Who We Are

Book Genie is owned by Jeanne De Vita (pronounced gee-nee, like genie in a bottle). A career editor, writing instructor, and author, Jeanne and her carefully curated team have supported traditionally published authors, indie authors, podcasters, bloggers, and small business develop powerful products to reach their audiences for more than 15 years.

Our Experience: Editorial Expertise

Since her first job acquiring romance novels for a large digital publisher, Jeanne has edited some of the most successful authors across multiple genres. With more than a decade of experience as an acquiring editor and developmental editor, Jeanne understands how to help an author improve the viability of their work in the competitive market space to which they aspire. As a copyeditor and line editor, Jeanne helps demystify the essentials of grammar and voice to help authors clearly convey their message whether in books or other formats.

Our Passion: Writing Instruction

Jeanne teaches writing as a contract instructor at some of the most reputable institutions of higher education and practical learning in the market. A stable in the instructor corps since 2017, Jeanne teaches everything from editing to writing to submission preparation at The Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension. Jeanne was honored with a prestigious Instructor Excellence Award in 2023. You can find her teaching at bookstores such as The Ripped Bodice in Culver City, California, online for Writers.com, among others.

2023 UCLA Extension Instructor Excellence Award

Our Passion:

While Jeanne loves sharing her passion for the craft of writing with authors at every stage of the journey, sometimes the work requires a more involved hand. Jeanne has ghostwritten several million words of both fiction and non-fiction, including romance featured on top-performing apps, USA-Today bestselling titles for established author brands, and podcasts and nonfiction books with international distribution. Jeanne also publishes her own original works of fiction under a pen name and nonfiction under her given name.

Books Are Just Part of the Business

Authors who want to make careers around their products need marketing, websites, ads, and strategic business guidance. Jeanne and her carefully vetted team of contractors work with nonfiction authors, podcast creators, book coaches, business owners, and creatives of all kinds to develop a full-service approach to running your business. Whether you’re a romance author looking to improve your Facebook ads, a podcaster who needs help crafting impactful scripts, or a small business looking for a way to better brand yourself through your website and social media strategy, we can teach you how to execute on these tasks effectively and efficiently. We can also put a team in place to manage business-critical tasks for you while you stay focused on what you’re best at: creating.

Our Values: Education and Transparency

Whether you need a developmental editor or a marketing strategist, we believe that the best customer service comes from teaching our clients what we know. Because we work with so many different clients, we keep on top of the trends and are committed to growth and innovation. We do not believe in dependency, or creating silos so our clients don’t understand what we do, how we charge, and what they can expect.

When you work with us, we provide clear pricing for the time or the work product you’ll receive. We educate you about the process and our approach along the way. And we empower you to do what we do, so you can grow your business after one consultation.

How do we stay in business if we teach you what we do? We keep growing, changing, and trying new things, so we can bring market-tested results to everything we do. We’ve operated this business through word of mouth and referrals, so most of the client work we have comes from happy customers coming back to us or sending friends our way.

Where It All Started

Jeanne’s mother was a traditionally published author who never attended college. Sharon De Vita taught herself to write the old-fashioned way: by reading, by writing, and by failing. She eventually “failed better” and published more than 25 works of traditionally published fiction and nonfiction before her passing in 2015. Jeanne grew up watching her mother teach herself to write. Taking every rejection and never giving up. And when her mother started to earn success, she didn’t just enjoy it from a comfortable view. Her mother passed it on, mentoring, editing, and teaching hundreds of fellow authors over several decades.

Jeanne was raised to believe that the only way to succeed and grow is through community, collaboration, and constant commitment to our values. She feels honored to carry on her mother’s legacy through the work she does every day.

About

A Chicago native, Jeanne earned her B.A. in English from Iowa State University and the M.F.A. in Creative Writing-Fiction from the University of Notre Dame. Jeanne lives in Los Angeles, California, with a German Shepherd she rescued during the pandemic and thousands of beloved books.

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Editor, writing instructor, Owner of Book-Genie.com, and all-around book genius! 💖🧞‍♂️📚
🧞‍♂️📚 Digital Marketer @BookGenie