Hello! I'm Cyndi Hughes!

A Bit About Me

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had my nose in a book. It started way back when, when I stayed up all night reading Little Women under the covers with a flashlight. From there, I discovered the library (cue the celestial voices chanting “AHHHHHHH!”), where I developed the habit of checking out the fattest books I could find from the adult books section so they wouldn’t end too soon.

Long before Malcolm Gladwell popularized it, I took a page out of Outliers and put in well over 10,000 hours in different word-related areas. I set my sights on becoming a reporter and majored in journalism at the University of Kansas, where I fell under the spell of one of the country’s legendary editors, John B. Bremner. That did it; that’s when I decided to be an editor. I hightailed it from Lawrence, Kansas, to Austin, Texas, for my first job as a copy editor and then copy chief for the Features department at the Austin American-Statesman. Then I landed my first dream job as the copy chief and then deputy executive editor at Texas Monthly. Best of all, I only had to move a few blocks north in Austin instead of going to New York to work at a major magazine with some of the best editors and writers in the business. And then ...

Photo by Sam Bond Photography

My Next Dream Job

. . . I stumbled into my second dream job as the founding director of the Texas Book Festival, which was established by then-Texas First Lady Laura Bush in 1996. Who would have guessed that such a job existed?! Under my leadership and determination to enhance Texas’s position on the literary map, the Festival acquired a reputation as one of the most prestigious literary events in the United States. In addition to showcasing more than 200 authors from all over the country at the historic Texas State Capitol in Austin, the Festival raised nearly $1.5 million for more than 470 Texas public libraries during my tenure.

When Mrs. Bush became the nation’s First Lady in 2001, the Library of Congress established the National Book Festival, which was inspired by the Texas event, and I had the pleasure of consulting with the National Center for the Book on its first two National Book Festivals. A few years later, I went back to my home state of Kansas to produce the Kansas Book Festival in 2007, under the leadership of then-Governor Kathleen Sebelius.

In between book festivals, I worked as an editor, book coach, and publishing consultant for several years before landing . . .

On to My Current Dream Job

. . . another great gig at the Writers’ League of Texas, one of the country’s largest writing organizations. As the executive director at the WLT, I shifted to directly supporting writers at all stages of their writing career. During my time there, the Writers’ League’s annual Agents and Editors Conference continued to develop a national reputation as one of the best conferences for writers in the country. I also led the WLT in producing a robust annual program of literary workshops and seminars for writers all over Texas.

From there, I took a detour into fundraising for two different nonprofits, but the literary world continues to be my sweet spot.

One of the side benefits has been speaking at various conferences and interviewing hundreds of authors. I have presented writing and editing workshops for Tsinghua University’s Global Business Journalism Program, Rice University’s Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, the University of Texas, and the Writers’ League of Texas. I also served on the literary grants panel for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Through it all, I’ve become a tireless cheerleader for authors, books, and libraries. I have been writing my own novels for too many years, and I’m bound and determined to get my first series out by 2022.

Oh, and my literary sidekick is Penelope, my adorable tricolor Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. In case you’re wondering what Penny has to do with books, spaniels do have a literary pedigree, starting with Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her spaniel Flush. Besides, she takes one of her duties very seriously: reminding me when it's five o'clock somewhere (see below)!

Our Promise to You & Your Fellow Authors

Collaborating with both emerging and established authors to bring their dreams of publishing a book and building a writing career into reality is right in my wheelhouse!

We know how writers think and what type of support they need to write their books. Writing a book can be a lonely endeavor, for sure. We're here to help with that. Sometimes all you need is someone to listen to you and help you navigate your way into writing through that soggy middle build or figure out a publishing plan that works for you.

While some publishing consultants offer narrow, specialized services, we're different. Whether I was working on a tight deadline for Texas Monthly or creating literary programming at the Texas Book Festival, I’ve always been able to bounce between the overall vision for a literary project and the tactical details such as editing, developing production timelines and plans, and promoting the work to its readers. I’ve worked with authors on publicity/media campaigns, book tours and special events, speaking engagements, and various editorial services.

We promise you this:
We’ll team up with you to bring your books into the world
and create the writing career you've dreamed of!

How We Can Collaborate With You

Booktique Consulting specializes in tailoring a plan just for you to help you take the action steps to write your book, scale up your author career, or market your books. Here's how your very own Author's Concierge can collaborate with you to transform your career as a writer or an “authorpreneur” by:

Advising you in turning your book idea into a published work, finishing your book-in-progress, or writing the next book you have in mind.
Strategizing with you on how to make the jump from author to authorpreneur by building a viable publishing career.
Providing the expertise to help you navigate the ins and out of publishing.
Guiding you in developing customized marketing and launch strategies for your books.
Any (or all) of the above!

For more, see our list of sample topics!

Please Note

We're not literary agents — I tried that and it wasn’t my gig. BUT we do know a lot about literary agents and how they work.
We won’t be a hands-on editor or a book coach — BUT we can connect you with some excellent editors and book coaches.
We're not a publisher — BUT we can help you find one.
We're not an expert in things like poetry, graphic novels, textbooks, or film rights — BUT we can connect you with people who do specialize in those areas.