Catherine Williams - Designer
Knebworth, United Kingdom
Experienced Book Production Manager taking titles from edited script to print-ready files efficiently, reliably and with flexibility.
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Overview
With over 20 years experience of book design and production, I am pleased to offer my services on a freelance basis for typesetting, book layout, image optimisation, packaging and getting books to printers with problem-free files. I have used InDesign since it's first release in 2000, and was using Adobe PageMaker before that.
My experience includes 11 years at Able Publishing, a company that specifically assisted self-publishing authors to get their books produced. This included a 620 page large format hardback book titled Craftsmen of St Margaret's by Sir Ian Mills with over 600 photographs of the work of 12 different Victorian craftsmen. It was a real labour of love by Sir Ian and I learned a lot through the process of its production. Most of the books produced during my time at Able were much smaller and included family and local histories, biographies, educational titles and fiction. We liaised with the authors throughout to ensure they would be happy with the end product and I would certainly do the same now.
I also spent a happy 7 years at Robert Hale Ltd, a family-owned independent publisher, with responsibility for producing trade fiction and non-fiction titles in a wide variety of genres. Here too, there was plenty of communication with the author through the production of their books. I had the pleasure of working with Nicholas Rhea (aka Peter Walker) author of the Constable books that inspired the Heartbeat TV series, E.V. Thompson and many others, some of whose books can be seen in my portfolio. For all the titles in the portfolio, except for the Black Horse Westerns and 'On the Sofa with Jane Austen', the front cover artwork was commissioned by me from other designers, but I completed the typography and design on the back, spine and flaps as required. The Black Horse Westerns used generic 'western-style' artworks but some of the more recent books have used photo to painting conversions that were undertaken by me. Robert Hale ceased trading at the end of November 2015 and their imprints were taken over by The Crowood Press. I was pleased to be able to finish works in progress and I continue producing some Hale titles on a freelance basis for them.
More recently, I worked in the Life division of DK as a Pre-Production Producer on an extended maternity cover contract. It was an excellent experience working for one of the best illustrated non-fiction publishers but I missed the creativity of the work I had done before. When the contract came to an end, I saw it as an opportunity to return to a more creative role but now being self-employed.
Languages
English
Fiction
Adventure
Crime & Mystery
Historical Fiction
Literature
Romance
Thriller
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Cooking & Food Wine & Spirits
History
Parenting & Families
Work experience
Owner
Self-employed
April, 2017
–
Present
(over 1 year)
Freelance service for production of books from edited script to print-ready files.
Pre-Production Producer (Life)
DK
February, 2016
–
April, 2017
(about 1 year)
An extended maternity cover contract that involved ensuring the correct set-up for co-editionable illustrated titles for the Life Division including template checking, liaison between creative teams and print producers, preflighting files according to DK standards and archiving.
Design and Production Manager
Robert Hale Ltd
October, 2008
–
November, 2015
(about 7 years)
I managed the production of trade fiction and non-fiction books from receipt of edited script through to signing off printer's proofs. The role included:
• Preparation of artwork briefs
• Commissioning cover artwork from external illustrators and designers
• Procuring images from stock photo libraries and other sources
• Preparing images for print production
• Typesetting fiction and non-fiction titles, including illustrated books, in both hardback and paperback formats
• Instructing external typesetters
• Outputting all covers, jackets and text files for printers
• Submitting print orders
I also managed the production of ebooks via external conversion companies and distributors and undertook conversion from InDesign to epub in-house of the titles that I had typeset.
Publications Manager
Able Publishing
February, 1997
–
April, 2008
(about 11 years)
I managed the production of books and marketing materials for self-publishing authors including cover design, typesetting/layout, preparation of images for print production, proofreading, output of files for printing and print orders.
