Melanie D

Santa Fe, United States

“Proofreaders work to perfect what's on the page and question what’s absent from it.”

Specialist subjects:

Alternative Medicine Art History Communication & Media Studies Cultural Studies Education English Language & Literature Museum Studies Theology & Religious Studies Women's & Gender Studies

Editing formats:

Education:

BA in Humanities

College of Santa Fe

2003–2005

MA in English

University of New Mexico

2008–2010

Favorite referencing style

I started with the Chicago Manual of Style, so that was a formative influence. However, I find MLA the most user friendly, and I appreciate the attention to wording and phrasing found in the AP Stylebook with its newsroom tradition.

Why I became an editor

I began taking editing courses early in my college career and continued those studies throughout graduate school. Two years ago, I decided to study proofreading intensively to review and enhance my expertise. Previous teaching experience allowed me to work with other people on their writing, so proofreading made sense. I’ve kept the foundational experience of my previous work while branching out from teaching to prepare professional manuscripts and documents for publication.

Background and experience

As a freelancer, I'm fortunate to work on a variety of projects. I work regularly for companies, students writing dissertations/theses, and self-publishing individuals. I write, edit, and proofread workbooks to accompany courses, work on the page layout for pre-publication books, proofread weekly articles for an online art history magazine, and edit and proofread many narrative nonfiction books.

Why I love proofreading and editing

The polish of proofreading can make the difference between a draft and a professional, publication-ready document. Reading high level research or how-to blog posts is also a learning experience. I strive to keep myself versatile but specialized in my approach to proofreading – I've worked with research writing and style guides, especially Chicago, APA, and MLA, for many years. More recently, I've incorporated the AP Stylebook and learned to be mindful of SEO keywords.

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Favorite book:

Currently, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is among my favorite books because of how well its insights translate to our current political atmosphere in the United States.

Hobbies:

When not proofreading, I spend time with my pets, look for new vegan recipes, enjoy the garden or snow, read a fiction or nonfiction book, watch a film/series, and write.

Editing tips:

My first read-through is to familiarize myself with the content and catch obvious corrections. Then, I'm ready to delve into the next levels of grammar, clarity, and style guide questions.

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