Jenny Shipley

Ghostwriter, manuscript editor, author coach

I’ve worked on more than 200 books across a wide range of disciplines.

My best-selling authors have sold tens of thousands of copies of their books and have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fortune, Business Week, Harvard Business Review, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and the Strategic Management Journal, among others.

I was lucky enough to grow up in Southern California and, as a true “water baby,” I haven’t ventured far from the ocean. An avid reader from an early age, I have built a beautiful life surrounded by books, words, and stories. While studying Writing at UCSD, I managed a hair salon, taught swim lessons, and began my freelance editing career. After graduating in 2006, I worked as an editor, first in medical publishing and later in academic publishing. During that time, I continued to edit for fun and freelance, primarily focusing on fiction and memoir. In 2015, I put all that book knowledge to a new use, becoming a ghostwriter of memoir and non-fiction (though I’ve also worked on children’s books and even a coloring book!).

Over the course of my career thus far, I have had the honor of collaborating with some incredible people, including:

  • An HGTV star

  • The owner of a horse ranch who supports veterans suffering from PTSD

  • The founder of EMyth and his wife

  • A woman who was falsely accused of murder and won her appeal before the Supreme Court—twice

  • A kindergarten teacher in the Los Angeles education system

  • A healthcare advisor to President Barack Obama

  • A blind Paralympic medalist

  • The developer of the world’s leading family resort and the best golf course in Latin America

  • A writer on the Starz drama series Vida

  • One of the country’s preeminent digital strategists, who has helped candidates from city council to President of the United States

  • A legendary acting teacher and coach who has served as a confidential consultant on some of the highest-grossing pictures of all time

  • My best friend since childhood who grew up to become a romance novelist!

When not reading and writing professionally, I like to read and write for fun. I also love to watch movies and absorb stories in all formats, listen to podcasts and audiobooks while I play in the garden, cook all things pasta, and bake delicious treats.

I delight in throwing small yet elaborately themed parties, particularly around Halloween. I am the cool aunt to some seriously cool nieces and nephews, and I believe that life is short and times are crazy so we should celebrate every occasion we can.

My happy place is in or around water, preferably with a large cup of coffee, or at home with my partner and our dog, Kali.

What authors say about working with me

"Jenny [Shipley] was a dream to work with. I found her edits brave, confident, and quite frankly, brilliant. Artist would not have received the reviews and awards it has without her extraordinary contribution.”

—Jocelyn Jones, author of Artist

“This entire process has been amazing. Thank you for the hours on the phone. I was dreading them and you made them fun as hell …This book is way better than I expected it to be.”

– Wesley Donehue, author of Under Fire

“There are not enough positive words I can say about my experience with Jenny. I came to her at a stage of my book that had me at a roadblock. She organized my thoughts, made sense of the confusing parts in my manuscript, and took the time to know me as an author to truly try and understand the voice I wanted to portray. She was easy to work with. Her suggestions were genius. (And no, I’m not afraid to use the word genius!) Together we created magic and had plenty of laughs and deep conversations along the way. More than anything else though, I trusted her with what at the time was my prized possession. Her suggestions and thoughts were not only smart and witty, but current and creative as well. She will definitely be my first call when I write my next book!”

– Brett Russo, author of The Underwear in My Shoe