Holly Melton Email & Phone Number

I write fiction and nonfiction books and series for beginning readers through young adults. I focus on work-for-hire projects. My specialties include decodable books, hi-lo books, and elementary and middle grade fiction and nonfiction books. Genres include mysteries; animal books; humorous, realistic, and historical fiction; and science fiction and fantasy. I write educational materials for K–12 publishers in the areas of reading/language arts, geography and history, and science. Having worked both freelance and on-staff I know the importance of delivering clean, clear manuscripts that meet all requirements and deadlines. I enjoy writing for past employers and clients and look forward to writing for new clients!

Novato, California

High Noon Books publishes fiction and nonfiction books for struggling readers of all ages. At High Noon Books I was a senior project manager, series-planner, lead editor, and book series-writer (often simultaneously on different projects). I worked with my fellow editors, freelance writers, photo researchers, artists, and designers to take books from the idea stage to published series. I conceived of and wrote three book series myself: the Leela and Ben mystery series; Secret Spies; and Pets Rule! I also traveled to conferences to promote High Noon's books, e-books, and audio books.

San Francisco, California

Straight Line was a top-tier developer of educational materials for the K–12 market. The company conceptualized, prototyped, wrote, and edited student textbooks, teacher guides, leveled readers, test prep and assessment materials, online and CD courseware, and curriculum for educational toys. Clients included Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Pearson/Prentice Hall, National Geographic Society, Scholastic, Zaner-Bloser, and more. As Head Writer, I developed prototypes and wrote materials including leveled readers, student book and teacher edition materials, and interactive and online materials. As Project Manager, I supervised freelance writers and in-house staffers and edited their materials as I guided projects through multiple stages of development and production.

I wrote and edited educational materials for textbook and tradebook publishers, web-based and computer-based companies, toy companies, and development houses. My specialties were reading, language arts, and social studies; I also wrote science materials. Clients included Pearson/Prentice Hall, National Geographic Society, Nickelodeon, LeapFrog, Houghton Mifflin, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Teacher's Curriculum Institute, and more.

Novato, California

IntelliTools made adaptive technology products and educational software. I developed curriculum, game play, and dialogue scripts for math software: Number Concepts 1 ("Software of the Year" Award/Technology and Learning, 1998) and Number Concepts 2. I collaborated with programmers and graphic artists, conducted student testing, and wrote user guides.

San Francisco, California

I began my post-college career as a copy editor at the San Francisco branch of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. By the time the San Francisco office closed, I had worked my way up to level editor, in charge of the third grade social studies textbook (in a K–6 series).

Ba, English

Radcliffe Publishing Course, Publishing

This six-week publishing course has been billed as "the shortest graduate school in the country." Now the Columbia Publishing Course.

Multiple Subject Teaching Credential