Production Editor, Proofreader, Developmental Editor, Writer
Resume:
SHERRY GERSTEIN
** ****’s Road, Ridgefield, Connecticut 06877
203-***-**** (home) 203-***-**** (cell)
**.********@*******.***
SUMMARY
Seasoned publishing professional with a broad variety of experience as a production editor with background in Adobe Acrobat Professional and InDesign as well as a developer of cooking, nutrition, how-to, fiction and nonfiction books for readers of all ages. Creative problem solver with great flexibility, speed, and sensitivity to external pressures.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
FREELANCE EDITORIAL SERVICES 2007–Present
Clients: Hachette Book Group, Scholastic Library Publishing, littlebluebook.com, Cousteau Kids Magazine, TheMotherhood.com, The Book Shop Ltd, Reader’s Digest (Children’s Division), Weekly Reader Custom Publishing, Simon and Schuster, Parachute Press.
Some recent assignments:
• Proofreader, advertising and marketing materials, Colangelo Synergy Marketing
• Project editor, Henna Sourcebook, Extreme Origami, and Simply Adorable Crochet (Acrobat Pro)
• Proofreader, I Funny (hardcopy)
• Writer/editor, June events newsletter, The Motherhood.com (Mailchimp CMS app)
• Editor, A Caregiver Guide, Alzheimer’s & Dementia Resource Center (Word)
Boardroom Inc./Bottom Line Books
PRODUCTION EDITOR 2007–2012
Developed books and premiums (including e-books) on personal health, nutrition, and natural healing for prominent newsletter publisher with a significant book business.
o Employed skills such as rewriting, copyfitting, fact checking and proofreading to produce products at highest level of accuracy and function.
o Edited original hardcover nutrition and cookbook, The Healing Kitchen.
o Project-managed assorted hardcover and paperback books from inception to finished project.
o Used customized content management system (CMS) to create manuscripts anthologizing content from Bottom Line newsletters for Bottom Line’s Health Smarts and annuals such as the Health Breakthroughs books.
o Converted physical books to e-book format (checked text flow, links, etc.).
o Maintained stable of outside contractors (researchers, copyeditors, editors, and indexers).
Reader’s Digest Children’s Publishing, Inc.
EDITORIAL MANAGER 2001–2005
Directed editorial content of general children’s trade list of nonfiction books, novelty picture books, and tie-ins to licenses (Disney, Nickelodeon, Sesame Street, Barbie, Tonka, Fisher-Price); oversaw product development for proprietary customers (AMS, Avon, Books Are Fun)
o Streamlined production process and reduced turnaround times for all book projects by writing and editing directly on screen in layout program (QuarkXpress).
o Managed project assignments for four editors; also instituted bi-weekly department meetings to assess problems and redirect energies where needed, resulting in an action-oriented and flexible workforce.
o Edited and project-managed best-selling Disney Princess Music Player Storybook a new format combining original, never-before-published stories about the Disney Princesses and innovative toy technology.
o Brainstormed and project-managed new interactive children’s books from concept through production. Wrote text for The Lost Coin, My Great Aunt Phibian, Scrabble Junior Gamebook, among others. Created and edited presentation content material for new interactive book proposals. Maintained active stable of writers.
o Established weekly information hotsheets, keeping creative, sales, and financial teams abreast of new developments in pricing, scheduling, and content-related issues.
SENIOR EDITOR/SENIOR STAFF EDITOR 1994–2001
Launched and produced nonfiction books, general novelty books, and tie-ins to assorted licensing proposals (Disney, Barbie, Scrabble/Hasbro, Walter Foster, Rand McMally); mentored junior staff members; wrote cover and internal selling copy.
o Launched and managed production of heavily illustrated series of science books for middle-graders with Australian packager, reviewing all content and transmitting all revisions, rewrites, and expert comments via markup program, Acrobat Pro.
o Oversaw development (and two subsequent reprints) of The Reader’s Digest Illustrated Children’s Atlas of the World, coordinating English language editorial for customers worldwide (UK, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and South Africa) entirely by electronic means, using Acrobat Pro.
o Established electronic guidelines for transmitting setting copy to art department with little book publishing background, minimizing need for frequent design corrections.
o Guided and project-managed development of nonfiction backlist at RD/JMP: added books to Windows on Science line, oversaw creation of atlases for readers of all levels (3-D Atlas, Rand McNally Sticker Atlases, Auntie Dot’s Atlas, Giant Sticker Play Atlas) and more.
o Project-managed series of Artist Workshop books how-to books on studio arts for Walter Foster.
EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT
BA, Liberal Arts, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Publications: Earth’s Most Extreme Animals, Taking Science to the Extreme (with Rosanna Hansen), The Lost Coin, My Great Aunt Phibian, Disney Mickey Mouse Carry-Along Treasury, AVATAR: Sokka the Sword Master, AVATAR: Tricky Trivia Brainbenders from the Four Nations, John Deere Big Machines Ultimate Sticker Book.
Contact this candidate