The economic changes have opened up a wide range of opportunities for enterprising editors who have opted to create freelance endeavors over seeking permanent gigs at publishing houses.

One such editor is Rakia Clark, formerly with Kensington who since her lay off a few months ago has created a website, www.RakiaClark.com. The result? More offers than she can keep up with.

Clark began her career at HarperCollins Publishers and Penguin Group, and soon found herself at Kensington Publishing. She has worked with entertainers Bill Cosby and B.D. Wong, basketball star Lisa Leslie, novelists Sue Monk Kidd and Jan Karon, and Native American historian Joseph M. Marshall III.


A graduate of Haverford College, Clark specializes in developmental and line editing.

Jeff Rivera is the author of "Forever My Lady" (Grand Central) and the founder of GumboWriters.com