Michael Upchurch – Editor

Structural editing, editorial consultancy and project management on trade and academic titles for New Zealand and UK publishers in each country.
• Projects included titles for HarperCollins, a member of the royal family in Kuwait, and Bridget Williams Books, an award-winning publisher of NZ history and social sciences.

Commissioned, project managed and edited for two of the most renowned literary imprints in UK publishing.
• Supported several editorial directors, including Arabella Pike, on about 15 titles per year across history, current affairs, biography, popular science, but with a particular focus on complex and illustrated titles.
• Managed authors including Bill Bryson, Fergal Keane, Ed Macy, Steve Richards, Norma Farnes and Charles Glass.
• Worked closely with in-house marketing, sales and production departments and external freelance designers, editors and proofreaders.
• Formed and managed strong relationships with authors and agents, aiding authors with manuscripts.
• Managed designers, copy editors and proofreaders, briefing cover art and picture research.
• Contract negotiation and costed profitable proposals for acquisition, developing market awareness.
• Organised multiple publishing schedules to tight deadlines and to budget.
• Responded to the early challenges of the emergence of ebook readers and retailers.
Prior to this, at Collins Education I commissioned and co-ordinated editorial projects for several lists, including a successful history series, 4-colour illustrated books and websites.

Researched new ideas and developed and implemented the publishing programme for both books and online interactive content.
• Oversaw a growing list worth over £2m/year in revenue.
• Led the company’s entry into a highly competitive market in India.
• Directed new and more efficient content delivery processes and systems.
• Placed emphasis on usability testing and customer research for ideas.
• Professional development: Harvard Business School course

Developed and managed projects for titles based on the national museum’s collections, knowledge and brand.
• Successfully planned and delivered the largest book published in NZ, The Fishes of New Zealand, managing over 60 professionals and freelancers.
• Fishes won the 2016 Whitley Medal for outstanding publication in Australasian zoology by The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales.
• Managed strong team relationships (authors, curators, museum and government staff) and ensured the highest quality of design.
• Brought forward new book and non-book ideas (see next page) and pushed for better discoverability through improved metadata.

Negotiated with publishers and aggregators to deliver content to the new ebook programme of Australasia’s largest online retailer. (3-month contract)
• Built relationships with international publishers in Australasia.
• Helped develop the front and back end of Fishpond’s ebook platform.