Meet James Hallman | Editor, Consultant, and Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with James Hallman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi James, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The truth is, I never really put a lot of thought into starting my own editing practice. I just kinda fell into it when a friend of mine bought a failing publishing company. I had some background, so they brought me in as managing editor. We went ahead and failed anyway, but not before I had a chance to learn a whole lot about the business, and about the personalities that lurk in the world of publishing.

I started WriteWorks as that business was spooling down and linked up with my friend Polly Letofsky, who was just launching her own publishing services firm, My Word Publishing. Work started trickling in, and I eventually found I could mostly make ends meet. My typical client is self-publishing—meaning they’ve got a manuscript (or a solid idea for one) and are looking for an editor to review it and offer suggestions for improvement.

The self-publishing model has picked up a lot of steam, mostly because the big publishing houses have lost their long-standing monopolies on production and distribution. Between Amazon, print-on-demand services, and the ease of social media marketing, there’s really no point in giving up your rights to a company like Hachette. Editing in this space takes patience, a bit of an aesthetic ego, and a capacity for tactful critique. Humility matters too—knowing when to let the author’s voice lead.

As for the “why” of what I do: I believe that the transmission of ideas is the circulatory system of culture. I don’t think of myself as a gatekeeper, but I do carry a deep sense of responsibility to Truth, aesthetic or otherwise. We humans have been called language animals, which means self-expression is among the most essential—maybe even sacred—acts we commit. When you write a book, you’re making a claim on the future. I try to help make sure it’s a good one. Or at least a passable one (I can’t always work miracles, but you might be surprised).

Since starting out, I’ve worked on hundreds of books across a range of subjects—mostly business, economics, and fiction. I’ve also got some background in IT: support, project management, instructional design, and knowledge management.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My company is called WriteWorks—because writing only works when it’s more than just words on a page. Writing well starts with understanding what you’re really trying to say, building a plan of attack, getting something down, and then shaping that raw material into something you love.

While I specialize in editing, that’s a pretty generic label for what I do. I also coach, consult, and (when the moment calls for it) serve as a mentor. I help people not just improve their writing, but also understand what their writing wants to become. Many of my clients come to me with a manuscript; some come with just an idea. A few of them, I’m proud to say, have used our work together as a springboard into larger business ventures. Others simply want to leave behind a legacy, or share a story for the joy of it. Self-publishing makes room for all kinds—and that’s part of what makes it so interesting.

Of course, the floodgates are open now. We live in an age where the signal has long been overtaken by the noise. That’s where people like me come in. I help amplify the meaningful and rein in the chaos. Editing is an act of fidelity—faithfulness to voice, to meaning, and to what matters. The art, as always, is in the balance.

Lately, the bull in publishing’s china shop is AI. It’s exciting and unnerving in equal measure. I think these tools have a lot to offer both editors and authors—but they also demand new kinds of rigor. Increasingly, I find myself working with machine-generated text, which means navigating source material that even the author might not fully understand. AI can hallucinate, interpolate, mimic bias, and sometimes do all three at once. But after a few conversations with tools like ChatGPT, I’m convinced my skillset isn’t going anywhere. If anything, it’s becoming more essential.

Running a business like this has never been easy. Finding clients, building pipelines, promoting my work—it’s a full-time job in itself. And I’ll admit: I’m not a natural at self-promotion. Social media wears me out. Scaling the work is hard. I know I need to expand into classes and educational content, and I’m getting there—but creative energy is a finite resource.

But the short version goes like this: I believe in the power of stories—not just the ones we write, but the ones we live. My work is about honoring those stories by helping people tell them clearly, honestly, and well.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Denver punches way above its weight, but a week is almost enough time to get a proper sense of the city.

Day 1
Morning:
Breakfast at Syrup by City Park. Solid brunch place, And the park offers a lovely space for walking.

Afternoon:
Explore the RiNo Arts District. We’ll check out the murals, pop-up art spaces, and strange little shops. Maybe hit Ratio Beerworks or Our Mutual Friend for a beer, or Gold Point for cocktails..

Evening:
Dinner at City O’ City, then grab a drink at The Crypt, a punk dive/horror gallery. We might even catch a show there.
Late night dancing at Milk Bar for goth-industrial night. The club’s a maze and probably one of the coolest dances spaces in the country.

Day 2
Morning:
Coffee and a pastry at Queen City Collective then head to Red Rocks. Hike to hike and take in the view..

Afternoon:
Casual lunch in Morrison, maybe a show at Red Rocks.

Evening:
Barring Red Rocks, snag dinner at Adelita’s; probably my favorite Mexican place in town.
Catch a show at Hi-Dive, Cervantes, or the Larimer Lounge, all iconic small venues that showcase a lot of local talent.

Day 3:
Morning to Evening:
Head up to Boulder and hike around the Flatirons, followed by a late lunch on Pearl Street. Then maybe hit the a couple of Boulder’s remaining independent bookstores. Maybe grab a beer at Twisted Pines Brewing.

Evening:
Drinks and a lecture at the Denver Press Club, the oldest in the country. Also a cool place to meet some of Denver’s most interesting residents.

Day 4:
Morning and Afternoon:
Check out the Clyfford Still Museum, one of the city’s most unique cultural offerings. Then maybe wander over to the Denver Art Museum, AKA Spaceball One.

Evening:

Dinner at Bang Up to the Elephant! for some solid vegetarian fare. Or maybe burgers. Whatever, yo.
Then hit Beacon for EDM and dancing (weeknights are way more interesting than weekends: smaller, more intimate crowds. A few of them even dance).

Day 5
All Day:
Head up to Leadville for hiking, food, and maybe a trip to the Mining Museum to learn more about the death of the railways and the rise of the automobile.

Evening:
Pizza and drinks at the 715, Denvers best dive bar.

Day 6:
Morning:
Brunch at The Rino Beer Garden…awesome breakfast burritos and bottomless mimosas.

Afternoon:
Hit up Mutiny Information Cafe and kick around South Broadway for a bit. Maybe lunch at Sputnik.

Evening:
Final night. Cerebral Brewing for drinks, then maybe back to Milk Bar for a bit more music and dancing.

Day 7:
Morning:
Walk around Sloan’s Lake or Cheesman Park, grab a Santiago’s breakfast burrito, black coffee, and catch the train to the airport.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Polly Letofsky at My Word Publishing. We’ve worked together for years and have put together some pretty remarkable projects. I’ll always be indebted to her for her guidance and support.

Home

Website: https://www.writeworksediting.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/writeworks-publishing-services/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WriteWorksEditing

Image Credits
Jude de Lorca (the last one, with me in the white shirt).