I’ve edited pretty picture books, encyclopedias, regional guides, how-to manuals, and specialist books by noted garden writers.
Each book project is different, depending on the needs of the publisher. For most books I work as the Project Editor, steering the project from concept to printed page. I work with an editorial and design team and an in-house production staff that may be a few states—or even a continent—away. I start by drawing up a page-by-page outline and bookmap, set the schedule and budget, find the collaborators and contributors—garden designers, horticulturists, and other experts—commission the text, find the photography (sometimes in conjunction with a photo editor), edit the text, supervise the copyeditor, proofreader, and indexer, and generally shepherd the project through the design and production process. It means putting together each page and shaping all the elements of the book, from the headline at the top of each page to every photo, caption, plant list, illustration, and special feature.
As a Contributing Editor, I might oversee a section of a book—such as a gardening dictionary or a series of essays by prominent gardeners. Or I may revise a book originally developed for one market for a different audience or region, such as adapting the original Western Garden Book so that it became a resource for Southern Gardeners, or modifying a British manual of edible gardening so that it applies to conditions in different regions of North America.
Grow Your Own Vegetables
Mitchell Beazley
The American Horticultural Society
New Encyclopedia of Gardening Techniques
Mitchell Beazley
“This is a book to turn to over a lifetime of garden misadventures...for expert and beginner alike.”
-New York Times, Dec. 3, 2009
Northwest Top 10 Garden Guide
Sunset Books
Sunset Western Landscaping
Sunset Books
“It is an idea book, page after page of gardens illustrated and photographed and outlined and explained,
plenty to pore over this rainy winter to jump-start your spring garden work.”
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Dec. 5, 2007
Sunset Western Garden Book
Sunset Books, 8th edition
“An indispensable resource to gardeners in the West.”
-Seattle Post Intelligencer, March 17, 2006
Southern Living Garden Book
Southern Living
Gardening in the Northwest
Sunset Books
“This is the prettiest Sunset book ever.”
Seattle Times, Jan. 5, 2003
Organic Gardening for the 21st Century
Reader’s Digest
Landscaping with Ornamental Grasses
Sunset Books
If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It
Clarkson-Potter
Sunset Western Garden Book
Sunset Books, 7th ed 2001
Southern Living Landscape Book
Southern Living, 2000
Low-Maintenance Gardening
Sunset Publishing, 1998
Western Landscaping Book
Sunset Books, 1st ed 1997
Reader’s Digest 1001 Hints & Tips for Your Garden
Reader’s Digest, 1996
Reader’s Digest Successful Gardening Series
Reader’s Digest, 1993
Complete Fix It Yourself Manual
Reader’s Digest, 1992
Complete Guide to Gardening & Landscaping
Time-Life Books, 1991