Portfolio (96 selected works)
Craftsmen of St Margaret's
Mills Ian
Chang and the Rice Robbers
Sue Harris
Cicely's King Richard (Cicely Plantagenet 1) (Cicely Plantagenet Trilogy)
Sandra Heath Wilson
It is 1483, and the children of the late Yorkist King Edward IV have been declared illegitimate by their own uncle, the new King Richard III. His second niece, Lady Cicely Plantagenet, hardly knows her uncle, but from the outset is fiercely drawn to this charismatic man, with whom she shares tremendous affinity and rarest of all, his trust. But there will be complete, unconditional passion and... read more
Cicely's Second King (Cicely Plantagenet 2)
Sandra Heath Wilson
After the bloody death of her uncle and lover, the Yorkist King Richard III, at Bosworth Field, Lady Cicely Plantagenet is grief-stricken, alone, and with child. Clinging to Richard's memory, and ensconced in the court of his Lancastrian successor - the dangerous, enigmatic Henry Tudor - Cicely faces a strange new England, where her bitter elder sister, Bess, is to be Henry's queen. And Henry ... read more
Cicely's Lord Lincoln (Cicely Plantagenet)
Sandra Heath Wilson
Cicely's Sovereign Secret
Sandra Heath Wilson
Cicely's Sovereign Secret
The Giants Look Down
Sonja Price
At the age of 10, Jaya Vaidya decides she wants to follow in the footsteps of her beloved father and....
Moorend Farm
Gwen Kirkwood
William and Emma Sinclair have settled into life at Moorend Farm in North Yorkshire and live happily with their growing family, believing they have left the shame of their past behind. William is determined to prove his success to his embittered mother, and charts a secure living for his sons, to follow in his footsteps and reap the benefits of William and his wife's hard work. When Emma takes... read more
Moorland Mist
Gwen Kirkwood
Moorland Mist
Beyond Reason
Gwen Kirkwood
Janet Scott loves books, and learning, and is happy living at the schoolhouse where her grandfather is the dominie. When tragedy strikes, and her grandfather dies suddenly, everything changes, and she is sent to work for farmer, Wull Foster. Life with no one to protect her is tough, and Janet experiences first-hand the dangers which can befall a young woman. So, when philanthropist, Josiah Sau... read more
A Killer Past
Maris Soule
When two gang members chooseMary Harrington as their target, the quiet widow has a secret to share o....
Dollar
Alexander Lindsay
A novel of intrigue set in World War II with a German Spy looking to sabotage attempts at getting England's Gold Reserves to the USA by boat.
The Naked Soul
Alexander Lindsay
Naked Soul
Wheels of Grace
Tania Crosse
Grace Dannings has lived her entire young life in the safe and idyllic Dartmoor village of Walkhampton, working as a maid at a farm within sight of her own humble family home. Her only wish is that nothing will ever change in her contented, happy existence. But it is May 1914 and the village is alive with talk of the situation in Europe. When war breaks out, its ugly tentacles reach everyone i... read more
Killer in Black
Paul Bennett
In a small town in Texas five ex-mercenaries reunite when one of their number, Red, half Comanche, half Texan, is threatened. Presidential candidate Senator O'Hara likes to keep his town whiter than snow and everybody firmly in their place and he's taken a dislike to Red. The town's sheriff won't risk his job by helping so it's down to Johnny Silver and his band of comrades to sort out the mat... read more
The Jacobite Murders
G. M. Best
Lady Overbury takes up residence in Queen Square to enjoy Bath's many pleasures in the autumn of 1745 but unwittingly becomes involved in a series of brutal murders. With the help of Beau Nash, the city's famous Master of Ceremonies, and the novelist Henry Fielding, she sets out to discover the identity of the killer and becomes involved in the love affair between the beautiful heiress, Sophia... read more
After the Execution
James Raven
Random Targets (DCI Jeff Temple)
James Raven
A sniper launches a series of deadly attacks on Britain's motorways, striking in the dark during rus....
Dying Wish (DCI Jeff Temple)
James Raven
Murder, kidnap, torture these are not words usually associated with Hampshire s beautiful New Forest....
