recert ccc-About
Anika Hanisch
Anika Hanisch has worked as a freelance writer and ghostwriter for over 20 years. Since 2005, she’s worked extensively as a natural health ghostwriter, crafting books and educational materials for integrative practitioners, doctors, naturopaths, and supplement manufacturers around the world. Regionally, she provides book coaching and manuscript editing for memoir and fiction authors.
Anika also writes her own outdoor narratives, artist profiles, sustainable living features, and essays on regenerative agriculture. Her articles and essays have appeared in regional and national magazines including Guideposts, Montana Quarterly, and At Home. She is the coauthor of the World War II memoir, Don’t Say Anything to Anybody (2017, Yearman & Hanisch).
As a ghostwriter and coauthor, Anika’s writing life involves an ever-changing mix of research, collaboration, and writing in solitude. As diverse as her projects are, there is a dominant theme running through all her work: A call toward personal transformation and healthier living. That call shows up whether she’s writing a nutrition-related blog series for an agency-based client or crafting an artist profile about a weaver teaching income-generating skills to women’s groups. Ultimately, it’s all about ideas and people who make the world a better place.
As an extension of her work in the natural health world, Anika has explored organic gardening over the years and experimented with growing her own herbal teas and remedies including: Echinacea, mullein, chamomile, mint, yarrow, oregano, and sage. Taking that interest to a new level, she began studying regenerative agriculture in 2014 and earned a certificate in Permaculture Design, with an emphasis in social systems and food equity (PDC 2019, International Permaculture Women’s Guild). She is also a Montana Master Naturalist. Learn more about Anika’s work as a microfarmer at StonesThrowMicrofarm.com.
Artist’s Statement
“I consider my writing a form of portraiture. Like light and pigment, words portray a person or scene in a way that evokes emotional response. Hopefully the words draw the reader to make one gentle change—to slow life’s pace, to listen a little more closely, to live in gratitude. The act of writing reminds me to do these things myself.
“Juggling my own creative work and writer-for-hire projects can result in some very busy days. I am thankful that the counter-balance for that ‘busy-ness‘ lies right outside my back door. When I need a break, I head to the foothills, always with a mini notepad and pen in my coat pocket, just in case!
“I am place-sensitive as a writer. Regardless of the topics and scope of my projects, I write my best from my office in the Gallatin Valley of Southwest Montana. I might be in the middle of manuscript revision for a client in California, but a walk in the mountains here gives me the perspective I need to create my best work.”
–Anika Hanisch
2021 – Mistletoe and the Emerging Future of Integrative Oncology (November 2021, SteinerBooks); virtual Book Launch Party and live Q&A with the Authors on December 17; Recording posted on YouTube
2021 – The team-written book Mistletoe and the Emerging Future of Integrative Oncology is slated for publication (November 2021, SteinerBooks); pre-ordering now open (August 2021)
2020 – Montana Coauthor clients begin work on a team-written book covering the latest research on mistletoe therapy within integrative cancer care
2019 – Dr. Steven Saltzman’s new book Dancing with Darwin earns positive advance reviews; slated for release January 2020 (Montana Coauthor client)
2019 – Don’t Say Anything to Anybody, chosen as the Summer selection for One Book Big Sky
2018 – Don’t Say Anything to Anybody, earns positive reviews in Kirkus Reviews and Summer edition of Montana Quarterly
2018 – Don’t Say Anything to Anybody, re-released by Zobel Yearman
2017 – Co-authored memoir Don’t Say Anything to Anybody, earns 5-star review by an Amazon Top 50 Reviewer
2017 – Co-authored memoir Don’t Say Anything to Anybody, released by Third Path Press
2017 – Troy Kechely’s new novel Lost Horse Park, released 2017 (Editing Client)
2016 – Provided final line editing for Troy Kechely’s new novel Lost Horse Park, coming 2017
2015 – Signed one-year agent representation contract with The Rudy Agency for Brigitte Yearman’s WWII memoir Don’t Say Anything to Anybody; coauthor BLOG launched at www.BrigitteYearman.com
2015 – Provided developmental editing for Troy Kechely’s new novel Lost Horse Park
2015 – World War II memoir co-authoring project (Don’t Say Anything to Anybody by Brigitte Yearman with Anika Hanisch) complete and off to agents
2014 – Began final revisions for major memoir co-authoring project; Historical fiction client Troy Kechely completes manuscript, Stranger’s Dance
2013 – Finishing research for major memoir co-authoring project; Coaching historical fiction and YA fiction clients
2012 – Began international research for major memoir co-authoring project; started first draft work on own fiction manuscript; grew book coaching services to include fiction
2011 – Stories Worth Telling memoir writing workshop series grew to three Montana locations; began offering the curriculum in private home gatherings
2010 – Launched the Stories Worth Telling memoir writing workshop series; took on first private client memoir ghostwriting projects; began providing non-fiction book coaching services
2009 – Published first personal narrative in national positive thinking magazine Guideposts
2008 – Completed first ghostwriting book manuscript
2007 – Taught first local course on press release writing through Prospera Women’s Business Network; several participants report getting local ink as a result of implementing tips
2005 – Carol Kriegel Nicholson offered representation in the natural products world; learned the ropes of ghostwriting for doctors, science summaries, health topic booklets, press releases, commercial and marketing copywriting
2005 – Phased out design clients and began writing full time; founded Spiritus Creative, LLC to showcase personal work and a growing network of editors and other writers
2003 – Moved to Bozeman and focused on growing my freelance writing; wrote for At Home, BALANCE, Montana Magazine, and several other local and regional publications
1996-2003 – Worked in commercial and non-profit communications and design in Minneapolis, Minnesota