Services
Are you looking for a friendly and professional editor, speaker or instructor, web designer, or graphic designer? Read on and also view my testimonials.
Editing
I specialize in manuscript editing in these genres:
✍️ Literary fiction
📔 Memoir
✒️ Poetry
📖 Nonfiction
I do developmental editing: large-scale editing of the structure and arc of the entire book and each chapter, and of the flow and voice of paragraphs and sentences. I also do copyediting: line-level correction of errors in grammar, spelling, word usage, etc. And I can be your writing coach to guide you in finding inspiration, structuring your book, platform building, and navigating the publishing industry.
Free consultation. Inquire here and tell me what you’re writing and what you hope to accomplish.
Speaking
I am available to speak at literary conferences and festivals and to teach classes and workshops. Guaranteed to engage your audience and keep things interesting. My expertise includes the following:
📝 Writing and editing
📕 Navigating the publishing industry
🎉 Launching and promoting your book
📚 Power & value of books & reading
🎤️ Leadership & community engagement
📜 Shakespeare & classic literature
💻 Creating a website with WordPress
View the presentations I have prepared, the past events at which I’ve spoken, and the upcoming events I’m slated for.
Inquire here for more information.
Web Design
I design and revamp WordPress websites for individuals, nonprofits, and small businesses. Here are some tasks I can assist with:
👩💻️ Coding in HTML/CSS
💻 Navigating the WordPress platform
📱 Using themes, including child themes
🤖 Adding plugins & new features
⌨️ Altering files on the back end
💾 Ensuring backups & security
I created my own website (this one) and the websites of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival (see sample web page below) and Archival Arts. I assisted with the website of Just Neighbors. I am the webmaster for author Abbie Rosner’s website.
Note that I am not a developer and cannot provide custom coding in PHP or JavaScript. I can, however, create a beautiful, functional, and secure website and resolve any existing problems. Free consultation. Inquire here to receive more information and a quote.
Graphic Design
I offer graphic design services. I recently designed a poetry book. In addition to cover design and book pages layout, I can also assist with newsletter and social media design. Here are some samples of my work:
Linda Rabben wanted a minimalistic cover with a focus on her nature photography for her book on Quaker life. The interior pages feature her poetry; one of the haikus on this page is marked with a Q to indicate her experience of Meeting for Worship, as explained elsewhere in the book.
Here are some promotional materials I made for myself: a poster, stickers, and business cards (front and back).
Here are some social media images I made to promote events:
Free consultation. Inquire here to receive more information and a quote.
Testimonials
I really enjoyed your presentation and took copious notes that I plan to share with a friend. Thank you!
—Joanne, workshop attendee, October 11, 2025
I liked your presentation and wittiness. . . . I really resonated with the advice. . . . Liked the tips. . . . I really enjoyed your talk. Good advice.
—Michelle, workshop attendee, October 11, 2025
And it was an excellent presentation!
—Jean, workshop attendee, October 11, 2025
Loved the panel; it was so helpful and full of great ideas!
—Pam, workshop attendee, October 11, 2025
Enjoyed your talk! You’re a good presenter.
—Diane, workshop attendee, October 11, 2025
Excellent presentation.
—Kay, workshop attendee, October 11, 2025
Working with Liza on my website and Substack newsletter has been a game-changer!
Liza understands exactly what I need to make my web presence more attractive, effective and secure.
She is intuitive, proficient and a delight to work with! I couldn’t recommend her more heartily!
—Abbie, web design and newsletter design client, September 27, 2025
The F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference is a delighted client of Liza Achilles’ website consulting services. We love our new website! 5 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Our old website had been done hastily and was too complicated and distracting for many of our customers to use. After a search we hired Liza to redesign the website. We were all impressed that Liza was able to quickly understand the site problems and use her technical skills to revise and streamline the website. In just a few weeks she took our vague ideas and turned them into a sleek, user-friendly site that perfectly reflects our brand as a literary conference which you can see at https://fitzgeraldfestival.com/.
It is easy to navigate with helpful resources and now reflects the modern clean and efficient design and has already gathered compliments from our our members and visitors.
While making the site more responsive to users it now includes many safety features missing from the earlier site. Liza also added a number of functions such as a Newsletter to allow us to inform members on upcoming events. I highly recommend Liza for website design and redesign and would add that she is responsive, creative and a good communicator, easy to collaborate and work with.
—Gary, president of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference Inc. and WordPress design client, July 3, 2025
I’m impressed with your thorough work. I feel I made the right choice working with you.
—Bob, novel editing client, March 19, 2025
I really enjoyed your presentation and found it to be the most helpful of all the presentations that day.
—Dorey, workshop attendee, March 3, 2025
Our website, Archivalarts.com, was in need of a fresh update for an outdated design. Liza was able to recommend some great ideas to make the site flow more efficiently . . . The whole project was fast and efficient. Liza was a great pleasure to work with and understood both the aesthetics of design and the technical details of WordPress.
—Jeff, owner of Archival Arts and WordPress design client, April 23, 2025
Presentations
Be the Book: How to Meet Your Life Goals Through Reading
What do you want from life—to be a better partner, parent, or friend? To have a successful career, make an impact, help others, or achieve a personal goal? Author Liza Achilles will share how reading can help you fulfill your dreams!
Finding the Time: 10 Tips for Fitting Writing into Your Life
Are you struggling to find the time for your creative writing? Author Liza Achilles will share 10 tips for ensuring that you meet your creative writing goals while living in the busy, stressful, modern world.
How to Generate a Buzz: Promoting Your Book Launch
Why publish a book if no one reads it? Author Liza Achilles has great news for authors: you have the power to generate a buzz surrounding your book launch! She will walk you through 3 steps in getting people excited about buying and reading your book.
Shakespeare’s Sonnets: 400 Years of Timeless Love
William Shakespeare’s sonnet sequence was first published over 400 years ago and still resonates with readers today. “But thy eternal summer shall not fade,” proclaims the most famous of them all (Sonnet 18). The poet addresses these words to a young man known as the Fair Youth; but the words also refer to the poetry itself. Read and discuss Shakespeare’s Sonnets, including the 154 sonnets as well as the short narrative poem A Lover’s Complaint that was published with the sonnets in 1609. Examine the life and times of Shakespeare and learn how he crafted these masterful 14-line poems, which have often been ignored due to their shocking sexual content. Also read selected sonnets by other writers from various historical periods, from the Italian Renaissance through the twenty-first century.
Create Your Own WordPress Website for Beginners
Do you want your own website? A website is essential for small business owners, bloggers, hobbyists, artists, writers, musicians, and anyone who wishes to share something with the world. Create your own website that’s secure, backed up, optimized, free from spam, and ready to be viewed by anyone on the internet. Learn how to format web pages, write web copy, do simple graphic design, and send a newsletter to subscribers. Learning a few technical skills can save you thousands of dollars in comparison with hiring a professional web designer.
