Dear Deb,
You are brilliant. You are a guiding star. You are wonderful. THANK YOU for being you and being so good at what you do!!!!
—Author of an article, 2002 (conceptual editing)

Bravo! By far the most thorough AND the most “with-it” copy editor I have ever worked with.
—Author of numerous previous books, 2002 (copy editing)


CASE STUDY: Research consultation

Problem: An interpretive planner for a national organization is stuck trying to write just one sign about a historic machine. She needs basic facts on how it worked, as well as photos. A good researcher, she’s hit a dead end. While she can do the work herself, she wants better sources.

Action and results: By the end of the day, she’s rolling again, with new trails to follow: contact information for places that may have replicas, models, or photos; the names of museums that may have relevant exhibits; and the location of a miniature working model.

Payment arrangement: For this regular, reliable, ongoing relationship, I keep a running tab and submit summary invoices.

Client response:
“Just in case you forgot—YOU ARE AMAZING! Thanks!”
—Interpretive Planner for a national government agency, 2002


CASE STUDY: Final editorial review

Problem: A series of twenty-four panels for a major new visitor center at a national facility reaches 90 percent completion, and the project supervisor asks me to do a final review. She provides written comments from committee members who represent multiple funding sources, with a brief description of their professional biases.

Action: I incorporate changes in tone and direction requested by the committee participants, clarify and streamline copy, correct grammar and spelling, and spot-check facts.

Results: A large handful of serious errors will not appear in the fiberglass panels, where they would be extremely expensive to fix. These included the misspelling of a primary sponsor’s name that was missed by the organization itself. The graphic designer calls while entering changes to thank me.

Payment arrangement: I was given a fixed budget amount, and within the allotted time accomplished all of the essentials and a few extras (spot fact-checking).

CASE STUDY: All editorial functions, production supervision, and project management

Problem: An author of several successfully published books wants to produce revised editions that will incorporate new information and present the material differently—more concisely, completely, and clearly.

Action: The author and I start with one book. We work back and forth on all parts until we are both satisfied. I begin with a full editorial and technical review, and suggest reorganization, expansion, and additional illustrations. Much of this work I simply do and send to the author for review and approval; on the most difficult sections, we collaborate closely, exchanging drafts. I design sample pages, and together we determine the book’s trim size, type treatment, and other attributes. I lay out the book, closely integrating text and visuals, and coordinate its production through a short-run offset printer. A distributor handles warehousing and fulfillment.

Results: Steady sales and an agreement to continue the process for at least two more books.

Client response:
“Oh, but I do appreciate your tidiness and nit-picking! From now on, you will edit ALL of my books, or I won’t publish them!”
—Book author, combined comments from 2001 and 2002


CASE STUDY: All editorial tasks and production supervision

Problem: A complex book languishes under contract in the editorial offices of one publisher for two-and-a-half years. That publisher finally returns the book to the authors as “too difficult.” Another publisher acquires the book and asks me to “pull it together.”

Action: I provide all editorial work (including technical editing) and coordinate the book’s freelance design and production.

Results: Six hundred manuscript pages and several hundred charts, drawings, photographs, and gridded designs turn into a successful classic book in the field. Delighted (and relieved!) authors.


CASE STUDY: All editorial and design work, plus production supervision

Problem: In the days of dot matrix and pinfeed, a writer with a book contract hits the “print” button on her computer and mails the fanfold pages to her publisher as she leaves the country for a trip that will last until after the book’s publication date. Because of a printer malfunction, the readable portions of the manuscript consist of its title page and table of contents.

Action: Fortunately, the author also sent boxes of samples, to be used in the book’s photographs and illustrations. After opening the boxes and discovering the illegible printout, I worked to make sure we had the necessary text and visuals to send to press.

Results: The publisher met its deadline, and the writer returned from her trip as a published author, collecting royalties.