Overview
Services
Non-Fiction
Languages
Work experience
Self-employed
My last in-house job was with Quadrille where I was Senior Editor. Here I worked on a range of illustrated non-fiction books for the international market, overseeing them through all stages from commissioning to publication. I was often involved in planning and structuring books that were still only a glimmer in the author's or the publisher's eye and I was renowned for my troubleshooting skills and for keeping to those hideous publishing deadlines! While working with one, high-profile author who became ill, I managed to get the final text from him and see the project through to the end and on schedule, by visiting him in hospital and at his home.
During my time at Quadrille, I also used my skill in constructing an ‘editorial story’ to devise the 101 Ideas series for them and the French publisher Grund, who wanted a fresh, new interiors/homes series; I devised and project-managed five mini books, which were spin-offs from already published titles; and I also came up with, project-managed and edited two key books, one on international environmentally friendly domestic architecture – which was quite a bit ahead of its time – and the other, a gardening title authored by a TV gardening personality.
When I left Quadrille to go freelance, the Publisher there asked me to write Small Spaces: Inspiration for Stylish Living from Marie Claire Maison (see my portfolio) and I also subsequently project-managed and edited many more titles for them.
Since becoming a freelancer, I've worked for many major non-fiction publishers, including Cico Books, Dorling Kindersley, Jacqui Small, Kyle Cathie, Frances Lincoln, Pavilion and the Royal Collection.
I also contributed a chapter to Journeys Home by Andrew McCarthy, published by National Geographic (see my portfolio), in which I tell the story of how, in the 1970s, I traced my relatives living in the Soviet Union.