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Meet Our Team
We're a group of audacious book fanatics who are here to bring your creative vision to life. We hold you accountable, tell it like it is, cheer for you through set backs and successes, and push you past the finish line. Most of all, we make sure the book you publish maximizes the impact of your message to those who need it most.
NY Times Bestselling Author & Head of Inspiration
Carmen Renee Berry
Specialty: Supporting the creative process of the authors she mentors, nurturing a climate of collaboration and making books happen.
Carmen Renee Berry, MSW, is a New York Times bestselling author who founded Berry Powell Press to help today’s authors overcome common obstacles in the ever-changing publishing industry. Since 1985, she has authored and ghostwritten forty-plus books, selling over a million and a half copies worldwide through publishers including HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Thomas Nelson. Her books have been translated into nine languages. And yes, she was on Oprah.
She earned a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California and a Master of Social Sciences from Northern Arizona University. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Point Loma Nazarene University.
Director of Publishing Services
Carolyn Rafferty
Specialty: Managing production details, digital design platforms, video editing & production.
Carolyn has over thirty years of experience as an award-winning filmmaker and video editor, and she is the CEO of Red Boots Media. She worked for ten years as the Director of International Film and Video Distribution for Moody Institute of Science. She was also the Production Coordinator for The Jesus Film Project and Producer of The Story of Jesus for Children, translated into hundreds of languages and distributed worldwide.
For the past ten years, Carolyn has worked with numerous authors in the design, editing, and production of products and courses. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary.
Director of Editorial Services
Abigail Dengler
Specialty: Co-creating stories, organizing complex ideas, book coaching, starting new initiatives.
Abigail began helping writers hone their voices as a Writing Coach at Azusa Pacific University. At Berry Powell, she helps move authors from concept to press, specializing in the development of the book’s basic framework. She is passionate about helping writers find their voices and reach the communities that need their message most.
Abigail graduated Cum Laude with a BS in Sociology and Humanities from Azusa Pacific University, and she has furthered her education through the Editorial Freelancers Association and the UCLA Editing & Publishing Certificate program. For fun, she enjoys novels and ice skating even in sunny Pasadena.
Senior Editor/Director Of Manuscript Editorial/Acquisitions Editor
Valeri Mills Barnes
Specialty: Final editing, fiction development, collaborating with authors, finding new authors/stories.
Valeri has launched and grown two national trade publications, sold advertising for a variety of publishers, and spearheaded key account initiatives for magazines, newspapers, and online trade directories. In addition, she worked her way up in a California newspaper from columnist to feature writer, chief editor, publisher, and ultimately owner. All the while she freelance edited scores of books over thirty-five years.
Currently, Valeri is the final editing guru ensuring published books are error-free. She fuses her comprehensive expertise with her truest passions: editing, coaching authors, ghostwriting—all things literary. In her off time, she loves home projects and gatherings with family and friends.
Director of Author Relations
Marianne Croonquist
Specialty: Crystallizing an author’s vision, understanding the needs of the target audience, creating partnerships throughout our Author Network.
Over the last twenty-five years, Marianne’s experience as a Marriage and Family Therapist has informed her editorial contribution to a number of successful books such as Trauma in the Pews, Girlfriends, Daddies and Daughters, and The Unauthorized Guide to Choosing a Church. She ushers authors through the writing process and equips them to launch their books into the marketplace.
Marianne is a former adjunct professor at Azusa Pacific University. She holds a BS in Sociology from Whitman College and an MS in Marriage and Family Therapy from Fuller Theological Seminary. Photography, nature and travel are passions enhanced by the company of her two grandchildren.
SEO & Web Development Intern
Jenee Berry
Specialty: Search Engine Optimization, finding keywords, HTML, CSS.
Jenee Berry supports the Berry Powell team behind the scenes with specialized knowledge of web development. She highlights our team and authors by optimizing our visibility on search engines to make our books and network increasingly visible in the publishing world.
Business Consultant
Patricia Serio
Specialty: A keen sense of business savvy honed by decades of running a multimillion dollar company.
Pat and her husband built a successful manufacturing company together, but when they divorced in the mid-1980’s, Pat bought him out. Conventional wisdom at the time said, “A woman can’t run a manufacturing business!” But Pat proved them all wrong. She single-handedly grew the company into a multi-million dollar success and became an esteemed member of the “Top 100 Women-Owned Businesses in Southern California.” She cracked the glass ceiling into splinters.
Today, in her early eighties, Pat has no intention of sitting and watching as life goes on around her. A champion of women in business, she mentors every chance she gets, and donates to causes she believes in. She has visited thirty-five countries, and has served on six boards.
