Here’s the scenario: an author has been laboring diligently at his or her book, either alone or with another writer, but from the publisher’s point of view, the project is late and in trouble. In fact, the publisher is on the verge of canceling the author’s contract and demanding a refund of the advance, but the editor and/or agent (who know my work and trust me) call me in to rescue the book in the eleventh hour.

My job is to rewrite what was already written and, with the full involvement of the author, go on to finish the book on time. I sometimes receive cover credit and a share of the proceeds for this kind of work; at other times, I receive a flat fee and a gracious acknowledgment but no cover credit.

I have successfully salvaged many worthy but failing books in this way including:

• Hardball for Women: Winning at the Game of Business (Plume) with Pat Heim, Ph.D.

• Taking Charge: Mastering the Eight Fears of Long-Term Illness (Times Books) with Irene Pollin, M.S.W.

• The Batterer: A Psychological Profile (Basic Books) with Donald Dutton, Ph.D.

• Shyness: A Bold New Approach (HarperCollins) with Bernardo Carducci, Ph.D.

• The Secret Language of Eating Disorders (Times Books) with Peggy Claude-Pierre

• Women’s Moods (Morrow) with Deborah Sichel, M.D. and Jeanne Driscoll, R.N.

• ” Not to People Like Us” : Hidden Abuse in Upscale Marriages (Basic Books) with Susan Weitzman, Ph.D.

• Do It Right the First Time (Wiley) with Gerard Nierenberg

• Adversity Quotient (Wiley) with Paul Stotz, Ph.D