Ken Wells grew up in the bayous of South Louisiana, second of six sons of an alligator-hunting father and a Cajun-French-speaking mother and gumbo chef extraordinaire. From a modest start on his hometown weekly newspaper, he has gone on to an illustrious career as a journalist and novelist. He’s a Pulitzer-Prize finalist (The Miami Herald), editor of two Pulitzer-Prize-winning projects (The Wall Street Journal) and winner of the Harry Chapin book award for his riveting post-Katrina work of narrative non-fiction(The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous.) He is the author of six well-received novels of the Louisiana bayous, including the coming-of-age classic, Meely LaBauve—in print for 24 years—and most recently Swamped!, a young-adult adventure tale set in Louisiana's Great Atchafalya Swamp. He is also the author of three works of narrative non-fiction, most recently, Gumbo Life: A Journey Down the Roux Bayou published in November 2024 by Blair. The Los Angeles Times called Wells’ literary style, "One of the most compelling voices in fiction of the last decade" and Tom Wolfe described Ken as "the Cajun Carl Hiaasen." In between visits to Louisiana, Wells divides his time between a home in Chicago and a sweet lakeside log cabin in the wilds of Maine. You can read his full biography at www.bayoubro.com

 Professional services:

    *Editing  *Ghostwriting     *Book pitch development     *Book editing     *Speech writing

My digital artwork website           My Etsy shop for signed books

         Over the course of my journalism career, my work has appeared in The Miami Herald, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Rolling Stone, Reader's Digest, Portfolio magazine, Bloomberg  News and Businessweek and U.S. News & World Report. I continue to string for The Wall Street Journal and am a contributing writer for Anglers Journal magazine. My book publishers include Random House, Simon & Schuster/Free Press, Yale University Press, W.W. Norton & Co. and Blair Publishers. During my 24 years at The Wall Street Journal I also served as editor-in-chief of The Journal's book publishing enterprise, a joint venture with Simon & Schuster/Free Press. In that position, I worked with reporters and Free Press editors to develop non-fiction book ideas based on Journal stories, helped to craft book proposals and oversaw commissioned books to fruition.  So I've seen book publishing from both sides and all angles. More recently, my book editing and consulting clients include Columbia Global Reports, the  book imprint of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and McKinsey & Co., the giant consulting concern. I have also done consulting editing for the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and the Fuller Project. References  and rates upon request.

          For queries, please email me at: bykenwells@hotmail.com

Meanwhile, a  link to some of my journalism, present and past...

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Updated 12/2024