EDITOR & INDEXER

I'm a book editor, proof-reader, indexer and writer based in Kyneton, Victoria. My choice of profession stems from my love of reading. As I kid, I always had my nose in a book, and that has never changed.

I’ve worked in book publishing since the late 1990s. I can remember the moment in 1997, a few years after I graduated from RMIT with a journalism degree, when I discovered that book publishing was a ‘thing’, and that there were jobs in it. I immediately applied for a job with Macmillan in Melbourne and I’ve worked in the industry ever since, both inhouse and as a freelancer, with occasional stints in magazines.

My favourite books to work on are gardening books – garden design, plants, how to garden, techniques, design movements, kitchen gardening… This reflects my personal interests. I spend most of my non-work hours in my garden, which I designed myself. It consists of about 20 espaliered fruit trees, a large vegetable patch, and lots of herbaceous perennials. I’m working on incorporating more trees and native plants into the design.

Food and recipe books come a very close second after gardening books (ask me anything about preserving and baking), and I also love biographies, memoir and sustainability-themed books.

Most of my clients are trade publishers. I don’t edit fiction or academic theses.

I work as a freelancer three days per week. I also work part-time in Melbourne as an editor for Our Community, a one-stop-shop for community organisations and not-for-profits.