Overview
I believe in the ability of well-crafted words to communicate everything from our rawest emotions to our most complex thoughts and do it in a way that captures readers and transports them to another realm of experience. My goal is to help authors produce their best work and fine-tune their writing so that readers are drawn into the story and eager to follow it to the end.
I have been a writer and editor for over 30 years, and I love what I do. In grade school, I discovered that I had "a way with words," and I have been developing and nurturing that skill ever since. My BA degree from The Evergreen State College included a focus on journalism and photography. My career has included work in newspaper, magazine, and book publishing. In addition to writing and editing, I became adept at desktop publishing and graphic design using page layout and image editing software, particularly Adobe Creative Suite's Indesign and Photoshop.
I worked for over 25 years in the publishing arm of the Washington State Historical Society, where I edited and designed publications and marketing materials produced for members and the general public. The society published roughly two books a year through 2010, and I gained experience guiding book projects through the production process, from the editing phase through the design and printing phases—performing editing, proofreading, and design functions as needed—and hiring editors and designers as well as proofreaders, indexers, and printers. As managing editor and chief editor of the society's popular history quarterly, COLUMBIA The Magazine of Northwest History, I also became involved in developmental editing of articles, helping prospective authors rework their material to meet the magazine's publishing standards and focus.
I freelanced throughout my career at the historical society, editing the occasional book manuscript. Upon retiring from the historical society at the end of 2017, I launched my own publishing services business to focus exclusively on book editing. History and biography have been my mainstays, but I've worked on pictorial, travel, education, and fiction projects as well, and am especially open to opportunities in the historical fiction and mystery genres.
Besides reading, my personal interests are mosaicking, gardening, photography, and community service.
Services
Non-Fiction
Fiction
Languages
Awards
- AASLH Leadership in History Award of Merit (2016)
- WMA Board Award of Excellence (2015)
Work experience
Self-employed
I love working on books so much that I offered freelance editing services throughout my career at the Washington State Historical Society. Upon retiring from full-time employment, I established a publishing services business and now focus entirely on book projects, working with independent authors and publishing houses alike. The bulk of my work has been with history projects, some of which overlap into the pictorial, memoir, educational, and biographical genres. I love working in the areas of anthropology/archaeology, historical fiction, and science fiction as well.
Self-employed
I was hired in 1988 as an editorial assistant. Within three years, I was responsible for editing, graphic design, and production management of the society's popular history quarterly, COLUMBIA: The Magazine of Northwest History. I also worked on book projects, one or two a year, until the society ceased publishing books in 2010. I gained experience guiding book projects through the production process, from the editing phase through the design and printing phases—performing editing, proofreading, and design functions as needed—and hiring editors and designers as well as proofreaders, indexers, and printers. The organization was small and I wore many hats, but the work was personally enriching and rewarding. Here are some of the key elements of my magazine work, many of which carried over into book publishing:
—Promote and evaluate submissions
—Collaborate with prospective authors as needed to rework their manuscripts to meet the magazine's publishing standards and focus
—Prepare manuscripts for publication, including substantive editing and fact-checking
—Identify and gather the content for each issue
—Conduct illustration research, select and acquire imagery, edit images as needed
—Map out the entire issue; design and create page layouts, including the cover
—Copyedit and proofread all magazine content
—Prepare and deliver print-ready files and instructions to a printer
—Arrange for delivery and distribution
—Update and maintain select website content
—Delegate tasks and coordinate the efforts of associates and volunteers
Portfolio
Christina has 1 review
Professionalism
Quality
Value
Responsiveness
Ben L.
Oct, 2019
