Alexandria Straaik

Email: abpxn0@r.postjobfree.com

Address: ** ***** ******

City: Dayton

State: OH

Zip: 45402

Country: USA

Phone: 516-***-****

Skill Level: Management

Salary Range: $45,000

Primary Skills/Experience:

See Resume

Educational Background:

See Resume

Job History / Details:

Alexandria M. Straaik

35 Green Street, Dayton, OH 45402

516-***-**** / abpxn0@r.postjobfree.com / alexstraaik.com

I am a seasoned editor, educator/mentor, and writer with over 7 years of experience working for a publishing house with award-winning authors such as Noam Chomsky, bell hooks, Vandana Shiva, and Howard Zinn; internationally-distributed magazines (print and digital); non-profit organizations (including academia); and education and mentorship in Boston, Massachusetts and New York City. I have specialized expertise in education, literacy, and mentoring; client and customer service and relations; project and office management; staff recruitment and training; fiscal analysis, bookkeeping, and attention to detail; and extensive research, writing, and editing skills.

Professional Experience

Finances & Accounting Assistant (part time/temporary)

The New Press, New York, NY [2012]

*Assist the Executive Director and Manager of Finance, Accounting, and Human Resource with bookkeeping, budgeting, and inventory; and was able to balance the books within two months;

*Coordinate Accounts Receivable department by running A/R monthly and contacting our customers via telephone, email, and post to recoup seriously overdue funds. This gave me the opportunity to recoup over $20,000 of unpaid bills;

*Project Manager for eBooks contracts/permissions department, where I researched why many royalty rates were not recorded in our databases (FileMaker Pro and Acumen Book Client), and made appropriate changes. I was able to update the database to accurately reflect more accurately royalties due for digital works;

*Assist Senior Management in processing Accounts Payable invoices, which enabled us to process all A/P the day the invoices arrived;

*Ensure the correct and timely collection of receipts and processing of invoices for internal credit card expenditures from FY11 and FY12 in order to balance the books;

*Create monthly reports to assist with effective sales and budgeting;

Staff Writer/Author

Cognitive Therapy Associates [2011-2012]

*Research and write articles on behavioral health issues;

*Design and layout articles with photographs and captions, and make web-ready using WordPress;

*Assist with bolstering Therapy Today`s visibility vis-a-vis promotional efforts, such as employing search engine optimization (SEO);

*Authored 40 articles on various behavioral health, psychology, and psychiatry issues. After my job here, I launched my own website, beginning with my articles from Therapy Today. The viewership has increased by approximately 30% per month, and has garnered the interest and support of domestic and international mental health medical professionals.

Copy Editor (freelance)

826 Boston, Boston, MA [2011]

*Copyedit a 120-page book of note cards written by 6th grade students in the child literacy after school program pioneered by David Eggers.

Moderator/Mentor

Depression Forums, [2011-2012]

*Moderate content in the LGBT room on Depression Forums to ensure it is a safe space where people suffering from behavioral health disorders can become more comfortable with their own experiences, and begin or continue to share openly with others;

*Offer high-level and continual emotional peer support to others by responding to posts and messages in your room; greet all new members (there are currently over 50,000 members, which increases nearly every day), and aid in the exchange of knowledge, information, and feelings via public posts and individual messages;

*Monitor the boards for potentially triggering comments, or those that require immediate invention; report all troubling activity to the Administrative team; keep the forums free of spam and offensive content that violates the Terms of Services; and record all instances in the IR log;

*Edit posts as necessary with spoilers in order to ensure a safe environment and reduce the possibility of triggering others, and contact original poster with reasoning and to offer solidarity;

*Discuss the state and conditions of the forum you are responsible for as well as the website`s content at large with the rest of the Administrative team on a regular basis.

Designer (freelance/contract)

Major Robot Design, Brooklyn, NY [2/2011]

*Responsible for the completed design and emergency error corrections for LUMINA, Sarah Lawrence College`s annual literary magazine, which has featured authors such as Billy Collins, Amy Hempel, Rick Moody, and Thomas Lux.

