Mary B. Johnston, editor, writing coach, and personal historian
Across the last thirty years Mary has been helping people of all ages with their writing skills—as a freelance editor, writing coach, personal historian, and high school English teacher. After teaching English for fourteen years at various New England preparatory schools, she founded Wordworks in 1996. Eager to learn about and preserve people’s personal histories, Mary started a personal history service, Tell Your Stories, in 2009. She has helped hundreds of writers discover their voices and put their experiences and knowledge into words. Many of those writers have published their words—some in academic journals, others in books for family members and loved ones, and still others for the general public. Mary looks forward to helping you share what you know with your target audience.
Melissa Bigner, editor and proofreader
A passionate word nerd who majored in journalism at Northwestern University, Melissa cut her writing and editing teeth as a staffer at Southern Living, Southern Accents, and Weight Watchers. After she left the Time Inc. fold to freelance full time, she worked with Better Homes & Gardens, Budget Travel, Coastal Living, Cottage Living, Garden & Gun, HOME, Orient Express, Charleston, and more; contributed to travel guides (Fodor’s and Moon Handbooks); and penned books and bookazines for Better Homes & Gardens, HGTV, TLC, and Coastal Living. Post-Covid, she began editing and ghostwriting memoirs and self-help books in what’s become her favorite career chapter yet. To see her work, visit MelissaBigner.com.
Ivy Deitch, graphic designer
Ivy is a graphic designe
r based in Summerville, South Carolina, where she grew up. She graduated from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, with her BFA in graphic design. After graduating, she worked at Charleston Magazine as an editorial designer. After being a stay-at-home mom for ten years, she began freelance book designing with Tell Your Stories. Ivy loves learning about the families these personal histories are about and enjoys helping them tell their story visually. In her free time she loves reading, going out to eat, bird watching, and exploring the Lowcountry with her husband and three boys.
Rich Hillyard, editor and proofreader
Rich’s interest in writing and publishing started at an early age and included a broad scope of work on his high school newspaper. His professional writing career includes fifteen years as a technical writer at Novell, Inc., writing and editing computer software documentation. His work with Tell Your Stories began as a transcriber, writer, and editor for his own father’s history book. Since then, he has done extensive editing and proofreading for other Tell Your Stories projects, plus some graphic design and photographic restoration work, always with a sharp eye for detail. Rich looks forward to helping you with your projects. You can contact him at richhillyard@gmail.com.
Vally Sharpe, book production manager
For over eighteen years, Vally Sharpe has worked with over 750 independent and traditional publishers, providing a variety of pre-press services. For Tell Your Stories, she performs the final technical checks of files to be submitted for printing and manages the process from proof to delivery. Her primary goal is to find the best match of book manufacturer and publisher, balancing design, schedule, and budget to ensure a quality product that showcases the stories told.
Stephanie Thiel, graphic designer
From a young age, Stephanie has enjoyed being creative and seeing her work impact others. In 2009 she began studying design and advertising at Brigham Young University and then went on to complete her education at the University of Hawaii Mānoa with a B.S. in Communications. She has work experience in advertising, from selling the ad space to creating the design at the KaLeo newspaper and Hawaii News Now media station. She continues to expand her skills as a freelance designer as she balances being a mother to the two cutest little boys and traveling the world.