Meet The New York Coaches
Barry Adler
Writing Coach
Barry Adler is an editor and writer who has worked his way around Manhattan as a journalist, editorial manager for thought leadership and all-around freelancer and ghost writer. He can offer guidance in thinking through the focus, structure and tone of your writing projects; in developing skills as a copy editor or primary/top editor; and in contemplating a career change from journalism. He landed his first job, at The New York Post, when his mother mailed his resume (without permission) to the features editor, who happened to have a pressing need for an assistant. He learned his craft from that editor, and then put in stops as a staff writer at New York’s public TV station, Channel 13, and as managing editor of The National Law Journal (he’s a non-practicing lawyer). Eventually, he joined the business news section of The New York Times, where he settled in as a story doctor on major feature pieces. Along the way, Barry was an adjunct professor of journalism at New York University and the personal finance columnist at the American Bar Association Journal. Then, one day, he crossed over to the “dark side” to become global editorial director of The Boston Consulting Group, a leading strategic management firm. Barry is now a freelancer for academic organizations, think tanks and professional services firms, editing or ghostwriting research papers, articles, op-eds and speeches. He is the rare New Yorker who has lived in all five boroughs. In pre-pandemic times, he loved to visit the city’s bookstores and Italian restaurants and join fellow journalists and dark siders for a friendly game of poker. Watch a video featuring Coach Barry!
Sign up with Barry for: News and feature writing, story development/story doctoring for long-form narrative journalism and nonfiction, thought leadership content, lessons in copy editing and primary/top editing, tips for transitioning from journalism to the dark side; speech writing and op-eds.
Gabriel
Baumgaertner
Writing Coach
Gabriel Baumgaertner is a freelance journalist who has written for The Guardian and has also served as a contributing editor at The Action Network and associate editor at AARP. Before that, he was an editor and writer at Sports Illustrated for six years. He attended Columbia University where he earned a Master of Arts in Business and Economics reporting. He has served as a fact checker and researcher for several books published by Penguin Random House.
Sign up with Gabriel for: Website copy, copy editing, speech writing, cover letters, nonfiction and journalism.
Meagan Choi
Design Coach
Meagan Choi is a multidisciplinary designer who loves people and ideas. Relationships are at the center of her work — she believes the process matters as much as the outcome. She prefers forward-thinking approaches that rely on technology and empathy to solve design problems and, hopefully, make the world a slightly better place. Recently, she worked with JPMorgan Chase’s digital customer experience team. Prior to that, she led an in-house product team at Global Citizen and oversaw strategy, user experience and design.
Originally from the Midwest, she studied journalism and visual communication at Michigan State University. She’s also worked at MSNBC, The New Republic, Newsweek, The Daily Beast and Surface Magazine.
Sign up with Meagan for: Website design and UX design.
Natalie Gialluca
Photography and Design Coach
Natalie Gialluca is an award-winning photo editor, producer and consultant based in New York City. She conceptualizes creative direction, handles full-scale production and goes on-set to art direct photo and video shoots. An exceptional producer in studios, on location and on hot television/film sets, Natalie has over 10 years of experience creating content and producing original photography for clients in editorial and advertising environments. She works for print and digital mediums, and her clients range from national magazines to television networks, film studios and social media brands. She is currently a visuals editor at Vanity Fair. Before that, she served as a photo editor for Entertainment Weekly magazine. Working directly with top studio executives, celebrities and public relations teams, Natalie was responsible for conceptualizing, pitching, producing and art directing high concept cover shoots for the magazine.
Natalie has built strong relationships with some of the world’s most celebrated photographers, and worked with many of the industry’s top agents, wardrobe stylists, hair stylists, makeup artists and set designers. She takes pride in her ability to curate the best team to produce moving and effective imagery for each project. A creative problem solver, Natalie is highly organized, detail-oriented and can handle strict deadlines and tight budgets all while maintaining a positive attitude and a smile. The compliment Natalie loves best is when someone leaves set (on schedule or early) saying, “this was a really great day!”
