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Why Hire Me?

Honestly, why you should hire me is a good question. I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. So here’s a bit about me…

If you found me on an average day, I would be hanging out with my husband, three girls (including identical twins!), two cats, and a highly intelligent Belgian Malinois. And since we live in the country, we share our yard with a herd of deer, a family of foxes, and hundreds of birds. {There’s nothing quite like sitting around a fire at night, staring at the millions of stars in the sky, and listening to a whippoorwill.} Chances are I might have a camera, a recipe, or a book in my hand because I love photography, cooking, and books (in no particular order).

One day quite a few years ago, someone asked me what I thought about being a Publishing major in college. Publishing? What’s that entail? My curiosity spiked. I already had a love for books, and in high school I had been introduced to basic design through art and yearbook classes. So I went off to college to discover exactly what being a Publishing major meant.

My college training proceeded to include all facets of publishing. We studied newspaper and magazine production from conception to final print, proofreading methods, editing marks, common errors, writing techniques, editing skills, headline and caption writing, Chicago and AP style books, layout and design, and so much more. Before those years were over, I interned at a major education publishing house as a proofreader and then as a line editor for English, history, and science textbooks. Upon request from the English department authors, I returned to the English division for a second internship and honed my skills in writing and editing under the watchful eyes of my mentors. Today, I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Publishing.

Since completing that internship over 22 years ago, my professional {interpret that as “working for someone else”} experience includes: four years in the classroom as a high school English teacher, mostly because I had more instruction in grammar and literature than an English / Language Arts education major did; a writer and ad designer for a West Virginia newspaper; and an online English and Writing tutor (high school and college level). I’ve also ‘worked’ as a book reviewer for some of the top Christian publishers, reading and reviewing new releases. As a designer, I won numerous awards from the West Virginia Press Association for work on color and black and white advertisements. And I coached a yearbook staff in creating a Bronze Medal yearbook, awarded by Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

While working full-time, I also officially opened the doors to my first editing and design freelance business. I discovered a fire burning within when I started helping others with their work. Working on manuscripts and books quickly became my life’s passion. And then in early 2011 I gave birth to my twins. Cue the sleep deprivation and brain fog. By the end of that year, it was obvious that I needed to close the doors to my business in order to concentrate on raising my babies. I anguished over that decision, but knew that when the time was right, I could return to work. Once my twins along with their younger sister were ‘older,’ I returned to my freelance career.

Unfortunately, I chose a business name – Starcher Designs – that wasn’t exactly an accurate reflection of my skill set. (I’ll blame having three kids under the age of four for that oops.) In 2021 I rebranded my business with a new name – Mountain Creek Books LLC – to better represent the variety of services I offer. And in 2022 I published my first book, From Draft to Book: A Guide to Self-publishing, to further showcase how I can help authors.

However, no matter my business name is, my passion has remained steadfast over the years. Deep in my veins runs a desire to help people get their message out and tell their story as effectively as possible. I believe that every single one of us has a God-given story, and it is our responsibility to share that story with others. For some of us, that story might be about a life event or about a principle we learned; for others, that story might be fictional, instructional, or technical, but it is still God-given.

Let me help you tell your story. I offer book coaching sessions, manuscript critiques, and ghostwriting plus the standards of editing and design. Don’t put off telling your story any longer! Send me a quick message to let me know you are interested.

~Kara Starcher