Meet Your New 2017 Edsguild Board
On January 7 the EdsGuild board had our annual retreat in West Seattle at a coworking space generously provided by Kerrie Schurr. Membership on the board changes every year, with some members stepping down after their two years of service and new volunteers stepping in, and many continuing members changing positions, and we’ve found over the last several years that a day-long retreat is a great way to get to know each other a little if we weren’t acquainted before, get onto the same page with logistics and regulations, and plan for the year ahead.
This year is an especially exciting one, coming up on the Guild’s 20th anniversary as well as our 6th conference in the fall, and we’ll be taking some time over the next month or so on this blog to introduce you all to our board members, the committees and positions they serve in, what those committees have planned in the coming year, and how you can get involved. For now, we’d like to give you a chance to get to know a little bit about your new board members.
2017 Northwest Independent Editors Guild Board
Officers:
President: Jill Walters
I am a freelance copyeditor and proofreader, writer, designer, and social media manager. I have a background in journalism, children’s education, and nonprofits, and bring a variety of skills and an attention to detail to any project. My preferred subject matter is children’s literature and curriculum, nonfiction, home and leisure, or web writing, but I’m willing to tackle almost anything. Graduate of both the UW Editing Certificate Program and UW Writing for Children Certificate Program.
Vice President of Board Development: Pm Weizenbaum
I’m a content editor in the corporate and nonprofit sectors. Having lived with computer programmers my entire life, I am expert in translating tech-speak into language that readers can easily act on. I’ve performed both technical and marketing editing for MIT, Amazon, more than 15 groups at Microsoft (over 20 years), the Gates Foundation (more than 90 projects), and for many other corporations both local and global. My philosophy is: You mean everything you say – I help you say exactly what you mean.
Vice President of Member Services: Kristin Carlsen
I am a copyeditor and proofreader of fiction and nonfiction books, and I also edit various types of content for corporations, nonprofits, magazines, and academics. I have loved reading books and tinkering with words since childhood, and that affinity eventually led to my current work polishing other people’s prose.
I have a BA in Spanish and a Certificate in Editing from the University of Washington, along with many credits in English writing and literature courses. Before editing I taught ESL, and I enjoy working with ESL clients and native English speakers alike.
Secretary: Christina Johnson
Technical editor and writer with more than 15 years of experience working for high-profile clients on tight deadlines.
For the past two years I’ve been documenting cloud-based technologies, web apps, and software. In the past, I’ve written and edited legal, financial, and marketing materials, and I’ve written travel stories for a major metropolitan newspaper.
As an editor, preserving the writer’s voice is my top priority. Although I’m very familiar with the Chicago Manual of Style and other guides, I’m not a slave to them.
I can help shape and clarify a piece with suggestions for substantive edits, provide thorough, detailed copy editing, and help organize and display data.
I’m well-versed in photo and video editing software, several CMS platforms, and LaTeX.
Treasurer: Elaine Duncan
Born and raised in New Jersey, I earned a BS in biochemistry at Brown, worked as a state environmental regulator in New Jersey, and then attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School. I practiced law in California for almost 30 years, working at two law firms and teaching legal research and writing at UCLA before finding a niche as a regional general counsel at Verizon/GTE specializing in regulation. I retired in 2010 and moved to Seattle. I completed the professional editing program at the University of Washington and work as a freelance editor. I enjoy any kind of nonfiction work.
Members At Large:
Kelly Frodel
I specialize in editing fiction, with a focus on sci-fi and fantasy. I am also quite familiar with middle grade and young adult, so I particularly enjoy working with those stories as well. My experience includes proofreading, copyediting, and substantive editing across a variety of genres, with YA science fiction, paranormal romance, and alternate history being the most recent.
I currently perform editing services for both traditional publishers and self-publishing authors. I love working with the nitty-gritty details of a manuscript, and I also thoroughly enjoy engaging one-on-one to help develop a story to its full potential.
My goal is to work closely with you, the author, to bring your unique story to life, no matter what stage your manuscript is in.
Jen Grogan
I believe in stories, and in working with writers to make their story as clear and compelling as possible, whether that means a bit of copyediting and polish, deep developmental work to find the roots of a manuscript and draw it out to its best end, or something somewhere in between. I specialize in science fiction, fantasy, romance, and historical fiction, and also enjoy helping academic and nonfiction writing to shine.
In addition to certificates in editing and museum studies, I hold full degrees in anthropology and English language and literature (with honors) from the University of Washington, where my other coursework included classical and medieval history. I also have nearly ten years of experience in web content and graphics, and do some side-work as a designer of e-book covers and transcriber of academic interviews. My hobbies include acoustic guitar, knitting, crochet, swing and contra dance, and hiking.
Roberta Klarreich
Born into a family of book-loving mathematicians, I grew up with a love of stories and logic puzzles. Without even meaning to, I gained a deeper understanding of English grammar and sentence structure—by studying Latin and Greek. After graduate studies in classics at Yale University, I interned at Yale University Press, then worked for science and reference publishers in New York City. I began freelancing as a copyeditor and proofreader in 2003; projects have included popular science articles, academic books, museum catalogues, and City Arts magazine, where my column, “How to Write Right,” ran for over two years.
In addition to my love of words, I enjoy opera and theater and take occasional clown classes.
Donita Leeson
I’m a freelance copyeditor, substantive editor, and proofreader with a background in marketing and business communications. Most of my clients are in the corporate world, but I’ve worked with several fiction authors, too. My background includes news reporting and editing, public relations, graphic design, blog writing, and sales/marketing/branding writing and editing.
Kerrie Schurr
I offer a wide range of editorial services to help authors and organizations in the Pacific Northwest and worldwide take their written materials to the next level. Services include proofreading, copyediting, substantive/line editing, developmental editing, manuscript evaluation, writing, and research, as well as self-publishing consultation and assistance.
I have many years of experience with general as well as science/technical/medical projects ranging from e-books and books to reports, journal articles, web copy, newsletters, and more. My clients/past employers are diverse; they include authors (traditionally and self-published), a small e-book publishing company, and a government agency (where I worked for 10 years as an environmental engineer), among others.
Polly Zetterberg
I enjoy the collaboration with authors to help them produce the best possible story, memoir, cookbook, or article. The joy of being an editor is in the helping; working with the author toward the true story, and toward clarity for the reader’s sake. And, sometimes helping with those little errors that creep in every once and a while.
In the next months we have a lot of exciting content planned for this blog, including more details about what all the board committees have planned for the coming year as well as useful tips and tricks you can use in your editing career, and interviews with your colleagues from around the region. Thanks so much for reading, and please check back regularly to keep up with everything the Guild has in store!
