I am an seasoned editor with experience spanning a range of publication types and intended audiences. Whether it’s a technical report, academic paper, textbook, or popular work, I’m dedicated to bringing out the best in a given piece.
As a freelance developmental editor for MacMillan Publishing, I am currently working on a college-level astronomy textbook and an algebra-based college physics textbook. These projects require very close collaboration with the authors, attention to detail, project management skills, technical aptitude, and familiarity with pedagogical goals. At the end of the day, these words, equations, and figures will be processed by young minds new to science. I find it very exciting and fulfilling to play a role in this journey.
In 2015, I was thrilled to be asked to proofread Nathalia Holt’s manuscript for Rise of the Rocket Girls, a New York Times Bestseller!
I am a regular editor for the Keck Institute for Space Studies, and I have produced (edited, fact-checked, and formatted) several final workshop reports for print (and available online). In Managing Director Michele Judd’s words:
Meg has worked with multiple Keck Institute for Space Studies workshop teams to design and produce comprehensive and well-crafted reports. There are very few people who have an excellent technical background (Ph.D. in Planetary Science from Caltech) and can communicate in such a clear and approachable manner. Thus, she is very comfortable approaching technical topics and has a keen instinct for accurate and engaging language. An added bonus is her creative and graphic eye coupled with her proficiency with document formatting and typesetting tools. This has been a real asset to our projects. Meg always goes above and beyond what is required, and she’s always quick to incorporate feedback and meet deadlines. I treat her as a valued member of our team because that is exactly what she is.
My technical background has also afforded me the opportunity to work with other members of the Caltech community, as when I edited and formatted the 2017 doctoral thesis of Nicole Lingner. As her adviser Erika Hamden says:
Meg is great at formatting, putting a big report into a beautiful latex template and seamlessly smoothing out text written over several years for a variety of projects. She edited a 100+ page thesis, helping an anxious student to complete their PhD. Meg is so easy to work with, and has been very responsive via e-mail and phone. I’ve been so pleased with all of her work, and strongly encourage anyone interested in a great, scientifically literate editor to give her a call.
I also work regularly with UCLA Professor of History Stefania Tutino, editing book chapters and article manuscripts. Her next book, Uncertainty in Post-Reformation Catholicism, will be released in November of 2017. In her words:
Meg has worked with me on several big projects, and thus I can say that I know her editing skills very well. I think immensely highly of her: she has always been uncommonly attentive and acute; she made the effort to actually get to know the subject matter I was writing about so as to be able to advise on the most effective way to convey what I tried to convey; she was always respectful of my prose but she did not hesitate to suggest alternatives whenever my original phrasing was not working. In sum, I truly believe she is the model editor and I look forward to working with her again.