The Blogger (DCI Jeff Temple)
James Raven
Daniel Prince is an online activist with a huge international following. Through his People-Power blog he campaigns for worthy causes and often targets governments and global corporations. Naturally he's made a lot of enemies - so when he is found dead, in what can doubtless be called suspicious circumstances, there are more than a few suspects. But that's only half the problem facing DCI Jeff... read more
Run for Home
Dan Latus
A Death at South Gare
Dan Latus
Death at South Gare
The Lovegrove Hermit
Rosemary Craddock
Visiting Lovegrove Priory with her brother and niece, Charlotte Tyler is enchanted by their hostess, Amelia Denby, the writer of sensational Gothic novels. Miss Denby's eccentricity extends to the grounds of her country house where she has etablished a hermitage complete with a mysterious character who has a seemingly tragic past. When the hermit is found shot dead all eyes turn in on the hous... read more
Sister Slaughter
Raymond Haigh
Leaves Before the Storm
Angela Arney
Aphrodite's Island
Hilary Green
The Chimera Sanction
Andre K. Baby
Pope Clement XXI is kidnapped, and the Curia, the Swiss Guard and the Italian police are overwhelmed. Thierry Dulac from Interpol is called in, but he too is thwarted at every turn. His investigations hint at secrets held for centuries, revenge and omerta in the arcane, twisting corridors of the Vatican itself. It seems the pontiff too has been less than open. From within the hidden, shadowy w... read more
Love Byte
David Atkinson
*Shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year 2015* If your dead wife emailed offering to find you a new girlfriend, what would you do? Andy Hunter is a single father trying to balance the demands of a 2-year-old daughter, an interfering but well-meaning mother-in-law and a job he is always in danger of losing. So, when he receives a series of delayed e... read more
Inspector Abberline and the Gods of Rome
Simon P. Clark
Inspector Abberline and the Just King
Simon Clark
Inspector Abberline and the Just King
The Dance of Love
Angela Young
The Dance of Love is a coming-of-age tale that spans more than two decades of vast change. Against a backdrop of high Edwardian luxury, Natalie Edwardes is poised on the brink of adulthood and, in an age when a woman's destiny is decided by marriage, her beauty, wit and wealth would seem to guarantee her a glittering future. But, isolated by her father's position as a self-made man, Natalie ha... read more
Love and Freindship* and Other Delusions *Sic
Beth Andrews
Love and Freindship was written when Jane Austen was just 14, and foreshadows the conflict between moral obligation and individual desire which animates Austen's mature comedic efforts such as Sense and Sensibility. Now updated in this sparkling satire by Beth Andrews, the story follows Isabel and her daughter Marianne when they attend the theatre in Bury St Edmunds and encounter Isabel'd old ... read more
The Barchester Murders
G.M. Best
Anthony Trollope finds the beautiful city of Barchester idyllic on visiting it for the first time. This idyll is, however, soon shattered when the body of Thomas Rider is discovered in the almshouses known as Hiram's Hospital. Trollope soon uncovers the existence of a long-hidden secret which has the power to destroy the reputation of the Reverend Septimus Harding, the Warden of Hiram's Hospit... read more
Sandman
David Hodges
Feisty Detective Sergeant Kate Lewis is back and this time she needs all her wits about her as she takes on one of the most gruelling and risky investigations of her career. When the body of missing journalist Ellie Landy is found in the River Parrett by a news crew covering the worst floods the Somerset Levels have suffered in living memory, police assume it is an accidental drowning. Kate di... read more
The Tolpuddle Woman
E. V. Thompson
Tolpuddle Woman
A Close Connection
Patricia Fawcett
Close Connection
Francesca and the Mermaid
Beryl Kingston
Francesca and the Mermaid
Three Strange Angels
Laura Kalpakian
Francis Carson, brilliant British novelist, renowned for his lyrical prose, his drinking, and his womanizing, was a free spirit who crashed through life. In February 1950 he was found dead in the Garden of Allah swimming pool. Diffident Quentin Castle-newly-married, a lowly junior partner in his father's firm, Castle Literary Agency-must convey this terrible news to the widow in Oxfordshire. C... read more
Sherlock Holmes and the Four Corners of Hell
Seamas Duffy
Three new Sherlock Holmes mysteries In The Adventure of the Soho Picture Gallerythree people are m....
