Kate Sheehan Roach
Kate Sheehan Roach jumped ship from her academic career midway through her doctorate when she landed a coveted job with Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press. As an entry-level editor, she learned the entire assembly line process from acquisitions to promotions, but she fell in love with the developmental phase—working directly with writers from their manuscripts’ inception to completion. Rising through the ranks of a big academic press, Kate found managing other editors a lot less rewarding than working with writers, so she jumped ship again and developed a thriving freelance editorial company. Although she saw herself primarily as a developmental editor, she began helping her writers craft proposals to publishing companies and, before she knew it, she found herself serving as editor/agent. Having witnessed the publishing industry’s rapid evolution over the past 20 years, Kate maximizes the great opportunities available in the digital age and helps her writers do so as well.
An honors graduate of Mount Holyoke College with an MA in History from University of Connecticut, Kate works primarily with spiritual writers who identify with interfaith, contemplative, and interspiritual movements. After founding a web magazine called Contemplative Journal in 2013, she now works closely with a digital hub called Contemplative Life, an interspiritual network of networks devoted to connecting people and communities with transformative practices. Certified by Contemplative Outreach to facilitate Centering Prayer workshops, Kate serves CO on a national service team, as well as on the national leadership council of the United Religions Initiative (North America). She and her family live in Philadelphia, where they worship with the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas.
