Dunne by the Book

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...