Publisher, Editor, and Financial Coordinator

South End Press, Cambridge, MA & Brooklyn, NY [2008-2011]

*Acquire, edit, design/produce, and promote non-fiction books on subjects such as: transnational feminisms, anti-racist activism, queer and trans liberation, international politics, environmentalism, anti-capitalist struggles, health and body politics, and prison abolition;

*Independently manage business department (Finances, Permissions, Foreign Rights, and Distribution/Fulfillment), and create and distribute monthly reports to the collective;

*Coordinate and facilitate South End Press`s bi-annual financial retreats to better enable the collective to draft and hone the business`s budget and cash flow projections;

*Share management of the business, including budgeting, promotions, marketing, collective decision-making, and office/organizational maintenance; for example, during my tenure, I was able to earn SEP an essential $120,000 business loan by reaching out to Resource Generation, a non-profits of wealthy youth, to serve as our guarantors.

*Communicate with current and potential authors, media contacts, vendors, insurance companies, printers, and customers;

*Create contracts for projects (both domestic and international);

*Manage in-house fulfillment and distribution;

*Recruit and manage the interns and volunteer staff;

*Write and present sales scripts; acquire blurbs; craft promotional materials (e.g., press releases, flyers, and postcards); write and deliver speeches; and develop back cover copy;

*Complete developmental edits and memos for forthcoming titles, and serve as the author`s liaison.

Digital Copy Center Coordinator

Red Sun Press, Jamaica Plain, MA [2007-2008]

*Manage Digital Copy Center independently within a 12-person cooperative business;

*Estimate and price copier jobs for customers and/or sales department; prepare job tickets for billing;

*Keep track of paper inventory, toner, and copier parts; order supplies as necessary;

*Meet with customers to discuss and plan all jobs; create proofs and work with clients to perfect their piece;

*Create a well organized production schedule in order to meet strict deadlines while maintaining quality control;

*Provide file correction, layout, design, and typesetting as needed;

*Pre-flight all customer files in preparation for printing;

*Work with art department to develop plates for offset presses;

*Responsible for customer development and sales expansion of the Digital Copy Center (e.g., created a MySpace page; reached out to other businesses; designed promotional materials; and added business to Yelp, and asked customers for a review);

*Design and produce marketing and promotional materials.

Educator/Mentor & Editor

City Mission Society of Boston & MCI-Framingham/, [2006-2009]

*Co-editor of Behind the Wall, a bi-lingual publication -by the inmates, for the inmates- that reflects the creative voice, opinions, and interests of its contributors, writing on a variety of topics including whole body health care, behavioral health concerns, politics, housing and work planning for life after prison, recipes, book reviews, and parenting; and ensure a safe and healthy environment for the program participants to hone and enhance their writing skills;

*Assist in preparing for and co-facilitating a weekly, 2-hour writing workshop at MCI-Framingham on several styles of writing (e.g., journalism, non-fiction, poetry, and prose), and a diverse array of subject matter;

*Responsible for the design and layout of Behind the Wall, which is distributed to all (~800) of the women at MCI-Framingham prison.

Editor/Designer

PEN New England, Boston, MA [2006]

*Responsible for the design and content layout of the Fall 2006 newsletter for PEN New England (the most active chapter of PEN American Center), which focuses on the locus of creative writing, literature, and freedom of expression.

Technology Support Technician

Emerson College, Boston, MA [2002-2007]

*Assist with the hiring, training, and management of a 40+ student staff for Emerson`s IT Help Desk and Lab Operations;

*Lead instructional workshops on introduction to QuarkXPress;

*Write technical documentation, create educational packets, and update content on our website;

*Build new computers (PC and Macintosh) for all faculty and staff, and equip with appropriate software;

*Assist with purchase recommendations for staff and faculty; contact vendors to request quotes for hardware and software; prepare purchase requisitions;

*Clean student, staff, and faculty computers of viruses and worms;

*Provide customer service and technical support via telephone, email, and in person for perspective and current students, staff, administration, and faculty.

Intern/Street Team

South End Press, Cambridge, MA [2005-2008]

*Help maintain the Acumen database by updating contact information and inputting book requests;

*Assist with desk/exam copy requests, and fulfillment and distribution of individual, conference, and organizational orders;

*Review unsolicited manuscripts;

*Collaborate on drafting cover designs for forthcoming titles;

*Assist with the preparation of press kits and other promotional materials including crafting and sending blurb requests, acquiring mailing lists, and writing press releases;

*Design the front matter for a South End title independently;

*Assist with proofreading and copyediting, correcting/properly editing and formatting bibliographies and chapter endnotes;

*Work collaboratively with collective on layout design and typesetting of forthcoming books; edit format endnotes; fact-check; and assist with copywriting.