Murder at Maddleskirk Abbey
Nicholas Rhea
After Constable Nick of Aidensfield and Heartbeat fame's retirement, he helped create a small private police force of monk-constables serving Maddleskirk Abbey and its adjoining college. The body of an unknown man is discovered in a huge stone coffin in the crypt and Nick and DCS 'Nabber' Napier of the local constabulary welcome the assistance of the monk-constables or monkstables as they beco... read more
Confession at Maddleskirk Abbey
Nicholas Rhea
Twice Royal Lady
Hilary Green
Destined from childhood to be an important piece in the intricate chess game of power, Matilda is the granddaughter of William the Conqueror but also descended, through her mother, from the ancient line of Anglo-Saxon kings. Betrothed to Emperor Henry of Germany at the age of eight, she is married at twelve and crowned Empress. By her early twenties she is a widow, and the only surviving legit... read more
An Oxford Tragedy
Norman Russell
Oxford Tragedy
Autumn Softly Fell
Dominic Luke
Abandoned by her father and left in the care of an uncle she has never met before, eight-year-old Dorothea Ryan finds herself cast away in a big strange house in the middle of the countryside. No one seems to want her. Her one wish is to return to her old home in London. But as time passes and hopes of ever going back start to fade, Dorothea becomes more and more enmeshed in her new life at Cl... read more
Terror by Gaslight
Edward Taylor
Victorian London is gripped by fear as a serial killer slays an apparently random victim on Hampstead Heath every month, each with a single knife thrust. Two men begin to suspect a mysterious link between the victims: Major Henry Steele and ex-Sergeant Mason have been discreetly retired from Military Intelligence following the suspicious death of a dangerous German agent in the Middle East. No... read more
Caged Angel
Anne-Marie Vukelic
Caged Angel
The Music Room
Laura Kalpakian
Young Marcella McNeill's family are always rehearsing: her father is an actor, her mother Valerie an aspiring opera singer, her grandmother Gloria a renowned violinist. During the summer of 1969 - after their parents' bitter divorce - Marcella and her little sister Rose-Renee are sent to live with their enigmatic grandmother in her decaying countryside mansion. Instructed never to disturb the ... read more
The Rescuer
R. S. Hill
Bideford, Devon, April 1873: the River Torridge is in flood. Almost as soon as she sets foot in the town, Abigail March saves a young woman from drowning. Abigail, the daughter of a progressive Canadian politician, is in Bideford on official business, deputizing for her father. Accompanied by Inspector Theo Newton of Scotland Yard, she has travelled to the West Country to inspect the cache of ... read more
Deep Waters
Ann Cliff
Deep Waters
Dark Powers
Raymond Haigh
Dark Powers
Avalon Castle
Rosemary Craddock
Avalon Castle is an unusual, disturbing place. Painstakingly built by Ambrose Blackwood, an eccentric obsessed by the legends of King Arthur, and inhabited by the rest of the dysfunctional Blackwood family, Avalon Castle houses some very dark secrets. When Rachel Garland visits, she hopes to spend the Christmas of 1867 peacefully with her half-sister Lucy who is living there. What she finds is... read more
Cardinal Obsession
Roy Lewis
Cardinal Obsession
An Unholy Mess
