My Services
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Need help with a podcast? I can support you in everything from show concept to story development to interviewing to production, and I’m at home with both fiction and nonfiction. I’m an especially good fit for people looking to add levity to dark subject matter.
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My first book (Houghton Mifflin Co.) and radio story (This American Life) were both unsolicited submissions and I love speaking to aspiring writers and producers of all ages about how to get noticed by editorial gatekeepers. I also talk about parenting. Scroll down for a list of workshops I teach.
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Adapting a graphic novel as an audiobook takes a specialized set of skills, and I’ve got ‘em! I love the challenge of finding ways to make an artist’s eye-dazzling drawings sound equally dazzling for the ear. If you just need help punching up a fiction or nonfiction script, I can do that too.
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I have experience directing large casts, both in-person and remote — and I’ve worked with first-time actors as well as TV and film stars. I’m available to direct reads from performers and journalists in all audio formats, including audiobooks, podcasts, and radio.
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Got a show but no host? I can narrate your fiction, journalistic, or branded script. And if you need help punching up the script as we go, we can make that part of the process.
Projects I’ve worked on
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![Junior High by Tegan and Sara book cover]()
Tegan & Sara's Junior High
Audio scriptwriter + director on the audiobook adaptation of Tegan and Sara’s autobiographical graphic novel
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![Everything Is Alive logo]()
Everything Is Alive
Story editor for Ian Chillag’s podcast in which he interviews inanimate objects
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![Everything Is Alive Presents: The Animals]()
The Animals
Story editor for Everything Is Alive’s miniseries, in which Ian Chillag interviews talking animals
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![Why Oh Why logo]()
Why Oh Why
Story editor for Andrea Silenzi’s dating and relationships podcast
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![Six Who Sat logo]()
Six Who Sat
Story editor + host for a 30 for 30 episode about the six women who turned the New York Marathon co-ed
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![Stay Away from Matthew Magill logo]()
Stay Away from Matthew Magill
Story editor for Eric Mennel’s series about how digging through a box of a dead man’s stuff helped him to understand his family better
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EmbraceRace
Consultant on the organization’s podcast, helping caregivers talk to kids about race
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![The Truth logo]()
The Truth
Co-creator + founding editor of Jonathan Mitchell’s anthology fiction podcast
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![Coming of Age Collection logo - drawings by Hillary Frank]()
Coming-of-Age Stories
Co-editor/director/producer for WBEZ’s award-winning Coming-of Age series, featuring essays written and voiced by teens
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![Rough Translation logo]()
Rough Translation
Fill-in editor for Gregory Warner’s international current events podcast
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![Museum Without Walls logo]()
Museum Without Walls
Founding editor + showrunner for the Association for Public Art’s audio tour in Philadelphia
Workshops I teach
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How to Get Killer Tape and What to Do if It's Dead on Arrival
In this workshop, I’ll share my tricks for designing an interview to yield evocative, memorable answers — whether your format is chat or narrative nonfiction. I’ll also give you tips for using writing to craft a dynamic story even if your guest is not a dynamic talker.
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How to Make Audio Dramas
Writing visually for the ear is a unique but exciting challenge. In this workshop, I’ll share the techniques I use to help a listener picture your scenes and characters and experience them emotionally through sound and dialogue. We’ll also talk about casting, directing, scoring, and sound design.
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How to Parent Like a Weirdo
When I became a parent, I quickly discovered that parenting books by “experts” made me feel like a failure because their advice didn’t work for me. That’s why, for my book Weird Parenting Wins, I crowdsourced unusual but effective childrearing strategies from real parents. In this talk, I’ll walk you through some of those techniques, and we’ll brainstorm ideas for how to access your inner weirdo to tackle your own caregiving challenges.
Places I’ve spoken
Testimonials
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“Hillary’s work on Tegan and Sara’s JUNIOR HIGH audiobook was instrumental in its success! Her understanding of the story and characters came to her naturally and allowed her to adapt the script and direct the actors better than we thought possible. She was timely, organized, full of great suggestions, and a delight to work with. Hillary is a gem!”
Michelle Altman
Executive Producer and Development Manager, Macmillan Audio
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"Hillary is a generous, insightful, and focused editor. She has an incredible ability to sense what the emotional center of a piece is and then make choices to strengthen it. I am sure if she was editing this testimonial it would be better."
Ian Chillag
Host and Creator, Everything Is Alive -
"I worked with Hillary Frank in my capacity as Founder and EP at Transmitter Media. She came on board to serve as our editor on an episode of 30 for 30 that ended up winning a Webby! Her work in refining story and structure, her ear for golden tape, her encouragement of the team through production challenges, and her precision in line edits made the story sing."
Gretta Cohn
Founder and EP, Transmitter Media -
"Hillary spoke to a group of us at Stitcher and SiriusXM about her original fiction podcast, Here Lies Me. It was inspiring to hear about her process of working with talented teen actors to make something that feels so authentically, awkwardly middle school. Many of us came away from our discussion with Hillary wanting to make fiction projects of our own."
Gianna Palmer
Senior Editor, Stitcher