Childcare Provider

Massapequa, NY [2000-2002]

*Provide full childcare for two boys, ages one and three (ultimately three and five, respectively);

*Prepare children for the day by implanting and encouraging good morning hygiene;

*Prepare and serve breakfast, lunch, and healthy snacks;

*Read to or with, depending on developmental ability, the children before daily naps;

*Provide flawless supervision for the children while they utilized their pool;

*Drive children to all scheduled appointments, morning preschools, and special outings.

Education

M.A. Writing & Publishing [2007]

Full-tuition grant; 4.0 GPA

Emerson College, Boston, MA

B.F.A. Writing, Literature, & Publishing [2004]

Magna cum laude, English Department award, academic high honors & Gold Key Honor Society member

Emerson College, Boston, MA

Skills

*Vast and demonstrated commitment to educational and literacy mentorship/leadership/leadership building, as well as knowledge of behavioral health (including mood and personality disorders, medications, various therapeutic models, and recovery/remission);

*Established ability to manage long-term projects with strict timelines; and excellent organizational, interpersonal, and customer support experience;

*Well-versed in Microsoft Office, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Acrobat, Acumen Book Client, FileMaker Pro, and QuarkXPress;

*Substantial editorial, writing, copyediting, proofreading, research and fact checking, and blogging/social media skills (e.g., WordPress, LinkedIn, Blogger, Facebook, Twitter);

*Experienced in acquisitions, permissions, and rights (domestic and foreign), promotions, marketing, and media interviews.

Publications

Clark, Anna, -Real Local,- The American Prospect, December 3, 2009. Interviewed/quoted for article on sustaining independent publishing and the implementation of new income strategies during times of economic crisis.

Green, Dr. Brenda M. -Writers on Writing: with the South End Press

collective.- WNYE, 91.5 FM. 8 August 2010.

Straaik, Alex, -Where You Are Now,- Ragazine, November-December 2009 issue: Fiction Section.

(Available at http://ragazine.cc/2009/12/alex-straaik/)

Straaik, Alex, -The Newest Year,- Depression Forums, January 2011: Articles and Stories: Non-Fiction. (Currently available as a PDF)

Straaik, Alex, -On Depression: Bringing Sexy Back To Behavioral Health,- Therapy Today, 17 August 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Insomnia: Getting The Sleep You Need,- Therapy Today, 17 August 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Self-Injury: Our Histories and The Road To Recovery,- Therapy Today, 18 August 2011.

straaik, Alex, -One Size Doesn`t Fit All: Classes of Antidepressants,- Therapy Today, 19 August 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -You Can Go Home again: On Inpatient Hospitalization,- Therapy Today, 22 August 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Bipolar Disorder: Types, Effects, and Hope,- Therapy Today, 25 August 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Ophelia On The Bridge: Deconstructing Borderline Personality Disorder,- Therapy Today, 2 September 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Electroconvulsive Therapy: Fact and Fiction,- Therapy Today, 7 September 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Suicide. `A Terror Beyond Falling` and How To Beat It Back,- Therapy Today, 11 September 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Battered Women`s Syndrome and Domestic Violence: Abusive Relationship Dynamics and How to Find Freedom,- Therapy Today, 16 September 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Sexomnia: The Sleep Disorder You Might Not Know About,- Therapy Today, 26 September 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Five Tips For a Healthy Relationship,- Therapy Today, 27 September 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Yes: It`s Still Important to Wash Your Hands!- Therapy Today, 6 October 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Dating Your Cousin: Sexual Disorder or Unfairly Labeled Taboo

- Therapy Today, 8 October 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Postpartum Depression: Feelings of Anger and Inadequacy in New Mothers,- Therapy Today, 12 October 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Psychosis But Were Afraid To Ask,- Therapy Today, 13 October 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Sometimes I Feel Like Somebody`s Watching Me: Schizoaffective Disorder,- Therapy Today, 14 October 2011.

Straaik, Alex -Treating Chemical Resistant Depression: There Is Hope!- Therapy Today, 26 October 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -I`m Not Taking That!- Why You Shouldn`t Write Off MAOIs,- Therapy Today, 26 October 2011.

Straaik, Alex, -Five Ways To Aid A Loved One with Chronic Illnesses,-

Therapy Today, 8 November 2011.

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