Hal Clifford

Cofounder

I’ve helped hundreds of authors through the process of writing a book.

I have been editing and ghostwriting books since 2008. I have worked with New York Times– and Wall Street Journal–bestselling authors such as David Goggins and Chris Voss, and also first-timers for whom writing a book is both a profound challenge and a deeply rewarding achievement.

Previously, I was the executive editor at Orion magazine, where a story I edited was a finalist for a National Magazine Award for Best Essay. Other pieces I edited were included in Best American Science and Nature Writing. During my tenure, Orion won the Utne General Excellence Award. I worked with Wendell Berry, Barry Lopez, Rebecca Solnit, Terry Tempest Williams, Bill McKibben and dozens of other talented writers, known and unknown.

I moved to Colorado almost by accident after graduating from Dartmouth College with a major in English literature and a minor in Environmental policy. Soon I was accepted to business school. Instead of attending, I hitchhiked around the South Pacific for a year, where I wrote travel stories on borrowed typewriters and mailed them Par Avion to newspaper editors—all of whom, beneficently, published what I sent. I was hooked on words.

Returning home to Aspen, I became a newspaperman-ski bum, working for a daily paper with the memorable masthead slogan “If You Don’t Want It Printed, Don’t Let It Happen.” I met my wife and cofounder there, striking up a conversation about bad poetry. We have a teenage son and a daughter in her twenties. At the dinner table, we laugh a lot, because laughter is one of the currencies of abundance, and I am a great believer in the power of abundant thinking and the superpower of gratitude.

I wrote and published three nonfiction books under my own name with HarperCollins and The Mountaineers, University of California, and Longstreet Press. I also wrote a couple of novels that live in a desk drawer.

After spending most of my adult life in Colorado, in 2021 I moved with my family to the coast of South Carolina. Mountains are awesome. So is ocean. Now I live 400 yards from an estuary rich with roseate spoonbills, wood storks and great egrets. Here I intend to get good at flyfishing for redfish and finally learn to identify warblers by ear (there is much work to be done on both fronts).

I love traversing mountains, cooking Italian food for people I like, dogs of all flavors, jigsaw puzzles, natural history, American history, biathlon, skeet shooting, flyfishing, just about any book I can lay my hands on, yoga, and birdwatching. Sometimes I even try to write not-bad poetry.

What authors say about working with me

“Hal was the exceptional editor on both Can't Hurt Me and Never Finished, and is a pleasure to work with.”

— Adam Skolnick, ghostwriter for

David Goggins, author of the New York Times Bestsellers Can’t Hurt Me and Never Finished

“Hal upped my writing game and gave me the most direct of feedback: exactly what I was looking for when I engaged an editor. Hal listened, understood, and expertly transformed my manuscript, giving structure to the mess of concepts in my head. Working with Hal means your manuscript is in safe hands. He communicates clearly and does what he says he will do within the timeframe specified. After Hal's help writing a book proposal to send out to publishers, I secured a contract with one of the best publishing houses out there.”

— Jodie Cook, author of Ten Year Career

“I am able to publish my book today thanks only to the patience, persistence, and therapeutic guidance of Hal Clifford. After countless hours of conversations, you know the details of my story better than anyone besides my wife. Thank you for assuring me that someone, somewhere, needs this book and that it has a place in this world.”

— Chris Hunter, author of Blackout Punch