Valerie Peterson

• Book publishing professional and consultant who teaches and speaks regularly on book publishing and book marketing
• Consults on book proposals, marketing positioning, brand and content, and social media strategies
• Started working in publishing in 1993 with major publishing houses
• Published author of four books, as well as several essays and screenplays\
• Semi-finalist - 2015 Robert Benchley Humor Writing Award

Valerie Peterson is a former writer for The Balance covering the publishing industry. Her writing expertise covered topics like self-publishing, writing for specific genres, and publicizing a new publication. From book promotion to publicity to content strategic and social media, she has run every facet of book marketing and touched every part of the book publishing process.

Peterson has held strategy and marketing positions at corporations and book publishers including Random House and Doubleday. There, she produced videos and developed and directed marketing campaigns for authors James Lee Burke, Robert Crais, among others. She was the head of marketing for the cookbook and gardening and Frommer's divisions at John Wiley Publishers. She worked with well-known authors, brands, and household names such as Mark Bittman, Nigella Lawson, the Culinary Institute of America, and Betty Crocker.  

She has written lifestyle articles for the Washington Post, the New York Times, Brides, and Medium.

She is completing her first fiction novel. She has already published four books: Peterson's Holiday Helper and Peterson's Happy Hour, a humorous cocktail book, and co-authored Cookie Craft and Cookie Craft Christmas.

She has received recognition as a screenplay writer. She was a semi-finalist for the WGAE Made in NY TV Writers Room program and a finalist for the 2015 CBS TV Writers Mentoring Program. Her TV procedural and mystery drama pilot, "Reconciling Jimmy," achieved Second Rounder status in the 2015 Austin Film Festival Screenwriters Festival and was a quarterfinalist in the ScreenCraft TV Pilot Launch competition. "The Maid of Honor," a narrative comedic short film she wrote, was an official selection of the Sedona International Film Festival. Her screenplay, "The Jane Austen Syndrome," was recognized by numerous screenplay competitions such as The Austin Film Festival, Cinequest, The Big Apple Film Festival, and MORE magazine.

Publications

• Cookie Craft: From Baking to Luster Dust, Designs and Techniques for Creative Cookie Occasions 
• Cookie Craft Christmas: Dozens of Decorating Ideas for a Sweet Holiday 
• Peterson's Holiday Helper: Festive Pick-Me-Ups, Calm-Me-Downs, and Handy Hints to Keep You in Good Spirits 
• Peterson's Happy Hour: Spirited Cocktails and Helpful Hints to Brighten Daily Life 
• Washington Post
• New York Times
• Medium