Delia Davis

Delia Davis – Editor

In addition to her extensive experience in the New York publishing world, Delia has a keen eye for detail and an attuned ear to language.

Overview

Delia is a New York–based writer, copyeditor, and proofreader who has worked on a wide variety of projects for independent publishers like the Feminist Press, Melville House, and Catapult as well as trade publisher Penguin Random House. She has experience with adult fiction, nonfiction, YA, and middle grade titles, but she especially loves editing books that fall between the cracks of genre and experiment with form and style. Some of her favorite projects she's worked on include a hybrid biography-memoir, a self-help political manifesto, and a novel that blends pop culture and academia. As a writer herself, Delia enjoys combining her keen eye with an attuned ear for language to provide clients with a copyedit that is both rigorous and sensitive to the author's intent. If you have a manuscript or typeset pass that needs a final polish to elevate it to professional standards, Delia is happy to help.


Delia first entered the publishing industry in 2016 when, while earning a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin, she completed an internship at Archipelago Books. She went on to intern with Melville House and Restless Books as well, gaining an intimate understanding of the publishing world and discovering that her eye for detail pairs well with a red pen. After graduating, she moved to New York and obtained a diploma in copyediting, proofreading, and fact-checking from the New York University School of Professional Studies. Beyond freelancing, Delia has also worked on the production line at Penguin Young Readers.


Clients have the following to say about her work:

"Delia has worked with and for me in multiple capacities—copyediting, proofreading, freelance production editing—and she is consistently great. She catches errors that everyone else missed, and she brings a level of professional excellence to everything she does." Abigail Powers, Senior Production Editor at Penguin Young Readers


"Delia is someone I can rely on fully to deliver timely, quality work on a range of projects: fiction, memoir, activist nonfiction, and more. She's a joy to work with! She takes direction, has an eagle eye for detail, and can easily adapt to the needs of each particular project she takes on." Lauren Rosemary Hook, Senior Editor and Interim Publisher at Feminist Press


"Delia is diligent, with incredible attention to detail, and her queries are always professional and insightful. We always know our books are in good hands when we contract her to copyedit or proofread our manuscripts. Delia also does her best to accommodate any scheduling dates we send her way, which can be a godsend in the traditional publishing world!" Avalon Radys, Director of Editorial and Publishing Operations at Inkshares


"Delia worked well with the team and as a self-motivated individual contributor, and was a great partner with our clients, helping them understand edits as needed and pointing them in the right direction when they had questions." Catherine Wolfman, Lead of Content Strategy at Oliver Agency


Services
Fiction
Anthologies Contemporary Fiction LGBTQ Fiction Young Adult
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs History Philosophy Political Science & Current Affairs
Languages
English (UK) English (US)
Awards
  • Adele Steiner Burleson Award
Certifications
  • Diploma in Copyediting, Proofreading, and Fact-Checking from New York University School of Professional Studies, May 2019

Work experience

Penguin Random House

Mar, 2020 — May, 2021 (about 1 year)

• Slugged pass changes for children’s and YA books in various stages of production.
• Proofread covers, jacket copy, and front/back matter.
• Checked cover and picture book illustrations for consistency and sense.

R. R. Donnelley

Mar, 2019 — Apr, 2021 (about 2 years)

• Fulfilled Morgan Stanley’s global quality-assurance needs as a member of the client’s only proofreading team.
• Reviewed a wide array of materials—including internal and external, digital and print, MNPI—for grammar, spelling, style, and consistency.
• Proofread printouts against backups; checked that edits made it into the latest proofs.
• Ensured that client’s house style was implemented uniformly across all materials.
• Communicated with individual departments and businesses within Morgan Stanley when proofreading needs differed from usual house or AP style.
• Collaborated with team to manage proofreading queue and meet deadlines for large projects.

Hothouse Literary Journal

Oct, 2017 — May, 2018 (7 months)

• Managed production and editorial decisions online and in print.
• Performed light line edits and copy edits of all blog posts before publication.
• Proofread print journal submissions and proofed InDesign file before publication.
• Implemented a regular blog post schedule and increased blog’s content output by 300%.

Self-employed

Aug, 2017 — Present

Melville House Publishing

Jun, 2017 — Aug, 2017 (2 months)

• Performed master proofreads of Black Rock White City by A.S. Patrić and Infinite Ground by Martin McInnes.
• Performed cold reads of The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard and Barbara A. Radnofsky’s A Citizen’s Guide to Impeachment.
• Assured that all edits made it into final PDF of Infinite Ground.
• Attended production meetings.

Restless Books

Jun, 2017 — Aug, 2017 (2 months)

• Read MS submissions and wrote reader’s reports.
• Researched and compiled information regarding transitioning to a nonprofit organization.

Archipelago Books

May, 2016 — Jul, 2016 (2 months)

• Read MS proposals, tagged MSS for InDesign, proofed MSS passes.

Portfolio

A galvanizing critique of the forces vying for our attention—and our personal information—that redefines what we think of as productivity, reconnects us with the environment, and reveals all that we’ve been too distracted to see about ourselves and our worldNo... read more
Skye Papers

Ajalon, Jamika

The first book to explore the life of Cy Twombly, one of the most important and influential artists of the Twentieth CenturyCy Twombly was a man obsessed with myth and history—including his own. Shuttling between his stunning homes in Italy and the United Stat... read more
Trigor

Merritt, Tom

Under the Rug

Wonkka, Todd S.

The Great Eastern

Rodman, Howard

A deep look into the raging social media battles between red and blue Americans and the growing threat to US democracy from right-wing extremism.The Far Right’s rise to power has ignited a digital civil war that rages across multiple fronts and multiple platfo... read more
Debut coming-of-age novel from the "indelible, shrewd and frank and real" (Emily Gould) writer DAZED describes as "a combination of Denis Johnson and Joan Didion"It's 1997, and 14-year-old Juliet has it pretty good. But over the course of the next two years, s... read more
Infinite Ground

Martin MacInnes

“Stunning—a totally original, surreal mystery shot through with hints of the best of César Aira, Vladimir Nabokov, Angela Carter, and Julio Cortázar. Smart, clever, and honest. I doubt you’ve read anything quite like it.” —Jeff VanderMeer, author of The Southe... read more
Winner of the 2016 Miles Franklin Literary AwardA powerful debut novel about two refugees starting over after losing everythingJovan and Suzana have fled war-torn Sarajevo. They have lost their children, their standing as public intellectuals, and their connec... read more
“For sheer reading pleasure Ladee Hubbard’s original and wildly inventive novel is in a class by itself.” —Toni Morrison “The Talented Ribkins is a charming and delightful debut novel with a profound heart, and Ladee Hubbard’s voice is a welcome original.” —Ma... read more
Impeachment is based upon “those offences which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust … as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself.” —Alexander Hamilton A ... read more
The creation myth of the US begins with the puritans of the Mayflower who went on to build the most powerful nation on earth. This is the story of the passengers aboard its sister ship, the Seaflower, who in 1630 founded a rival colony on an isolated Caribbean... read more
A Spy in Canaan

Marc Perrusquia

Only Ernest Withers, a key figure in the civil rights movement, could have delivered such iconic photographs—and the kind of information the FBI wanted . . . Renowned photographer Ernest Withers captured some of the most stunning moments of the civil rights er... read more

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