Natalie is on the board of The Society of Publication Designers (SPD). She has served on the jury for the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) and SPD, and has conducted portfolio reviews for NY Fotoworks, Photo District News, PhotoPlus, At-Edge and SPD.
When she’s not working on her color-coded Excel documents, or down the internet rabbit hole looking for inspiration, you can find Natalie in front of the television, trying to catch up on her programs before her daughter demands to watch her friend Elmo! Watch a video featuring Coach Natalie!
Sign up with Natalie for: Photography, portfolio and website reviews, editing and sequencing, website refresh and rebuild, marketing material selection and guidance, and book cover image consulting.
Susan Merson
Writing Coach
Susan Merson began her career as an actress on and off Broadway, in television and film. Co-founding the LA Writers Bloc in 1985 with award-winning writer Jane Anderson, she has mentored writers through the Bloc and through her private and university classes in Playwriting, Life Stories, Writing as a Spiritual Practice, Tarot for Writers and the popular VOICING Series. Her short fiction has been featured in The Jew in America, Nice Jewish Girls (Penguin), The Worcester Review, the Chicken Soup series and several other online platforms. As a playwright, her award-winning plays have been performed internationally, including her eight solo plays featured in “Your Name Here: An Actor Writers Guide to Solo Performance.” Susan is the author of the award-winning blog, “When They Go,” and the novel, “Dreaming in Daylight.” Her latest novel, “Oh Good Now This,” was released in February 2021. She is also a tarot reader and counselor, a maker of quilts, clothing and whimsy. Susan is a humble mother and a proud resident of New York City. Watch a video featuring Coach Susan!
Sign up with Susan for: Fiction, flash fiction, memoir, playwriting and screenwriting.
Lizz Schumer
Writing Coach
Lizz Schumer is a journalist and writer who was always reading a book under her desk during math class as a kid — which probably explains why she can diagram a sentence but still can’t do long division. She’s worked in media for over a decade in just about every area of the field, from leading public relations for a government official, to social media and marketing for a brewery, and working her way up from reporter to editor-in-chief in the local newspaper industry in Buffalo, New York before moving to New York City and landing a full-time magazine gig. Lizz currently works as the senior books editor at PEOPLE magazine. She previously worked as a senior editor at Good Housekeeping, where she founded the GH Book Club. Prior to that, she was a senior staff writer at Good Housekeeping, Prevention, and Woman’s Day magazines and their associated websites, and her freelance work has appeared in many publications, including The New York Times, HuffPo, Bon Appetit, The Spruce, VinePair and SELF. She also holds an MFA in creative nonfiction and is the author of “Buffalo Steel” (Black Rose Writing, 2013) and “Biography of a Body” (Unsolicited Press, 2021). Her essays, poetry, fiction and hybrid text have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and appeared in literary magazines like Punchnel’s, Wordgathering, Ploughshares.com, Ghost City Review and Entropy Mag. Because the only thing she loves more than writing and reporting is sharing her expertise with others, Lizz also teaches as an adjunct professor at the New York University School of the Professional Studies, leading courses in copyediting, newswriting and freelancing. In her spare time, she likes writing poetry that nobody else gets to see, crafting complicated cocktails and baking anything with chocolate. Watch a video featuring Coach Lizz!
Sign up with Lizz for: Press releases, newsletters, website copy, copy editing, professional bios, social media content, book proposals, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, journalism, obit writing and eulogies.
Lizz is available on weekday evenings upon request. Inquire here.
Natalia Aponte
Writing Coach
Natalia Aponte helps fiction writers structure, develop, trouble-shoot, fine-tune and polish their fiction from the inside out and the bottom up. She has more than 30 years of experience in publishing and more than 20 years of experience editing fiction, including a few New York Times bestsellers. She honed her editing skills for years at Macmillan/Tor, a Big Five publisher. She edits thrillers of all types, especially psychological thrillers, crime fiction, historical fiction and general fiction.
