About Liz

Liz Coursen grew up bouncing between Brunswick, Maine, and Sarasota, Florida. A self-described “serial entrepreneur,” she started her first business—selling Christmas ornaments of her own design and manufacture door-to-door in her West-of-Trail neighborhood—as a sixth-grader at Sarasota’s Southside Elementary. Liz attended Pine View School in Sarasota before moving back to Brunswick, where she graduated from Brunswick High.

Liz graduated from Emory University in 1981 with a degree in English Literature.  At Emory, she put herself through college by starting a lawn care service, and played ice hockey all four years—as the only girl on the team.

Several years ago, Liz began to collect discarded library books and distribute the books to homeless people; to date, she has given away more than 15,000 books to homeless and needy people in the Sarasota community.

Liz’s professional focus centers on editing and publishing really good books. She is an accomplished editor: In the spring of 2017, Liz presented writing workshops in Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Huntsville, and Atlanta—where the overflow crowd spilled out of the room and into the hallway. 2017 also saw the debut of Liz’s thirteenth book, Write AMERICAN! for Marketing and Sales Professionals, the third book in her “Write American!” series for the India market. In 2017, after delivering her first major keynote address in Chandigarh, India, Liz presented American English business writing workshops in Pune, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

Liz’s 2018 ended with a bang, with editing workshops at WordPress conferences in Seattle and Portland, Maine. 2019 was another busy year,  featuring numerous speaking engagements right out of the gate, exciting new projects in the wings, and, of all things, a novel, on the horizon. 

2020, alas, ushered in covid-19, presenting a difficult time for everyone, especially for those who focus on in-person interactions (which is just about everyone!). However, 2020 saw Liz’s publishing company publish its most ambitious book yet, 50 Years of Christmas Letters: The Life and Times of a Lucky Man, by Jack Pendray, which features 11 different fonts and 160 illustrations. 50 Years of Christmas Letters would go on to receive medals from the Florida Writers Association and the Florida Authors and Publishers Association, where it was the highest-scoring book in 2020’s Humor category. Since then, Liz’s books have won literary awards—many books have won multiple literary awards—each year.

2024 has been great so far—wonderful projects, remarkable clients, and a speaking schedule that has included being lector in her church on Easter and Pentecost and presenting a postcard history program in Las Vegas. More books and more speaking events are on the horizon!