Joyce Cato
Unholy Mess
An Unholy Whiff of Death
Joyce Cato
Unholy Whiff of Death
An Unholy Shame
Joyce Cato
The Winding Stair
Millie Vigor
Deadly Serious
Jean Chapman
When Jim Maddern - well-respected police sergeant and pillar of the local community - begins to act completely out of character, ex-Met officer John Cannon is concerned. As Cannon tries to find out what has got Maddern so spooked, he discovers that death threats have been sent to Maddern and his family via the local paper after Maddern stumbled on the paperboy's criminal lineage. Troublemakers... read more
Deadly Zeal
Jean Chapman
Deadly Zeal
Kicking Over the Traces
Elizabeth Jackson
Westmorland - winter, 1922. After her mother dies unexpectedly, Florence Grainger is abandoned by her stepfather at an isolated farm owned by the Dalbys. He leaves her with nothing but an old red coat belonging to her late mother...and her tenacious gypsy spirit. It is far too dangerous for a young woman to travel the roads alone and Florence must embrace the settled way of life - courting pai... read more
Not My Affair
Pamela Fudge
Not My Affair
No Easy Truth
Peter Taylor
For some time, DI Don McIntyre, for not entirely professional reasons, has been attempting to bring down Middlesbrough crime lord, Tony Pike. Despite his best efforts, Don is continually thwarted, with Pike constantly evading the DI's net. As he uncovers some harsh truths behind the murder of a local priest, an opportunity arises for McIntyre to have another go at nailing his nemesis, and he m... read more
Women of Straw
Carole Llewellyn
Stroke of Death
Jessica Mann
Tamara Hoyland, formerly an undercover operative for government intelligence, has been a blameless w....
The Wind from the Sea
Mark Neilson
Australia in the Great War
Philip Payton
The English Cathedrals
Andrew Sanders
England is blessed with many beautiful cathedrals, including the world-renowned Durham, with its geometrically carved pillars, Wells, with its astonishingly graceful scissor arch, and the gloriously uplifting Ely and its octagonal tower. For a millennia and more, these and similar buildings have welcomed and inspired generations of believers with their beauty and grandeur. This book is a highl... read more
Foster's English Oddities
Allen Foster
Foster's English Oddities A wonderful collection of England's quirkiest characters, most extraordinary facts and strangest coincidences. This fascinating book is a must-read for anyone interested in English trivia! The perfect book for trivia lovers and armchair historians. Full description
Foster's Welsh Oddities
Allen Foster
Ideal for trivia lovers and those interested in the more esoteric aspects of life in Wales, Foster's Welsh Oddities is a wonderful collection of Wales' quirkiest characters, most extraordinary facts and strangest coincidences. Discover the lucky, unlucky, strange, silly, downright weird, wonderful and funny events that make up Allen Foster's entertaining contribution to the social history of W... read more
Gallipoli: A Soldier's Story
Arthur Beecroft, Andrew Roberts
Gallipoli
Growing Older with Jane Austen
Maggie Lane
A lively, well-researched, expert study of aging in the literature of Jane Austen There is no....
Jane Austen's Journeys
Hazel Jones
Journalism
Nevil Maskelyne (1732-1811) was a hugely significant figure in the worlds of British science and mar....
