Boni Wagner-Stafford

PUBLISHER. EDITORIAL STRATEGY. 

Award-winning former Canadian journalist

Boni is cofounder and publisher at Ingenium Books. She has coached more than three dozen authors and writers, helping them start, develop, polish, and then publish their manuscripts. Many have won awards, two have been Wall Street Journal bestsellers.

She’s host of the Ingenium Books podcast, an award-winning former Canadian journalist, tv news anchor, and talk show host. Boni has written two books for authors: The Best Memoir: How to Write it When You Don’t Know How, and One Million Readers: Book Marketing Strategies to Save Time, Money, and Sell More Books.

She likes to move — so far, she has lived in twenty different cities/towns in Canada, Mexico, and France. She spent three years living full-time on her sailboat, also named Ingenium, and now calls Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, home. It is possible she is addicted to kittens.

John Wagner-Stafford

Publisher. Media composer. Award-winning audio producer, and former professional musician.

John is cofounder and CFO at Ingenium Books, a media composer and audio editor. John designed and built the proprietary relational database system for Ingenium Books’ Royalty Reporting Services.

He composed the soundtrack, produced, edited, and mixed Ingenium Books’ first immersive audiobook, Nova: The Courage to Rise, including auditioning and directing more than half a dozen voice actors.

John’s creative entrepreneur accomplishments include professional musician (saxophone, vocals); recording engineer with artists like Peter Frampton, Celine Dion, Pat Metheny, and Leonard Cohen; and soundtrack producer for film and television. As video game producer for Ubisoft in Montreal, John led a team of 160 and managed a budget of $12 million.

He’s a master canoeist and ASA-certified sailor. He's also trilingual, speaking English, French, and Spanish. If he could, he’d have spaghetti for lunch every day.

Linell van Hoepen

CONTENT DIRECTOR

Linell van Hoepen gets intimate with every manuscript we publish at Ingenium Books—perhaps more intimate than she might like. Linell ’s love affair with words started when, as a little girl in South Africa, she wanted to know the English words her parents were using when trying to keep things from the kids. And then she taught herself to read.

Even while studying for an honours degree in Political Science, she was more passionate about working on student newspapers than learning about balance of power theory. After a few years working as a theatre publicist, she learned the tricks of the book trade while working as an editor, project manager, translator, proofreader, and author in the educational publishing industry in her native South Africa.

These days, Linell is based in a Maya town on the shores of Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. She loves the accidentally apt spelling mistake, is a sponge for information that’s only useful in a pub quiz, spends far too much time watching cooking and baking  videos on YouTube, and hopes to one day retire to a "dessert island." Yum.   

Anastasia Semeniuk

MARKETING MANAGER

Anastasia was born and raised in the Ural region of Russia, impressing adults with her thoughtful command of language, both spoken and written, far beyond expectations for a child.

While pursuing a degree in linguistics with a major in English, her passion for marketing and visual design through creative technology also started to take shape. Her skills in both language and visual creation landed her a digital marketing job with her alma mater, an ideal field for someone who had grown up in the digital age, lending her bookish eye and natural empathy to businesses looking to build lasting connections with their audiences.

She has worked at top Russian universities, marketing them to a global audience, as a creative director overseeing the branding and design team of a US-based Amazon marketing agency, and in web design and UX/UI design roles.

Relocating to the vibrant city of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Anastasia launched her own business in the beauty industry, using it as a testing ground for various marketing tools and strategies, growing her social media following by nearly 600% in just a few months. She continued to collaborate with businesses in the US, Russia, Italy, and Australia, establishing herself as a versatile freelance digital marketing specialist. Working in the publishing industry has long been a dream for Anastasia, and she has found a good home with Ingenium Books.

Leonardo De Vita

website designer

Leo is a technology entrepreneur, CEO, & founder at Thinknova Design, a web design and development agency created to help B2B / B2C companies, startups, entrepreneurs, and coaches increase their leads and revenue from their websites.

As a freelance web designer, he’s achieved a ranking in the “Top 1% Expert-Vetted” on Upwork, becoming a member of Upwork's Customer Advocacy Program, a select, hand-picked group of professionals who are invited to participate in media and marketing opportunities with the company. He was featured on Upwork's Work Without Limits 2022 conference, Upwork Spotlight, and COVID's Work Together campaigns.

Having worked 20+ years in the IT industry on companies such as IBM and Accenture, Leo has  served Fortune 500 clients such as Caterpillar, Novartis, Manpower or American Express (among others) and has experience in most industries such as legal, financial, health care, media, architecture, marketing, information technology, security, food and education. He has led 100+ people teams from various technologies and geographies.

