Claire Naylor – Editor

I'm a freelance editor, with over 16 years' experience in non-fiction publishing. I've worked mainly in travel publishing, which means I've assessed complex and sensitive historical content, analysed art and culture spreads, commissioned a lot of wildlife material, written lighthearted kids/family blogs, edited on sustainability, and proofed multiple projects, from architecture round-ups to cookery books.

My extensive InDesign knowledge means I'm a whizz at copy-fitting for a magazine or book spread, and my experience as a digital editor, working in WordPress, Drupal, AcquiaDam and custom CMSs, means I can build online content following strict taxonomy requirements.

In my role as Senior Editor with Lonely Planet (2013-2019), I was responsible for booking freelance editing resources and allocating work for all of the business’ website and book content. Sourcing, training and maintaining high editorial standards when working with a pool of around 30 remote freelance editors demanded strong communication skills and the ability to build good relationships. As well as testing their editorial capabilities ahead of recruitment, I checked their work, sent feedback and offered additional training and support, as needed, to ensure content continued to meet all of the publisher’s standards. Whilst there were overarching principles to follow, each destination had its own style sheet, meaning that there were varying tones and editorial issues to be aware of for each project.

As Digital Editor at Lonely Planet (2019-2020), I was responsible for generating ideas, commissioning and assessing content, and managing a flow of copy for around 30 to 50 different projects at any one time. I edited copy within a CMS, fact-checked and queried to ensure it met style guidelines, editorial principles and the demands of the audience. I also sourced appropriate images that would engage readers and support the text.

I managed a backlist of non-fiction illustrated travel titles in my role at DK Eyewitness Travel Guides. This required close interaction with designers, illustrators and picture researchers. We held weekly meetings to analyse flatplans and discuss the best way to approach spreads and the relationships between text and copy in InDesign. Alongside commissioning and managing content workflows, I was responsible for the copy-editing and final proofing stages of Eyewitness books and jackets.