Friendly, easy to work with, tons of experience—and a stickler for details.
Overview
I'm the executive managing editor at Macmillan Audio, the audiobooks arm of Macmillan—one of the Big Five publishers. I have 20-plus years of editorial experience from such names as Time Inc., Playboy, Interview, and The Washington Post. If your book meets Macmillan's standards, I'd love to consider helping you reach a wider readership.
You can expect two kinds of copy editing notes from me: actual errors and gentle suggestions. I'd hope and expect the former to be approved without much discussion, but the latter will always be discussed with plenty of compromise. Ultimately, the final product is yours!
Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Entertainment
Music
Sports & Outdoors
Fiction
Mystery & Crime
Languages
English (US)
Certifications
BS, Journalism
Work experience
Macmillan Audio
Feb, 2016 —
Present
• Promoted from managing editor to senior managing editor of 20+ person audiobooks department in 2017 • Lead weekly staff meeting • Roster of books has expanded from about 300 to 500 titles—fiction and nonfiction—in two years • Solely responsible for all aspects of production schedule • Work with editors to get finished manuscripts to producers for narration under tight deadlines • Serve as liaison between multiple parts of company and multiple audiobook departments • Write purchase orders for packaging and compact discs, ensuring expenditures are in line with budgets • Calculate P&Ls when a recording runs longer or shorter than expected • Calculate quarterly profits of manufacture-on-demand program, which was in its infancy in 2016 but is now a major revenue stream • File copyrights weekly with the Library of Congress • Serve as de facto copy editor for all audiobook packaging and advertising materials because of past copy-editing experience • Review and approve packaging and advertising materials • Approve invoices from printers and duplicators • Member of Diversity Education & Outreach Program
Time Inc. Books
Jul, 2014 —
May, 2015
(10 months)
• Worked with authors, packagers and lawyers on contracts • Led weekly book ideation meetings; part of team that critiqued and approved book pitches • Part of team that critiqued and approved cover art for each book and special edition—200+ titles yearly • Editor of several Time special editions • Copy edited marketing and advertising materials • Part of final copy-editing team on all LIFE books and special editions • Liaison between marketing and editorial teams on all promotional copy and artwork • Approved payments to authors and book packagers • Put together editorial, photo and art teams to work on each title • Led overhaul of company filing and document-retention systems
Interview magazine
Dec, 2007 —
Feb, 2009
(about 1 year)
• Set and maintained schedules for editorial, art, copy and freelance departments and enforced deadlines • Managed budgets and contracts • Edited and posted stories on • Generated story ideas • Part of top-editing team that edited all stories in three rounds of proofs • Conducted interviews and wrote stories • Led daily photography and weekly editorial meetings • Liaison between editorial, advertising, production, photo and art departments • Worked with copy chief on updating and maintaining house style
Playboy magazine
Sep, 2005 —
Dec, 2007
(about 2 years)
• Set and maintained schedules for three-city editorial and art teams while enforcing deadlines • Reviewed story pitches from stable of freelance writers • Part of top-editing team that edited all stories in first and final proofs • Tracked all stories through each editorial stage of monthly process • Led weekly editorial meetings via videoconference with Chicago office • Kept editors informed of updates and changes in K4 queue • Contributed to and posted the Playboy blog daily • Interviewed coaches and athletes for sports preview issues • Acted as liaison between editorial, art, law, production, copy and research departments • Aided department heads in maintaining freelance contracts, payments and scheduling
Footwear News magazine
Apr, 2003 —
Sep, 2005
(over 2 years)
• Ensured highest level of grammar and usage in text; approximately 30 edit pages per weekly issue • Set and ensured style was maintained consistently throughout magazine • Prioritized and scheduled editorial team under weekly deadlines; dealt diplomatically with editors • Assisted on production details when necessary; shipped pages to printer • Managed art directors and set deadlines for photo and graphical content • Wrote and researched “The FN List” each week
Selected as a Best Book of the Year by Esquire"Couldn't put it down." – Charlamagne Tha God"Mesmerizing." – Raekwon da Chef"Insightful, moving, necessary." – Shea Serrano"Cathartic." –The New Yorker"A classic." –The Washington PostThe explosive, never-before-t... read more
The instant #1 New York Times bestseller (January 2019) everyone is talking about! People Magazine's Book of the Week • Bookish's "Must-Read Books of Winter" • PopSugar's "Best Books of Winter" • Cosmopolitan's "2019 Books to Bring to Your Book Club" • Bookbub... read more
In his first and only official autobiography, music icon Elton John reveals the truth about his extraordinary life, which is also the subject of the upcoming film Rocketman. The result is Me - the joyously funny, honest and moving story of the most enduringly ... read more
This is New York Times bestselling author and Emmy-nominated broadcaster Ron Darling's 108 baseball anecdotes that connect America’s game to the men who played it.In 108 Stitches, New York Times bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Ron Darling... read more
#1 New York Times BestsellerWith extraordinary access to the West Wing, Michael Wolff reveals what happened behind-the-scenes in the first nine months of the most controversial presidency of our time in Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.Since Donald ... read more
Matt has 22 reviews
Professionalism
Quality
Value
Responsiveness
Brian S.
Nov, 2022
Pinned
Matt is an exceptional copy editor who was definitely worth every penny I paid him!
He respected my unorthodox writing style, and his suggestions were always helpful because they preserved the character of my stories. His extensive experience and unique perspective even helped me s...
I have worked with a few editors on this network and I have to say Matt is the best I've seen. His eye for detail is his greatest strength. For example he made several corrections in regards to the geography of the novel. He removes redundancy of sentence structure. Points out things that the av...
I used Matt for both copy editing and proofreading. He's a consummate professional: exceptional quality work, dependable, and responsive. Above all, he's a great communicator and easy to work with. I sought out a hired gun, but Matt felt more like a (highly skilled and experienced) collaborator. ...
I recently worked with Matt DeMazza as the copy editor for my manuscript, Impermanence, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the experience. I highly recommend Matt to any writer seeking a meticulous, reliable, and deeply skilled copy editor.
Matt was not the cheapest offer I received for this pr...
Larry, thank you so much for this review! It's clear you put as much time and effort into writing it as you did on your manuscript , which was excellent and an absolute pleasure to read.
I would ...
Matt DeMazza is an exceptional editor whose keen eye and thoughtful insights elevated my children's book, “Bedtime Stories Under the Moonlight”, just as he did with my memoir, “Embracing Adversity”. Professional, timely, and collaborative, he provided precise edits for clarity and flow without ov...
