Diane Fortenberry

Diane Fortenberry – Editor

Experienced non-fiction ghostwriter, structural editor (book doctor) and copyeditor, specialising in the arts, humanities and biography.

Overview

I'm an author, editor (both copyeditor and structural 'book doctor'), ghostwriter, and illustrated book project manager, with more than thirty years' experience in the publishing industry. I specialise in non-fiction books in the humanities (history in particular), the arts (art history, contemporary art, photography) and archaeology, with a side interest in geology. Coming from an academic background (I have a PhD in Classics and Archaeology) but with a career in trade publishing, I'm especially practiced in turning scholarly manuscripts into books for a general audience.
Services
Non-Fiction
Architecture Art Earth, Space, & Environmental Sciences History Photography
Languages
English (UK) English (US)

Work experience

Phaidon Press Ltd.

Jun, 2012 — Apr, 2018 (almost 6 years)

Responsible for pitching new titles and commissioning; for content development from initial concept; budget management; management of in-house and freelance editorial and picture research teams; scheduling; detailed text editing and picture approval; design revision.

Association for the Study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East

May, 2006 — Mar, 2013 (almost 7 years)

Responsible for content development, costing, commissioning, text editing, and picture sourcing and approval for books and a quarterly periodical devoted to travel in the eastern Mediterranean.

Phaidon Press Ltd.

Feb, 2006 — May, 2012 (about 6 years)

Responsible for content development from initial concept; budget management; management of in-house and freelance editorial and picture research teams; scheduling; development of database monitoring systems; detailed text editing and picture approval; design revision.

Academy Projects LLP

May, 2000 — Sep, 2010 (over 10 years)

Founding partner of this consulting firm offering specialist publishing, archaeological and architectural services. Publication projects ranged from periodicals to multi-volume archaeological monographs. Publishing clients include Thames & Hudson, English Heritage, University of Bradford, British School of Archaeology at Athens and the Mediterranean Archaeological Trust, and University of Minnesota.

Macmillan Publishers

Feb, 1992 — Apr, 2000 (about 8 years)

Started as a desk editor, responsible for detailed content and copy-editing of texts for the 34-volume Dictionary of Art. Promoted to Senior Editor six months later, with responsibility for the work of a small team of desk editors, as well as detailed editing of texts in subject areas ranging from Chinese to ancient Cypriot to Jewish art. Promoted to Deputy Editor two years later, with responsibility for the work of desk editor teams; personal negotiation with difficult authors across the Dictionary spectrum; detailed text editing and finalizing all text for non-Western subject areas; writing articles on diverse topics where necessary. Managed a fluctuating team of between five and thirty in-house and freelance editors and support staff. Promoted to Managing Editor following the publication of the Dictionary of Art in 1996. Planned and edited several spin-off volumes, spoke at conferences and trade fairs, wrote for and edited a customer newsletter.

various

Jan, 1987 — Dec, 1992 (almost 6 years)

Freelance copy-editor, proofreader and indexer for various publishers, including APA Publications, Ashgate, Blackwell, Brill, Chatto and Windus, Jonathan Cape, Polity Press, Thames and Hudson, University of California Press, Virago Press.

Portfolio

Title: Untold( The Stories Behind the Photographs) <>Binding: Hardcover <>Author: SteveMcCurry <>Publisher: PhaidonPress
Vermeer (Phaidon Classics)

Ludwig Goldscheider

Celebrates one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age with luxurious, large-format images Johannes Vermeer (1632-75) is one of the most beloved artists of the Dutch Golden Age. Vermeer's tranquil and meticulously painted interiors, of such subjects a... read more
The Chinese Art Book

Colin Mackenzie

The Chinese Art Book is a beautifully presented, authoritative and unprecedented overview of Chinese art. The book examines the art of the oldest continuous civilization on Earth through 300 works, from the (earliest dynasties) Neolithic period to the new gene... read more
The Art of the Erotic

Phaidon Editors

Harvey Quaytman

Dore Ashton

Examines the impact on the British illustrated publishing industry of emigres from Germany and Austria in the first half of the twentieth century, looking in particular at the art publishing houses of Phaidon Press and Thames & Hudson.
An up-to-date and comprehensive guide to 150 of the most significant styles and movements that have shaped art history through time. All art is of its time, and this book is the first survey that explicitly embeds styles, schools and movements within the polit... read more
Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal

Paperback. Pub Date: 09 2009 Publisher: Thames & Hudson. Limited The Human Past covers the deep prehistory of HUMAN EVOLUTION the more recent prehistory of postglacial foragers and farmers. And the ancient CIVILIZATIONS and complex societies of Africa and Egyp... read more
Spanning more than a millennium from the Roman Empire of Late Antiquity to the early Renaissance, Byzantine art shifted away from the naturalistic Roman style towards the more abstract images which we recognize as typical of religious icons. This splendid volu... read more
Following on from The Art Book published in 1994, 30,000 Years of Art offers an original and accessible introduction to art for a general readership. Unlike The Art Book, it organises the work in chronological order (rather than alphabetical), it covers all cu... read more
The Art Museum

Frederick M. Asher

Title: The Art Museum <>Binding: Hardcover <>Author: FrederickM.Asher <>Publisher: PhaidonPress
Book
The first book to celebrate the beautiful and provocative ways artists have represented, scrutinized and utilized the body over centuries. Body of Art is the first book to explore the various ways the human body has been both an inspiration and a medium for ar... read more
In 1990 the University of Minnesota carried out an architectural survey of the standing remains of the Bronze Age Palace of Nestor, discovered by Carl Blegen in 1939 and excavated from 1952 to 1966. While the first stone-by-stone state plan of the building was... read more

Diane has 1 review

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

May M.

May M.

Jul, 2018

Diane is everything I had hoped an editor would be, and more.

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