Amie McCracken

EDITOR

Amie McCracken finds great satisfaction in helping to shape books from idea conception to the physical product in reader’s hands. Her role as an editor, typesetter/designer, and proofreader helps her do that for Ingenium Books, where she’s been a valued member of the team since 2017.

Amie has been swimming in books her whole life, and her experience spans the spectrum from small publishers to traditional publishers. She’s analyzed and critiqued hundreds of storylines, character arcs, narrative voices, and there’s always a writing book or two on her nightstand. She’s rarely seen without a laptop full or notes or a manuscript-in-progress.

Amie hails from the United States and currently resides in Germany. She calls herself an imaginist, with ideas floating around in her head and a long list of places still to visit. And there’s a possibility she might be addicted to tea.

Marie Beswick Arthur

managing EDITOR

Marie writes to change the world. She changes ideas into art, understanding the voices of others to bring their stories to life.

In the beginning, Marie wrote over 200 Lifebooks for Alberta Children’s Services in Canada. These truthful narratives in story form helped children in the system come to terms with why they had been removed from their biological parents. Since then, Marie has collaborated on more than fifty published books, some of which are award winning. Of her solo work: she has received awards for poetry and short story. Her debut novel, Listen For Water, published by Ingenium Books in 2022, received the 2022 Titan Literary Gold award.

She mentors and writes from her heart which is flexibly and lovingly attached to Mexico, Canada, and the UK. Marie’s other superpower is fostering dogs, nurturing and loving them back to health and into their forever homes, which sometimes is her own.

Jessica Bell

cover designer

Jessica Bell is an award-winning book cover designer, having created hundreds of covers for a wide range of authors and publishers, including indie, traditional, and hybrid. Many of these covers have graced bestseller lists and earned awards.

She’s publisher at Vine Leaves Press, a singer/songwriter, and an award-winning author, having published a memoir, five novels, three poetry collections, and her bestselling Writing in a Nutshell series. She has been featured in publications and radio shows such as Writer’s Digest, Publisher’s Weekly, The Guardian, Life Matters, and Poetica.

Jessica was born in Melbourne, Australia and currently resides in Athens, Greece with her son —and a pile of dishes that still don’t know how to wash themselves.

Sheri Orloff

Publishers’ Assistant

Sheri is Ingenium Books’ publishers’ assistant, providing virtual administrative supports including managing the Ingenium Royalty Reporting Services.

Her diverse administrative and technical services allow us to manage our company efficiently and focus on the most important things while minimizing time spent on minutiae.

Born, raised, and educated in the United States, Sheri has an excellent command of spoken and written English, works with spreadsheets with her eyes closed, and can also be found working on audio transcription, database management, eBook preparation, and audiobook proofing.

Michelle Fairbanks

graphic design

With over 20 years of design experience, Michelle aims to keep her work fresh, which means simple, clean, and beautiful. Raised on Vancouver Island, she finds it easy to be inspired by the beauty of the ocean and forest that surround her.

Michelle prides herself on being easy to work with. Specializing in book cover design, from fiction to children’s books, leadership to nonfiction self-help and more, Michelle helps bring each specific vision to create designs that appeal to the readers and audiences and that the clients are proud to hold in hand.

Rachael Marie Shenyo

Managing EDITOR

Rachael Marie Shenyo (pen name Marie Anzalone) is a US born climate change development specialist, living and working in the developing world. She is a professional scientist, economist, translator, editor, and artist; also trained as a life coach, freelance writer, and business manager. She manages a small farm in rural Guatemala. She has been writing for most of her life.

Rachael holds a leadership role in writing and arts for the city of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala; she is member of the Universal Zoom Poetry Collective, and of PEN Guatemala. She is a frequent event host for international poetry exchanges, judge for local and national level writing contests, and interviewer and real time translator for international poetry and radio programs. Her poetry and writing have been recognized for awards over 300 times.

She writes and edits in both English and Spanish. Her writing has been featured in the human rights journal "Namaste," as well as in a dozen anthologies; and several additional literary publications.

She has 9 completed (8 published, one pending) stand-alone full published works of poetry, and was the editor, translator and/ or co-editor for 22 other writers. She was invited as an international poet to several events in Mexico and Guatemala from 2019-23. In 2021 she moderated an international youth poetry event. In 2022 her poetry was selected as part of a Guatemala high school and college curriculum. In 2023 her work was featured in publications in Costa Rica, as well as translated into both Polish and Russian. In 2024, she was selected for 3 anthologies, her work was translated into Ukrainian, and she designed and led 12 events for the international abuse recovery initiative “Break the Silence.”

Howard Lovy

EDITOR

Howard divides his work into boxes. He’s a nonfiction author who specializes in Jewish issues, a novelist with a book coming out in 2025, a book editor, podcast host/producer, and content and communications manager for The Alliance of Independent Authors.

