Dunne by the Book

I'm stealing time from football Sunday to visit. How have you been? I've been busy. And busy is good. Our last chat saw me launching a new, few-week gig. Those weeks have flown by, and the outlook is positive for another few weeks on the job. Other clients are keeping me busy as well_project management, editing, proofreading_it's a happy challenge I'm operating. A kind, awesome, and very cool friend recently gave me the gift of an authoritative book on developmental editing, which I aim to dig into soon. I'd be happy to hear from anyone who has experience in dev. editing to get the lay of the land in this specialty. In the meantime, I'm looking to stay busy, striving to stay good.

I was just the other day feeling charitable, in a vague sort of way, toward the idea of working in an office_the office_again someday. And what would appear but a well-liked client, asking me to help out in the office a couple days a week during a personnel transition. My kind of gig, I say. I've enjoyed such an arrangement once before, taking over the managing editor duties for a maternity leaver at another much-liked client's office. A couple of years is good spacing between office appearances. These occasional forays help me frame my week in a way that doesn't quite present itself in my normal workaday. In these weeks, I let my dog walk me a bit longer. I like the busyness; the efficiency required clarifies my head. The jobs prioritize themselves. And the days go so very fast. My kind of gig, I say this day.

I first became acquainted with New Orleans by way of a pile of trash in a North Side Chicago alley. Therein lay an original painting by Donabeth Jones titled "Rue Royale." I was between original artworks at that time, having recently given away a creepy rendition of the Velvet Peanut Butter boy and yet to meet its replacement. So, under the "one man's trash" rule, I retrieved the painting, complete with a typewritten note by its artist glued to the back of the frame explaining its provenance. Said frame also featured a broken glass front and an ill-suited harsh orange matte border. After moving with me from one household to the next, and repeat, I finally took the painting to a framer and asked him to replace the glass and change out the matte to a more subtle, flattering theme. By then, I had visited New Orleans twice. The freshly dressed painting hangs in our living room. It depicts a typical scene in the French Quarter: two women walking by a building on Roya...

When people say, I've known since I was five years old that I wanted to be a [your career here], does that necessarily mean it's a good idea to pursue that career as an adult? Certainly this is no breakthrough in psychiatric analysis, questioning one's_my_career aspirations. But here I am anyway. I did pursue my career aspiration; I did say, in second grade (so I guess I was seven years old, ever the late bloomer), that I wanted to be a proofreader for a living. And I became one, in my first real job out of college. Did I know what a proofreader was at seven, at that wee, already literately jaded, age? Actually, yeah, kind of: someone who catches other people's mistakes in the safest possible forum, under the sanction of good grammar and style. But here's the couple of things about that: First, proofreading falls at the bottom of the editorial career spectrum and hence falls at the entry level of salaries. So, as any smart, agile proofreader does, I learned copy edi...

It should come as no surprise that I'm intent on growing my business. That intention requires me to contact prospective clients. I actually have the perfect excuse to nudge them: I recently joined Chicago Book Clinic and the Council of Science Editors . It's time to broadcast the news. While my workload so far, thankfully, has only suffered the expected seasonal lull, I am reaching out once again to contacts in publishing to bolster my clientele. I opt to e-mail. I justify this choice by insisting (to myself) that people are more receptive to e-mail; that I like to allow them to respond in their own time rather than command them to speak when I call; that, most of all, I display my talents best in a written format rather than a spoken exchange. Therein lies my current problem. Earlier today I drafted a note to a potential client, using a previously sent e-mail as my boilerplate. Sound familiar? See where this is going? I began to rework the new e-mail to appeal to the second r...

A nascent book reviewer, I last formally critiqued a literary work_a short story_in high school, an uncomfortable undertaking at the time. Now I'm inspired by two events to share my book vibe: my discovery of the present book and my launch of the present blog. I hope you'll let me know your own take on this and any other books you happen upon that inspire your voice. Look for more of My Vibe book reviews in the future. Kerri McCaffety's The Majesty of the French Quarter (Pelican, 2000) is, in a word, a gem. It is a well-stocked book of photography and related text on the archtecture, interiors, and courtyards of New Orleans' French Quarter. The majesty is as much in McCaffety's sensibility as in the subjects of her photographs. My first turn through The Majesty _I immediately knew it would be far from my last_was simply moving slowly from photo to rich photo, only infrequently sneaking a look at the accompanying captions and text. Next time was for absorbing both t...

If a proofreading project is, for me, the dark chocolate treat with my mid-afternoon coffee, a project management gig is the fresh ginger in my husband's chicken and pea pods stir fry_it's the highlight that also brings impeccable balance. There's the anticipation of a book well conceived; then the bitingly familiar, focused launch of the project; and then the work of the process that settles me into a satisfying groove. The fun is in aquainting or reaquainting myself with the publisher's house style, initiating or refreshing the collegial relations with the in-house editor, reviewing checklists and notes from past projects, setting the schedule. The enthusiasm is in coordinating and executing_the process of the process. So, I'm a process wonk. By that nature, it seems I could almost as easily have been an economist or an accountant, both occupations framed by procedure and theory. But in publishing I get to read, a lot, for a living. The project management gig is m...

I'm an editor, pure and simple. Oh sure, I can write, too. Usually with complete sentences and everything. My particular facility, though, is with bringing an exquisite precision to the already turned phrase. My greatest work-wise treat is the proofreading gig. Give me a book-length proofreading project on just about anything (and a tight, sensible house style guide always helps), and I'll turn it around yesterday. I've never proofed a book or journal article that I couldn't stand. The process makes the meaning for me. I grew up, professionally speaking, in the composition department of a well-known Midwest printing company as a proofreader and graduated to typesetting (briefly) and then copy editing. I wouldn't trade my foundation in technical proofreading for any other influence in my career. The training was exacting, deliberate, comprehensive. I was fantastically good at it, and the experience carries my editing sensibility today. I've asked myself and, haph...