Natalia’s long and varied experience in book publishing started with her days as a bookseller in Manhattan’s financial district, then as a book buyer for a book wholesaler in Brooklyn. She had a short stint as a marketing assistant before starting as an editor at Macmillan/Tor. Along the way, she also founded a literary agency and a small publishing company. As a freelance fiction editor she makes her skills available to the wider writing community. She’s seen all the corners of the commercial publishing world over many years. It’s an industry she loves!
Sign up with Natalia for: fiction, book proposals, developmental editing and line editing.
Jillian Berman
Writing Coach
Jillian Berman is a business reporter with a passion for exploring the impact of corporate and government policy on Americans' lives. She's currently a reporter at MarketWatch, where she covers student debt and higher education. Jillian spent the past academic year as a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Business and Economics Journalism at Columbia University, where she toggled between learning excel models and working on narrative writing projects. Jillian started her professional journalism career at HuffPost, where she covered retail and food companies as well as workplace diversity. Outside of work, Jillian loves to swim, cook and read. She looks forward to helping Writing Room clients with nonfiction projects and enjoys helping people prepare for special occasions.
Sign up with Jillian for: Copy editing, cover letters, resumes, nonfiction, journalism, toasts, vows, obit writing and eulogies.
Samantha Fabien
Literary Agent Coach
Samantha Fabien (she/her) is a literary agent at Root Literary. Before joining the Root Lit team, Samantha worked as a literary agent and international rights manager at LDLA. Her background includes a bachelor’s in PR and Journalism, a certificate from the Columbia Publishing Course and internships/part-time work at Ayesha Pande Literary, Writers House and Chalberg & Sussman.
As an agent, Samantha represents commercial and upmarket high concept fiction for adult, young adult and middle grader readers. As a New York Writing Room coach, she is eager to help her clients better understand the publishing landscape and to provide constructive and actionable feedback in preparation for their journey. When not working, Samantha enjoys watching trashy reality TV, listening to audiobooks on 2X speed and going to brunch. Watch a video featuring Coach Samantha!
Sign up with Samantha for: YA and children’s fiction query critiques, sample page feedback, publishing-specific cover letters and resumes.
Disclaimer: As a coach, Samantha cannot be queried or pitched for representation. She can only offer constructive advice and feedback per the Writing Room guidelines. If Samantha specifically asks to see a manuscript for professional consideration, there will be no favoritism shown for prior or current clients and no assumption that an offer of representation is guaranteed.
Anna Medaris
Writing Coach
Anna Medaris is a health and lifestyle journalist with over a dozen years of experience writing features, narratives, explainers, profiles, research summaries and news hits for national print and digital publications, including The Washington Post, Insider, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, and U.S. News & World Report.
Before going freelance full-time in 2023, Anna was a health correspondent at Insider, where for four years she covered mental health, reproductive health, medical misdiagnoses and more. She served as the team’s go-to features and analysis writer, making arguments against White Claw and for getting outside during early COVID.
Anna launched her career as an unpaid intern in a university medical center's communication department, obsessively pitching the Washington Post her own stories on the side. Persistence paid off: She landed pieces on body positivity and gluten-free athletes before both terms were mainstream, though her favorite was about a family-friendly, gender-inclusive pole-dancing competition.
Anna later became a writer and editor for the American Psychological Association's monthly print magazine, Monitor on Psychology, and earned her master’s in interactive journalism from American University along the way. She then moved to U.S. News & World Report, where she stayed nearly five years covering everything from whether you should put the piece of paper over your toilet seat (no) to a heart-wrenching series on miscarriage.
Anna has also freelanced sex and relationship stories for Women's Health, detailed her own breakup for Cosmo and written about the secrets of skinny beer drinkers as one of the Muse's first columnists. She appeared on the Today Show in 2016 and has been a regular guest on numerous national and local news stations since.
Anna is a proud alum of the University of Michigan, where she studied psychology and gender and health, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 2009. She's an amateur triathlete and local stein-holding champion who lives with her husband and basset hound in Brooklyn. Watch a video featuring Coach Anna!