The Origins of English Surnames
Joslin Fiennes
Surnames carry the history of people in a very personal way. In England surnames were mostly established by the end of the fourteenth century - by ordinary people, for ordinary people. Uniquely, surnames describe medieval lives not captured by any other record. They tell us what these people did, where they went, what they noticed and give clues about their culture and memories. This book exam... read more
Picked Up, Patched Up and Sent Home
Smithfield: Past and Present
Alec Forshaw
Famed throughout the world for its meat market, the Smithfield area of London has a long and turbulent history. Originally a 'smooth field' lying just beyond the City wall, over the years Smithfield has seen riots, public executions and healing. From medieval times it became a centre of industry where tanners, slaughterers, glue-makers and dyers assembled. Largely untouched by either the Great... read more
The Politics of Washing: Real Life in Venice
Polly Coles
This is the story of ordinary life in an extraordinary place. The beautiful city of Venice has been a fantasy land for people from around the globe for centuries, but what is it like to live there? To move house by boat, to get a child with a broken leg to hospital or to set off for school one morning only to find that the streets have become rivers and the playground is a lake full of sewage?... read more
The Princess Alice Disaster
Joan Lock
The Princess Alice Disaster The collision of the Princess Alice pleasure steamer with the Tyne collier, Bywell Castle, in the Thames in September 1878 resulted in Britain's worst-ever inland waterway accident. Almost 650 Princess Alice passengers and crew died. Whole families were wiped out; many children were left orphans; parents childless. The nation wept. Full description
Tobruk: A Raid Too Far
David Jefferson
Tolkien
Raymond Edwards
Tolkien
Vaughan Williams: Composer, Patriot, Radical - A Biography
Keith Alldritt
This ground-breaking biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams reveals more than any other the man behind the music. The author examines the considerable range of Vaughan Williams' work, from the English pastoral tradition to Modernism, and shows how Vaughan Williams was influenced by the Boer War, the economic depression after the First World War, the deprivations of the Blitz, and the austerity of... read more
Wealth or Poverty? Jane Austen's Novels Explored
Stephen Mahony
Wealth or Poverty? Jane Austen's Novels Explored
Writers' Houses: Where Great Books Began
Nick Channer
Writers' Houses
Parents Guide to Coping With Autism
Sarah Ziegel
When Sarah Ziegel's twin boys were diagnosed with autism at the age of almost three, she found very....
On the Sofa with Jane Austen
Maggie Lane
These essays, which first appeared in Regency World magazine, celebrate the quirkiest corners....
Big Game Hunter: A Biography of Frederick Courteney Selous
Norman Etherington
He led a singularly adventurous and fascinating life, with just the right alternations between the....
The Gunsmoke Serenade (A Black Horse Western)
Thomas Mcnulty
While passing through Cherrywood Crossing, US Marshal Maxfield Knight is confronted by a gang of hired guns who tell him to ride the other way, or be shot down. With no choice but to ride into the high country, Knight soon learns he is being hunted by a man named Silas Manchester, but why, he has no idea. Determined to survive this dangerous game that he's been forced to play, Knight is destin... read more
Pony Express (A Black Horse Western)
Harriet Cade
When fifteen-year-old Jack Taylor is offered a job with the newly formed Pony Express Company, it looks as though he will be able to rescue his family from the financial problems which are troubling them. However, he injures his ankle, and it is likely his job will fall through. His twin sister, Beth, decides to ride in his place; this is the story of the only girl to ever ride for the Pony Ex... read more
Hannah Henford, travelling West from Ohio with her family aboard a steamer on the Missouri River, meets the reticent Andrew Callahan, a young man also following the trail towards Oregon. The boat docks and during the next part of the journey, the strong and broad-shouldered Andrew captures the heart of Hannah with his bravery, and the two become close. Jeremiah Smith, a mysterious and adventur... read more
Death Silences Everyone
Bill Sheehy
One Damn Thing After Another
Dan Latus
PI Frank Doy's short-break holiday in Prague is rudely interrupted when he steps into a street fight outside his boutique hotel and helps a man being badly beaten in an attempted abduction. The unfortunate victim is Leon Podolsky, a wealthy Russian dissident based in the city. He and his two sisters run a global business empire and publish an online Russian-language newspaper critical of the K... read more
Perfect Killer
Robb White
The 'Lavender Lady' Casefile
Jessie Daniels
Catherine has 2 reviews
Professionalism
Quality
Value
Communication
Fantastic to work with! Catherine helped on one of our largest projects to-date and I haven't been happier with the results! I will use her again!!
Read moreBobby Dunaway, April 2018
Prompt, professional, and pleasant, Catherine was a joy to work with. She tackled a unique project without blinking an eye, and met her time-tables with rare efficiency. She was one of the best communicators I've worked with. If I have anything to do with it, I will be working with Catherine again in the near future.
Read moreVincent Davis, June 2017
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