Haven Books Consulting
Team Members (alphabetical)
William Berkuta
Audio Engineer
“Engineer Bill” is a master engineer of the spoken word. Owner of Afterhours Recording Company since 1974, his radio drama credits include “Milford-Haven” by Mara Purl (80 episodes broadcast on KJDJ, KOTR, KVEC, KRYN, WGMC); “Milford-Haven, U.S.A.” by Mara Purl (60 episodes aired on BBC Radio 5, 4.5 million listeners); American Radio Theatre Three Seasons of original programs aired on KPFK Los Angeles; “Birtha And…” by David L. Krebs & Associates (16 Episodes aired on College Stations), Wells Fargo Radio theater by Rosemary & Newell Alexander (20 Radio Drama Productions aired on KMPC, KLTE (KSCA). Audio Dramas include “The Ultimate Bet” by Frank Victoria; “Independence Now!” by Beverly & Tim Mills; “Room 3005”, “This One Will Kill You” and “Mary Shelley – In her Own Words.” Audio Books include (Non-Fiction) “Stickeen” and “Travels in Alaska” by John Muir; “It Started with Pop Tarts” by Lori Hanson; (Fiction) “The Allie Armington Mysteries” (four titles by Louise Gaylord); “The Milford-Haven Novels & Novellas” (ten titles by Mara Purl).
Master Printer
Journeyman Services Offered to Studio Clients;
Typesetting, Linotype & Ludlow Printing
Some projects call for exquisite, high-end printing, which Bill Berkuta handles at Aardvark Printing in Los Angeles.
Samantha Hissong
Associate Publisher
Samantha is an American journalist, creative writer and editor. She’s worked at renowned music trade publication HITS Magazine for most of her young career. The L.A. native recently spent two years at Internet media company Dash Radio, where she served as an Assistant Programmer for alternative rock station Dash Alternative. There, she also created and hosted her own show Prescription Playlists, prescribing songs for listeners’ problems and interviewing buzzing new acts. Samantha is also a talented concert and artist photographer, and in her spare time she serves on advisory boards for non-profit organizations City of Hope and the TJ Martell Foundation.
Kelly Johnson
Tech Guru & Website Creator
Kelly works with authors to manage technical, creative, and administrative projects for their businesses and books. She’s an article writing coach, does blog and website creation/maintenance, knows how to implement an online shopping cart strategy, and is the principal of Cornerstone Virtual Assistance. Kelly serves on the board of AuthorYOU and is a faculty member of Publishing at Sea. Her website: CornerstoneVA.com.
Jonatha King
CEO and Founder of King Communications
Jonatha is an expert at both public relations and marketing, including press releases, PR campaigns, and special events. For more information about Jonatha, visit Premier Professionals of Santa Barbara.
Derra Moyers
Editor
Derra Moyers is a professional editor of both fiction and non-fiction. Her mastery of narrative voice, sentence structure, arc of story, and character development have made a valued member of the team for fiction authors. Her expertise with structure, cohesion, and clarity have enhanced texts for non-fiction authors. As a technical editor, her career began as a drafting technician for major, independent, and foreign oil and gas exploration companies, advancing to geotechnical and environmental engineering consulting firms. She now provides editing assistance to environmental engineers and scientists, geologists, hydrogeologists, and chemists on land development projects, corporate real estate portfolios, and industrial facilities projects involving the investigation and remediation of contaminants in soil, groundwater, stormwater, and air. Having worked on both sides of industry has been an asset to her understanding of regulations, procedures, cleanups, documentation, and marketing.
Mara Purl
Co-Founder
Mara Purl is a co-founder of Haven Books, Bellekeep Books, and Mindprints Literary Press. She serves on the Board of Author You, and on the Advisory Board of IngramSpark. She is the former president of Colorado Independent Publishers Association, and previously served on the boards of the California Literary Arts Society and Women Writing the West. In addition to her primary work as the best-selling author of the Milford-Haven Novels, Mara is a writing coach and publishing consultant, as well as being a writers’ conferences presenter and keynote speaker for women’s organizations. She is a member of the Authors Guild, Denver Women’s Press Club, the Writers Guild West, and Women Writing the West. Mara is also a noted performer on stage, television and audio books.
Nick Zelinger
Graphic Artist
Founder of NZ Graphics, Nick is the graphical designer of more than one hundred award- winning book covers.
A book designer and graphic designer for over 30 years, Nick Zelinger of NZ Graphics has worked for publishers, ad agencies and printing companies; been an art director for an aviation magazine; designed product packaging for sports and fitness manufacturers; created large signage for store fronts, company vehicles and Rapid Transit; designed promotional material for the Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies, KOA Radio and Clear Channel.
His cover and book designs have earned him and his clients more than 100 national and international awards, such as Best Cover Design by USA Book News, the Indie Excellence Book Award, Foreword Reviews Book of the Year, Next Generation Finalist Awards, Global eBook Awards, CIPA’s EVVY Awards, The Beverly Hills Book Awards, The San Francisco Book Festival Awards, and many more.
Nick is also the co-author of Another Nightmare Gig from Hell: Musicians Tales of Wonder and Woe, Volume One. He is currently working on Volume Two.
HB Board
Founding Members
Mara Purl
Erin Gray
Katherine Doughtie Nolan
Founding Advisory Board Members Emeritus
Bob Johnson, Associated Press
Suzanne Kirk Tomlinson, Editorial
Sam Summerlin, New York Times Books