As a book editor, Howard specializes in memoir, history, business, and other nonfiction. Three decades in journalism have given him an ear for each author’s unique voice. He’s worked as a newsroom mentor and writing coach at newspapers and magazines.

Howard lives in Michigan with his wife and two sons.

Rachel Small

EDITOR

Rachel specializes in helping authors express themselves clearly and powerfully on the page – whether they’re a veteran author or an emerging writer, a business owner or a blogger. As an editor, she’s here to help your voice shine. Rachel works closely with her clients to gain an understanding of their vision for their writing, and to help them deliver words and stories that pack a punch, that move and inspire.

She’s an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and has extensive experience editing both fiction and non-fiction material. Her genre specialties include literary and women’s fiction, urban fantasy, inspirational stories, travel stories, and autobiographies and memoirs.

When not editing, you can find Rachel either reading (yes, believe it), doing yoga, travelling near and far, drinking coffee, or writing short stories.

Crystal Watanabe

EDITOR

Crystal owns and operates Pikko’s House, an editorial services business, through which she provides Ingenium Books with editing, proofreading, and sensitivity reader services.

Pikko’s House works on over seventy-five books each year and serves more than 150 clients around the world, both in self-published, hybrid, and traditionally published circles.

Crystal personally provides services to New York Times bestselling authors and Big Five publishers.

Crystal is mother to three children, lives in Hawaii, USA, and has a secret past as a gamer.

Denise Willson

writer. EDITOR

As a professional editor, Dee specializes in manuscript evaluations (developmental editing in report form), traditional developmental editing (within the manuscript), copy editing, and the proofreading of fiction and nonfiction manuscripts. She ghostwritten and edited hundreds of manuscripts, along with websites, marketing copy, blogs, magazine features, and business reports. She works with publishers and authors, has over two decades of education on the craft of writing and editing, and holds a marketing degree.

As an award-winning author, Dee understands the power of the written word. She’s the award-winning author of three novels, A Keeper's Truth, GOT (Gift of Travel), and No Apology For Being, and a feature writer and editor for several magazines, including Our Homes Magazine.

Dee is registered with the Editorial Freelancers Association (US), ACES (UK), and Editors Canada (Canada). Dee lives on the shores of Lake Ontario and dreams of one day living on a sailboat.

Millicent Yedwa

EDITOR. brand activation manager

Millicent Yedwa is a Writer, Editor and Marketer. Which seems like a lot of hats to wear except that they congregate around her deep expertise with language.

As Ingenium Book's Editor and Brand Activation Manager, she focuses on making sure all of Ingenium Books' communications are clear, impactful, and positioned correctly, while also making sure through the editing process, that all manuscripts hit their mark. 

She has worked as an editor for the USAID Resilience ANCHORS Project, online platforms such as AMAKA Studio where she was a Subeditor, and with various authors as a developmental and line editor.

She also has experience as a Content Writer for NOBS Marketplace, an Australian-based SEO agency, and Msasa Collective, a Harare-based social media agency, as a Content Strategist and Social Media Manager. Through helping various clients under these agencies and sometimes in her personal capacity, she has sharpened her skills in strategic messaging and storytelling.

Linda Dessau

EDITOR

Linda Dessau (LD Editorial) is a nonfiction copy editor specializing in memoirs, self-help, and business books. Since 2005, she has been helping authors create books that inspire, improve, and instruct their readers. She helps authors shine by sharpening and honing their message so readers can experience its full power.

She maintains active memberships in Editors Canada, the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), and ACES: The Society for Editing, and has completed specialized training in copy editing and memoir editing from Simon Fraser University, the EFA, and Club Ed.

Based in Barrie, Ontario, Linda can often be found taking road trips with her husband and retired racing greyhound, Fifty, or indulging in her lifelong passion for reading.

Simon Presland

EDITOR

Simon’s twenty-five-year writing and editing career includes more than 750 published books, both fiction and nonfiction, and hundreds of articles for numerous publications. A skilled ghostwriter and writer, Simon establishes quick rapport and trust with each author, fostering a productive relationship. He has a natural talent for capturing and conveying the author’s intended message while bringing their manuscript to life by preserving their unique voice and style. His editing expertise includes developmental, substantive, copyediting, as well as proofreading. He also has vast experience in faith-based genres.

When not working on a manuscript, Simon enjoys travelling and skiing with his wife, Trish, and seeing life through his vivacious goddaughter’s eyes. He holds a doctorate degree, a master’s in counseling, and is an ICF PCC credentialed coach.

Friends say that Simon is silently editing their grammar while they speak.