of which there were many - I felt my story was turning into a knot, Eric geniusly untangled the pieces and pointed me down a new path. I can't recommend him highly enough to any writer working at any level or within any genre.”

—Marci Jarog, January 2023

“I pitched my first book, about my work as a child psychologist, to a literary agent who said she liked it but that it needed substantial editing. She referred me to Eric. Eric helped me improve at the sentence level as well as look more deeply into what I was trying to write, resulting in a much more reader-friendly book. After working with Eric, my revised book landed me a contract with that agent. Now, as I work on my second book, I have discovered Eric to have been a great teacher as well. I can hear his lessons and comments guiding me as I write. Thanks, Eric, for teaching me to be a better writer!”

— Louis Propp, author of Notes from a Child Psychologist

“As a managing editor, editorial director, and author, I've worked with dozens of editors—none better than Eric Braun. Eric is a highly talented and creative writer as well as editor. He has a great ear, and he visualizes a story as well as hears it. In fact, Eric not only provided editorial insight and correction to my book, but art direction as well. ‘Editor’ does not do him justice; I consider him a colleague and collaborator, an artist and a friend.”

—Gerald Ruff, author of Neil and Keane

“Eric was wonderful to work with on my query letter. He was very communicative and prompt, and his suggestions were on target and incredibly helpful. I highly recommend!”

—Jamie Parsons, May 2023

“Eric pushed me to rethink the structure of the book, resulting in a more reader-friendly book for new teachers. . . . When the publisher and I had competing visions about certain material, he was able to find solutions that made everyone happy. I am proud of the book we did together and feel like I learned a ton in the process. I look forward to working with him again soon.”

—Otis Kriegel, author of Everything a New Elementary School Teacher REALLY Needs to Know (but didn't learn in college)

"Eric edited my book about my journey with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Writing about something so personal wasn’t always easy, but Eric drew content out of me with his sensitivity and thoughtful suggestions. . . . An author himself, Eric understands how it feels to be edited, so he didn’t just note areas of concern throughout my manuscript—he also highlighted sections that he loved, telling me how moved he was by the passage, or letting me know it was an example of what to aim for in other chapters. He took my big blob of a first draft and organized it, moving around anecdotes, research, and guest essays like they were puzzle pieces, and I couldn’t be happier with the result."

—Alison Dotson, author of Being Me with OCD: How I Learned to Obsess Less and Live My Life

“As a picture book author, I was filled with anxiety when my first middle grade fantasy went to the editor. Little did I know that the best person to shepherd my book to publication was now reading my story. Eric’s first correspondence, and every one since, was filled with encouragement and a concise discussion of the issues. I appreciated that Eric didn’t tell me how to improve my book, but asked thought-provoking questions leading me to find solutions that inevitably vastly improved the story. His suggestions guided me and instructed me, resulting in my growing as a writer. I have learned so much working with Eric, and know the books are so much better than they would have been without his input. Eric’s return edits are timely, and he is wonderful about communicating.”

—Wendy Ulmer, author of The Journals of Anterg, wooly moon studio

“Eric was patient guiding me through my revisions and edits. He took the time to tell me what he enjoyed and was sensitive to my feelings when there were parts that needed to go or needed to change. His sense of humor and coaching helped me make my book so much better than what I started with. His suggestions helped me to bring what I wanted to say to life. Having Eric as your editor is like gaining a writing mentor. I improved as a writer, not just as a writer of that particular book.”

—Shannon Anderson, author of Mindset Power: A Kid's Guide to Growing Better Every Day

“Like a product reviewer who says, ‘Buy this vegetable peeler, it’s the best,’ I would simply say, ‘Use this editor, you will be thrilled.’ Eric doesn’t have a preconceived notion of how a book should be. His goal is to allow each author’s unique voice and vision to emerge and shine. In a number of instances, Eric crafted some drafts for how a particular topic or anecdote might be treated. It was uncanny. As if he were channeling me. Did I write that in my sleep and not know it?

The best editors are wordsmiths and therapists. As a skilled editor and author himself, Eric understands the practical, technical, intellectual, and emotional elements of the writing process. He provides sensitive encouragement and insight for them all. Writing can be a lonely pursuit, full of frustration, self-doubt, and occasional dead-ends. With Eric as your collaborator, you can rest assured that the process will be as painless, enjoyable, and rewarding as possible, and that you will come out of it a better writer, with a better book.

I will conclude my 10-star testimonial by saying that Eric is especially adept at editing passages having to do with farts, of which there were, for obvious reasons, many in my book for teens on digital well-being and protecting yourself from Big Tech’s manipulative, invasive, addictive machinations.”

—Alex J. Packer. Ph.D., author of Slaying Digital Dragons: Tips and tools for protecting your body, brain, psyche, and thumbs from the digital dark side

“Eric brought his A-game to my book proposal offering thoughtful insights and thorough feedback. I am confident that my project now has the best chance of standing out in the slush pile and capturing an agent's attention.”

—Jobert Abueva, August 2022

"I had the good fortune of having Eric assigned as my editor early on. Best assignment I've ever received! Every book and supplemental I've written with Eric as my editor is exponentially better because of him. He is equally thoughtful and creative throughout the process. When he asks questions of me as a writer, his queries are crafted in ways that provide the necessary push to make the final manuscript the best it can be. He has a true appreciation of the written word, and regardless of audience, his adaptability as an editor is evident by his ability to edit curricula, short stories, fiction, and non-fiction. Plus, he's great fun to communicate with and has a wickedly smart sense of humor."

—Mariam MacGregor, M.S., author of the Building Everyday Leadership series