Editing and Publication
Introduction
As part of editorial teams, I edited, designed, and published Quills & Pixels 2018 and 2019 , and I developed a complex book proposal for my nonfiction memoir. As editors and publishers, we are responsible for complex layers of work, each benefiting the other and the author from marketing for submissions to development and content editing, collaboration, diplomacy, assembly, presentation, interrelation, investigation, application, and attendance to audience.
Content and Development Editor
As a Development Editor of Quills & Pixels 2018 and a Production Editor of Quills & Pixels 2019 , I cultivated my experience in editing and publication through--
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Multi-pass editing to produce consistently error-free documents for specific audiences, situations, and purposes
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Using technology to invent, refine, and deliver a variety of texts
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Engaging in traditional and/or digital forms of publishing
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Editing and publishing involves public relations marketing ads, encouraging writing submission, engaging in multi-pass editing to help an author’s work shine, and using software like InDesign to collaborate with other editors for layout, developing various elements of the book, such as pull quotes, paragraph styles, margins, bleed, gutter, and bio and narrative layout.
That editorial experience resulted in invitations by a professor to be guest author to expose new students, as editors, to positive, productive meetings with authors. From those collaborations, “Factually and Faithfully” was published in Quills & Pixels 2019 and “On PTSD” is forthcoming in Quills & Pixels 2020.
Additionally, "Factually or Faithfully" went on to win 1st Place in Nonfiction and Memorial awards in the 62nd Grand Prairie Festival of the Arts and "On PTSD" carried on to Honorable Mention in the 67th New Millennium Writing Awards.
Editorial Review Communication
The goal of good editing is not to change their style, motivation, or meaning, but to consider how to recommend that which crescendos an author’s own skill and ideas. It is exciting to see a work evolve. Even initial-revision meetings with authors yield author ideas on the spot and editor insights into keeping the author the author.
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These letters to authors, accepting and declining works, exemplify respect of authors.
Nonfiction Memoir
Book Proposal Portfolio
Preparing a nonfiction book proposal prepared a submission for publication of my memoir, Say Something: A Story of Childhood Abuse. Writing and promoting a book proposal relies on being meticulous, organized, and prepared and developing the direction of the content of a book to hook a publisher’s attention. I am a researcher regardless of the genre of book because it requires researching the book material, comparable books, trends, target audience, publishers and their marketable, and the analytics of my website traffic. Finally, building the picture of who my audience is important in every aspect of the book, from conceptualizing to marketing among a social media platform.
Supporting Writers with
Editorial Reviews
As I review writing, I appreciate the value of diverse perspectives and rhetorical situations of authors of varying styles and life experiences. Plenty of peer and professor reviews both ways gave me plenty of experience in giving generative feedback. The following redacted documents are samples:
Peer Review Book Proposal Evaluation 1
Colton's Handbook Co-Editor
Robin Richardson and I, as co-editor, edited all Colton's Steak House & Grill individual staff handbooks, so these documents only represent my recommended edits in two handbooks.
In the Server Handbook I edited more in depth as this was an early part of my editing with Ms. Richardson. It involves alliteration, sentence and phrase structure, consistency, voice, formatting, and so forth. In the Hostess Manual much of the detail editing was done, but I suggested further editing, cleaning up sentences and phrases.
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​​Coltons Server Handbook copy editing with marks
Coltons Server Handbook copy editing without marks
Developmental Editing - Geology Report
"Hope, as you read this, see if it makes sense and maps are referenced correctly," are the only instructions that the Glend-Owen Oil Company LLC gave me, sending me his geologist's original report below sans the redaction. I have a working relationship with the company owner, so I knew he expected my professional best. I reported,
"Be prepared for a major overhaul and some things that you will need to correct such as is it Crain or Crane? Is it minus 127 feet or -127 feet? You have a totally red-lined document, allowing you to accept as you wish." I always give the client the opportunity to accept or decline any of my edits. It is their document.
"Something I consider one of the most significant problems of the report is it is full of words and phrases that make the whole document sound very uncertain—might, could, possibly, may, and more. As a researcher and as general audience it is so much so as to cause me to wonder about the dedication to the research and the reliability of the report as a basis for company-wide decisions. I dampened it where I could but I can’t be definitive on research I haven’t done myself or the author doesn’t provide adequate support of anywhere else."
"It has the quality of a white paper so I added headers and a decent, though quick, cover page and improved paragraph clustering and font and font styles. Additionally, it requires a citation page for the reports on which the document is based."
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The client was very happy with the outcome.
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Book Review
I wrote this book review in response to reading the memoir Darkroom: A Family Exposure, written by Jill Christman. The memoir is Christman's struggle to discover her identity. While considering Christman's book for narrative development, values, character development among other things, I also compared it against the memoir, Educated, by Tara Weaver. Educated’s straightforward style exemplified the solidity of Weaver’s belief in her parents and their directing her place in life, not to be questioned until closer to the end of the memoir.
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