Kate Baldwin

About Me  |  Editing  |  Writing Salons  |  Join Us

About Me

I’ve been working as a writer and editor on award-winning titles for more than 20 years with indie and large publishers including Little, Brown and Company, Godine, Penguin Random House, St. Martin’s Press, Scholastic, Hatherleigh Press (distributed by Random House), Rockport Press, Islandport Press, and Green Writers Press. I have an MFA from Vermont college, an MEd from Lesley University, and I was part of the inaugural Gateless Teacher Training.

I grew up on an island in Maine, a place with a thousand shades of pine and sky, the bay dotted with sailboats, lobster pots and the bell buoy calling us home when the waves turned rough. It was a place to be quiet and thoughtful, to fall in love with the woods and sea and mountains. The island, with its deep beauty and great silences made me a reader and a writer. 

I’ve taught writing and led salons in corporate and educational settings including Simmons College, Bay State College, Boston Architectural Center, Fine Arts Works Center of Provincetown, Mass Poetry Poet-Educator Program, The Community Group and throughout Massachusetts as part of the Department of Education.

My own work has appeared in The Maine Review, Hunger Mountain, Soundings East, Larcom Review and the Huffington Post among others. My first book of poetry is forthcoming from Green Writers Press and I am working on a young adult novel, set on that beloved evergreen island. 

My greatest love is working with writers in Gateless Writing salons, as a development editor of all genres, and as a copyeditor. Let me know what you are working on and what you need help with. I can’t wait to hear from you! 

Books I’ve worked on: 

Editing

Manuscript Reads and Developmental Editing

I’ve been helping people write their books for more than two decades. I work alongside published authors and established experts, as well as new and emerging writers, to produce books that sell and stories that move mountains. I’ve worked on hundreds of projects in genres including fiction, nonfiction, memoir, creative non-fiction, poetry and young adult. 

A developmental editor is one of the most influential parts of your whole process. I hold the vision of what you can do as a writer and will see—perhaps even before you can—your unique voice and the possibility for the work on the world stage.  

My goal is to move you to the point of publication so your writing doesn’t sit in a drawer, so that you aren’t slayed by the critic and you can create a manuscript that captures the hearts and minds of your readers.

Manuscript Reads

The feedback you’ll recieve from a manuscript read is in-depth and all-inclusive, illustrating your unique strengths as a writer, where your brilliance lives, and actionable feedback for revisions that range from high-level developmental advice, to sentence level revisions. 

The cost depends on what you need and how we decide to work together. 

What is your vision for your book? 

What is the book’s deepest message? 

And what do you want your reader to feel when she turns the last page? 

Send me an email and let me know. I can’t wait to hear from you!

Query Letter and Book Proposal Reviews

If you are preparing to query agents and publishers you need a show stopper of a letter. The same goes for your non-fiction proposal. I can help bring your query or proposal to industry standards, shining a light on the brilliance of your ideas and your work. 

I have helped dozens of writers conceptualize, write and refine their book proposals. I’ll help you understand the market and business of publishing, the importance of the author platform, how to focus on the reader and your audience, and how to pitch your story, among other things.

Email or contact form HERE. 

Copyediting and Proofreading

I have copyedited for corporatations, the big five, boutique presses and everything in between. The deep work of copyediting is about going into your beautiful writing and making it more of what it already is. The shine and polish of a great copyedit can be the difference between a sale and wondering why the writing hasn’t seen the light of day. 

Let’s help you see the light of day.

With my best eye toward grammar and syntax, as well as on literally every word of the manuscript, you can finally have confidence that the work can walk into the world as it deserves to be seen, polished to perfection.

Gateless Writing Salons

Gateless Writing Salons

At the core of the Gateless experience is the internationally acclaimed Gateless Writing salon. 

The Gateless Writing method is based on the idea that traditional criticism triggers the brain’s “fight or flight” response, which can stifle creativity. By removing judgment entirely, the brain is retrained to associate writing with pleasure and risk-taking. This stills the inner critic so that you can gain artistic agency. 

Research has shown that mastery in creative expression is reached when self-censoring is deactivated, your inhibitions are shut down, and the region of the brain linked with self-expression is active. The Gateless salon is designed to do exactly this.  

What You Will Experience 

When you arrive in the room, whether on Zoom or in-person, we begin with a brief somatic meditation which allows you to come into your body and quiets your mind. During the meditation you are given a prompt that drops you into a theta brainwave state which is similar to a deep meditative or dreamlike state of flow. In-person salons may be augmented by embodiment practices like Reiki, breathwork, or sound healings to deepen this state. 

The prompt also activates long-term memory and the imaginal and guides you into a generative period of writing. From this state of mind you will find yourself creating beautiful work with ease.

After writing and sharing your work, Gateless feedback shows you your innate craft and unique genius. This feedback will not be critical or judgemental, but instead points out the energy in your writing, what is working and what is beautiful. This craft-focused feedback calms the amygdala, reduces norepinephrine and allows you to access deep creativity and power. 

Salons are remarkable for writers and Gateless feedback will help you break through blocks and expand in creative brilliance. Hearing what you (and others) do well teaches you craft and it also nourishes you, strengthening the lifeblood of your writing as you come to understand where your talent lies. 

The Gateless salon is a radically nurturing circle of support.

Who Will You Meet?

Salons are for everyone–for emerging writers and for established writers who have published. They are for people curious about writing who may have only ever journaled. We come together in the profound bliss of entering the personal story and through the power of the word.

Community, Connection, Story

At Gateless you will finally find your family, the community you’ve been craving, friendship based on shared storytelling, laughter and sometimes even tears. This is the connection of a lifetime. This is where you surprise yourself by creating incredible work with blissful ease.

Life-Changing Potential

Salons—whether virtual, in person or on retreat can change your life. You’ll feel the alchemy of coming together and filling the room with story and the wildly unique writing of each person. 

Gateless salons will draw out the power of your innate talent. You will generate more work than you thought possible and reach the creative potential of your dreams.

Join a Salon

Gateless Writing Salon

Thursdays 9:00-10:30 am ET on Zoom

This salon is open to absolutely everyone!

Drop in for $32. Zoom link will be sent once you register.

SIGN UP HERE

 
Gateless Teacher’s-Only Salon

The first Wednesday of every month 4:00-5:30 pm ET on Zoom

Drop in for $25. Zoom link will be sent once you register.

This salon is offered to Gateless-trained teachers who have been certified in the Gateless Writing methodology by Suzanne Kingsbury.

Sign up HERE

 
Gateless Writing Salon, In-Person

Tuesday evenings 6:00-8:30 pm ET  in Newburyport, MA

Drop in for $40, or purchase a series of four salons for $150. Sign up 24 hours ahead of time required.

This salon is open to everyone (until we run out of chairs!) and meets in my home on the North Shore of Boston. We gather together with wine (or tea), cheese and chocolate for an evening of writing, community and friendship.

Sign up HERE

Come Join Us!

Gateless Writing is a delicious calling that builds careers and changes lives…