Henry Denard

Major Commercial Fiction, Nonfiction, and Screenwriting

Publishing a book at a traditional (Big 5) publisher is pass/fail . . . where pass is a 97%.

I excel at taking material from a “B-“ and putting it over the top, to an “A+.” Your material may, or may not, sell, but I’ll turn it into the best manuscript it can be.

Apart from editing adult trade, young adult, and middle grade fiction and nonfiction, I’m also a screenwriter (WGA) and film producer for the studios.

My recently edited books include Girl From Nowhere by Tiffany Rosenhan (Bloomsbury, 2020) and Sixty Stories About Thirty Seconds by Bruce Van Dusen (Post Hill/Simon & Schuster, 2020). Both are debut authors.

My past bestselling authors include Anthony Bourdain (my name is at the top of the acknowledgments of Kitchen Confidential), Chris Wallace (Character), Richard Marcinko (Rogue Warrior), Steven Pressfield (The War of Art), Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket Diaries), and Brett Favre (Favre).

My titles have been featured on: Sixty Minutes, The Today Show, Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday, and the front page of The New York Times. Two books I bought, edited, and published sold to studios (Warner and Universal) for over $1 million.

I founded and was editor-in-chief of Rugged Land Books, distributed by Penguin Random House, where I acquired, edited, published, and helped to write dozens of titles.

As an author, I recently completed The Last Duke for Duke University Press (2021). I have written for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal among other publications.

On the film side, I developed and produced The Conspirator (Robin Wright, directed by Robert Redford), Gone in Sixty Seconds (Nicolas Cage, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer) and The Negotiator (Samuel Jackson, directed by Gary Gray) among other films. I recently sold a pilot for a series to AMC Studios.

Testimonials

“I worked closely with Henry Denard over the past few months on a nonfiction book proposal. Henry was more than helpful on every aspect of my work. He showed me how to choose the right topic for a sample chapter and then how to properly structure, outline, and write the material. It was not an easy process because I was starting from scratch, as a writer and on the project. Noah not only helped me develop the material to the highest level, but along the way he taught me how to write at an entirely different level. His enthusiasm, rigor, and attention to detail made for the most terrific and productive experience.”

—Katrina Robinson
Author, A Yogi Goes to Law School

“I’ve worked with Henry Denard for over a dozen years now. We’ve probably done forty or fifty books together. As a book designer, I’ve always appreciated Denard’s ability to make any given book concept work at another level. Whether conceiving, re-writing, or editing, Denard works intensively and professionally while making it the most enjoyable experience. He also has a spider sense for what the reader wants – his commercial instincts are excellent. What’s more, he provided a real shot in the arm for me in my own writing.”

—Timothy Hsu, Hsu & Associates

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