Rising Stars: Meet Martha Reineke

Today we’d like to introduce you to Martha Reineke.

Hi Martha, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started out as a stay-at-home mom with five kids. We chose homeschooling because of the state of schools in the United States. It was safer. After twenty-plus years of teaching I knew I would have little to do when my kids left home, so I started looking for work. But having been out of the workforce for so long, I couldn’t find any real work outside of manufacturing which would have taken me away from finishg my youngest children’s education. So I started freelance editing, which turned to forming my own editing firm and establishing my LLC in 2019. In 202 during Covid the firm began to lose some traction. I’d built our family budget around my newfound income and couldn’t afford to go backward, so I picked up some work as a ghostwriter through a firm. Within the firm, the owners realized my potential, having come from an entrepreneurial background, and by September 2021 I was the made the Director of Operations. I served in that position for one year before I realized I had very little desire to be in administration—though I was good at it. I opted to step down and give up that salary to pursue my desire to write. I now write approximately 5 novels a month for clients and for myself and make more money writing freelance and working my editing firm than I did as the DOO of the world’s largest ghostwriting firm.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been a challenge every step of the way. Finding those first few clients was difficult, eeking out a living. We had to take on a second mortgage to alleviate the strain on our budget. There are days when I don’t feel like writing at all. Mental health plays a huge role in my ability to be creative. We’ve had some family crises and even a few health scares on my part that have impacted my work, but I’ve grown as a person and a writer and today I know how to jump those hurdles when they strike.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am specifically a romance ghostwriter. I produce an astonishing 4-5 novels every month and have for a few years now. I’ve topped 5.5million words with more than 100 novels and counting. I’ve managed to sell several Amazon best sellers, though I can’t give you titles. Those are confidential! And I work hard for my clients to produce a masterpiece they can love.

I’ve recently won an award for “excellence in editing” on a book I edited for a client. I’ve also had a few of my clients return to me to thank me for working with them, as following my work on their manuscripts they received full requests from agents or publishers.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I prefer not to lean into the “experts” who think they know a lot about this industry. Instead, I follow my intuition and gut as a reader to help my clients know what to do. I do have an Audible subscription, though, and I tune into heaps of books in the genres I write consistently to stay in tune with what’s hot and selling well!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mkediting.com