Sign up with Anna for: Journalism, pitching support, branded-content writing, college essay coaching, cover letters, website copy, professional bios and transitioning to freelance writing
Amy Parlapiano
Writing Coach
Amy Parlapiano is a journalist who is currently a quiz writer on the Emerging News Products team at the Washington Post. She previously spent four years at The Athletic as a national NFL editor, and five years at Sports Illustrated before that. A native New Yorker and a lifelong Mets and Jets fan, she brought her truly miserable sports luck to Ann Arbor, where she was a student during the dark Rich Rod years of Michigan Football. Whenever she needs a pick-me-up, she usually turns to either the writing of Nora Ephron or a package of Double Stuf’d Oreos (or, oftentimes both!)
Sign up with Amy for: Journalism, nonfiction, copy editing, website copy, professional bios and poetry.
Beverly Solochek
Beverly Solochek got the break of a lifetime when she was hired by the features editor of the pre-Rupert Murdoch New York Post. That bit of luck launched a decades-long career as a print and broadcast journalist, editor, speechwriter and public relations official in both the public and private sectors. As a feature writer at the Post, she reported on emerging cultural trends and on what was then called “women’s news,” and conducted celebrity interviews. She spent more than a dozen years at ABC-TV’s Good Morning America as a writer, covering breaking news, current affairs, politics, culture, consumer news, education and entertainment. As acting head writer, she worked with writers editing all program copy, and trained and hired writers as well. Over the years as a freelancer, she wrote for publications such as New York, Seventeen, Parade, Newsday, the New York Daily News and the New York Times, where she was a regular contributor to its Sunday real estate section.
While the city of New York was wrestling with another of its numerous fiscal crises, Beverly directed the public relations efforts of one of its large, beleaguered housing departments, writing press releases, speeches, reports and working with the press. Later in her career she spent eight years as director of public affairs at Barnard College, supervising publications, devising and directing media strategy, writing board reports and correspondence. She just retired from a lengthy stint at the Fashion Institute of Technology as the president’s speechwriter — where she also wrote reports, proposals, memos, recommendations, blogs and reviewed, edited and rewrote materials drafted by others for the president’s approval.
For several years, Beverly taught business writing at night at the city-sponsored Urban Academy for Management. Her students were middle-management career employees — lawyers, technicians, accountants, uniformed officers — selected by commissioners for their potential as leaders but who lacked writing skills.
Sign up with Beverly for: Business writing, press releases, cover letters, feature writing, mechanics of writing, career transitions and more.
Magglio
Chief Morale Officer
Magglio can’t help you with your writing, but he can cheer you up if you’re suffering from writer’s block. Yes, he’s named after the baseball player who hit one of the most memorable walk-off home runs in Detroit Tigers history. He enjoys lounging in comfortable spots (watch out — he may steal your seat on the couch), treats and more treats. Follow the adventures of this English Teddy Bear Goldendoodle at @magglio_ordoglio on Instagram.
Want to join our team as a coach? Send your resume and recent work to stephanie@detroitwritingroom.com
Our Founder
Stephanie Steinberg
Detroit Writing Room Founder and CEO
Stephanie Steinberg is a lifelong Detroiter and grammar enthusiast who only edits with purple pens. She’s been a journalist for the past decade and held her first editor-in-chief title at the University of Michigan student newspaper The Michigan Daily. Stephanie has written for several publications, including The New York Times, Boston Globe, USA Today, CNN.com and Huffington Post. She spent several years in Washington D.C. as a health and money editor at U.S. News & World Report. There, she fell in love with a fellow Wolverine (see below) and decided to move home with him to cover Detroit’s comeback as a features reporter for The Detroit News. She then became the managing editor of SEEN Magazine, telling the stories of the people and places that define Metro Detroit. Stephanie is the editor of the book “In the Name of Editorial Freedom: 125 Years at The Michigan Daily” (University of Michigan Press). She despises the Oxford comma and loves curling up with a book and coffee to dive into a good story with her dog Magglio.
Sign up with Stephanie for: Nonfiction, website copy, email newsletters, social media, press releases, cover letters and resumes, professional bios and copy editing