“Laura Yorke is one of my favorite agents to deal with: She not only represents really interesting authors and projects, but also has the ability to sell the heck out of something while completely understanding the publisher’s point-of-view and needs. That unusual skill comes, I believe, from her experience as an editor—she gets storytelling, language, commerce, the whole package. She knows how to make books better. And once she commits to something, she sticks with it. I once bought a book from her that she helped the author and me edit at my dining room table! That was a first for me, and I’m still waiting for someone, anyone, to repeat that particular performance.”
–Susan Bolotin, publisher and editorial director, Workman Publishing
“When we hired Laura as the agent for our first book – Younger Next Year, we had no idea that we had not only gotten a superb agent, who placed a completely out of the box book with the perfect publisher, but that we had also gotten a fiercely talented and demanding editor. Laura made us re-write the proposal and sample chapters for 6 months until they were perfect, and we had a blast! Laura is stunningly smart about every facet of books, but her editing skills are just remarkable. She becomes the advocate for the book itself and is willing to tell you all the places you are wrong, in very direct language, but in a way that is fun, exciting and motivating. The books have sold close to 3 million copies in the U.S. and abroad, and have been translated into 23 languages and spawned a PBS special, and none of it would have happened without those 6 months of editing and re-writing. It was not only the best investment we could have made, but one of the best intellectual and creative voyages I have ever been on!
–Henry S. Lodge, MD, FACP
Robert Burch Family Professor of Medicine
Columbia University Medical Center
Co-author of the Younger Next Year series of books with Chris Crowley
“I have worked with Laura Yorke for a decade. She has served as both my agent and my editor. As an agent she has been fantastic, negotiating a handsome advance for one book that threatened to be unremarkable . But she provided me her orderly mind to help me outline and organize the text. Indeed, as an editor she is both strict and skillful-always helping me put into lucid prose what I was trying to say but without Laura’s guidance I could not. “
–George E. Vaillant, M.D. psychoanalyst, research psychiatrist, director of Harvard’s Study on Adult Development for 35 years and bestselling author
“Laura Yorke is a formidable editor. When she came to work at Putnam, she brought an entirely new, energized genre of non-fiction with her. She edited many very important, critically acclaimed books and was fiercely loyal to her authors, always standing by them. She worked to create their books’ structures, poising them to stand out in the marketplace. She also is a brilliant editor of fiction, and even devised and outlined one of Jodi Picoult’s plots in her apartment one afternoon with Jodi! Laura’s skill and devotion to her craft are remarkable. She is one of the finest editors I have ever worked with and remains a close colleague.”
“Laura Yorke is the best. Her support and love of authors are unconditional”
– Ping Fu, CSO of 3D Systems, Obama adviser and bestselling author of Bend, Not Break
“Laura Yorke is that rare combination–an experienced and accomplished editor who is also a terrific agent and advocate for authors. As a publisher I am always glad to work with someone who truly understands our side of the business. I think she would be a great help to any author either established or emerging.”
-Morgan Entrekin, publisher Grove Atlantic
“My thanks to Laura Yorke, whose editorial guidance gave shape to my words.”
–Mary Tyler Moore, award winning actress and bestselling author of After All
“Thanks especially to Laura Yorke, who showed me what a truly great editor does to save the day. I hope this is the first book of many together.”
–Marilou Henner,award-winning actress and bestselling author of I Refuse to Raise a Brat
“There are some friends who, as the saying goes, even if you haven’t seen them in a while can pick up right where you left off. And then I’ve discovered there are some friends who go one step further-picking up right where you left off and push you in new directions. This book would not exist without a friend like that, Laura Yorke. As a mother, she recognized the challenge today’s parents face. As an agent, she seized upon what she believed was a timely idea. As a writer, she offered strategic advice. As my informal editor, she tweaked and tugged. She was the perfect blend of nurturing, demanding, patient, and supportive through this, my first journey into print from television news. I cannot thank her enough.”
–Willow Bay, former broadcast news anchor, Director of the USC School of Journalism and author of Talking to Your Kids in Tough Times
“The talented editor Laura Yorke worked long and hard, and displayed a sense of how this book should flow that sometimes eluded me. It is often said that line editing has gone the way of the manual typewriter. Not at Putnam, where Laura had her go. She didn’t miss a thing.”
–Carol Felsenthal, bestselling author of Power, Privilege and the Post
“My agent, Laura Yorke, has been ready with support and advice since our first phone conversation, when she helped me decide what path to take to best communicate my message,”
–Judy Estrin, former Cisco CTO, Obama adviser and author of Closing the Innovation Gap
“Special thanks to Laura Yorke, my patient editor, for her enthusiasm about my ideas even before the manuscript was a twinkle in my eyes, for providing insightful editorial comments and, most of all, for tolerating me.”
–Michele Weiner-Davis, M.S.W. and bestselling author of Divorce Busting
“Many thanks to Laura Yorke, my literary agent, who instinctively knows where to be strong when I am weak.”
– Janice Macleod, bestselling author of Paris Letters
“My agent Laura Yorke helped me sculpt this book. Her commentary was always demanding and always helpful. And somehow she made me laugh hysterically while grilling e with more demands.”
–Amy Larkin, vice chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Climate Change and author of Environmental Debt
“Thanks to my editor at Putnam, Laura Yorke, whose energy, enthusiasm, and intelligence made even the most mundane tasks a pleasure.”
–Tracy Thompson, journalist and bestselling author of The Best: A Reckoning with Depression
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“Thanks to Laura Yorke for being a real person not just an agent. For believing in me…For guiding me, teaching me the ropes…and for helping me fall in love with writing again.”
– John Kim, The Angry Therapist and author of The Angry Therapist, I used to be a Miserable Fuck, and Single. On Purpose