Local Entrepreneur Launches Second Business
Janice Beetle Books LLC centers around book development
EASTHAMPTON—Janice Beetle, a longtime writer and editor from Western Massachusetts, has launched a second business, Janice Beetle Books LLC, which centers around book development and publishing.
The owner of Beetle Press, a PR and communications firm, Beetle has offered the book development expertise through Beetle Press for nearly a decade. She has now built Janice Beetle Books around that creative service line.
Beetle works with writers of all skill levels—as well as nonwriters—to help them carry a book idea through to publication. She also offers writing coaching services.
“My clients need help with some part of the work—whether it’s developing the idea, writing or editing the manuscript, or navigating the publishing process,” Beetle said. “It’s very exciting to help people bring a long-held desire from book idea to bookshelf.”
The website for Janice Beetle Books is at JaniceBeetleBooks.com and was developed by Danaë DiNicola of Turn Signal Media. The site showcases services, Beetle’s own creative writing to date as well as her clients’ books.
Others who helped in the development of the business are: Val Nelson, a business and life coach; Mark NeJame, a Northampton attorney who created the LLC; Teresa Adams, a creative writer in the region; and summer intern Anthony Aquadro.
“What I love about the book development work is that there is nurture involved as well as skill and knowledge,” Beetle said. “People come to me, and they think their idea is not worthy, or that no one will want to read their story. They have fears—that they can’t complete a book, that it won’t be good enough, that they won’t be able to get it published after doing all the work. They look to me for validation, motivation, inspiration, and resources.”
Beetle added, “I still love the deep sense of satisfaction I see on their faces when they hold their books in their hands for the first time. That doesn’t get old.”
The following are recent clients and their book titles: Jim Ricci, author of Hand, Horse and Motor: The Development of the Lawn Mower Industry in the United States; Tom Zink, author of Seasoned: A Memoir of Grief and Grace; and Peter Cichon, who wrote Flight of Integrity with Beetle.
Flight of Integrity is a novel that fictionalizes a turn for the worst in Cichon’s career at an airline. It will be published by Off the Common Books in Amherst, Massachusetts, in September.
Beetle, of Easthampton, holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Westfield State College.
Since 1998, she has operated Beetle Press, offering writing, editing, and digital marketing services to business owners and leaders of nonprofit organizations.
A former journalist, she writes and distributes press releases to local media and also does media consulting.
She also writes content for print publications of all types, and she writes blogs, enewsletters, and website content.
For more information about Beetle Press, visit BeetlePress.com.
