Laura Dragonette – Editor

I recently signed on as a freelancer with Penguin Random House. So far, I've copyedited a handful of books, including women's fiction, memoir, and a couple of D&D movie tie-ins!

I'm heavily involved in the editorial process for the textbooks on my list, from manuscript stage to publication. In addition to reviewing the text myself, I coordinate edits from the copy editor, proofreader, authors, and editorial team for each title I work on, and I work with the production team to make sure the book stays on schedule. I also copyedit advertising and marketing materials for the company and any ancillary materials for my books.

As a freelancer, I copyedit and proofread a variety of titles, checking for mistakes ranging from typos and misused words to page design errors introduced in proof stage. When proofreading, I refer to the style sheet created by the copy editor and tend to use a light touch in order to preserve the author's voice and usage.

I worked with both print books and ebooks in Norton's custom publications department. I communicated with college and high school professors to determine how best to customize Norton's textbooks for their classes, such as cutting chapters, combining multiple books, and adding in third-party material. Third-party material was often submitted in raw form, so I edited and proofread it prior to publication.

I worked for a variety of clients to write website content. I helped expand Investopedia's online encyclopedia of investment terms by writing more in-depth descriptions and including links to related pages and other websites. For Adapt Partners, I wrote descriptive copy to be displayed on their clients' websites and wrote instruction manuals and guides on everything from conference call etiquette to sustainable home building.

I copyedited and completely restructured the company's business proposal. In the process, I interviewed medical professionals and wrote new content to be included in the proposal and other marketing materials.

At Yale Press, I fine-tuned my copyediting and proofreading skills by working with manuscript errors to catch errors in proof stage. I reviewed chapters, indexes, and jacket copy, and ensured that edits from previous passes had been inserted correctly.