About Us


Client ListNancyMike

Full disclosure: those are not current photos.


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EDITOR / COPY EDITOR / PROOFREADER / WRITER
Self-motivated professional editor with strong writing, editing, copyediting, and proofreading skills. Familiarity with Chicago Manual of Style, AP Style. Able to manage multiple projects, meet deadlines, prioritize, and work under pressure with accurate and detailed results. Excellent communication skills (written and oral) for timely, effective interaction with all levels of division and company personnel and management as well as external business partners. Sensory skills: an ear for the well-turned phrase; an eye for color and design; a palate for taste, texture, and balance

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

• Editing
• Copyediting
• Proofreading
• Writing
• Résumé Writing
• Organizational Skills
• Strong Communicator
• Deadline-oriented
• Permissions
• Grammar, Punctuation
• Project Management
• Microsoft Office
• Research & Analysis
• Markup Language
• Audiobooks

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

The Prose Garden LLC, Cave Junction, OR Aug 2009–Present
Editor / Copyeditor / Proofreader / Markup Language / Writer / Marketer
Co-owner, with husband Michael Swaine, of The Prose Garden LLC, publishing company. Write, edit, copyedit, proofread, mark up monthly technical magazine (PragPub) for .pdf, .mobi, and .epub builds. Provide editorial services for outside clients, including The Pragmatic Bookshelf, Shimmering Resumes, and Dr. Dobb’s Journal, among others.

Southern Exposure Magazine, Grants Pass, OR 2004–2006
Freelance Writer
As columnist for Southern Oregon magazine, wrote articles that focused on Southern Oregon food, wine, and culture.
• “Day tripping” Column

MacUser Magazine — Ziff-Davis Communications, San Francisco, CA 1987–1997
Managing Editor
Managed and trained a copyedit staff of 3, coordinated the merging of editorial and art in order to meet monthly printer deadlines, responsible for quality control of final monthly product, which averaged 200 to 250 pages, with a circulation of more than 1.5M.

Business Software Magazine — CMP Publications, Redwood City, CA 1986–1987
Managing Editor
Managed editorial staff, coordinating the merging of editorial and art in order to meet monthly printer deadlines. Responsible for editorial quality of product.

InfoWorld Newsweekly — International Data Group, Menlo Park, CA 1983–1986
Reporter, Copyeditor
Responsible for exacting grammatical standards. Promoted to reporter where I dug up stories that honored the pursuit of truth while meeting daily deadlines.

Arts and Leisure Publications — San Francisco, CA 1982–1983
Executive Assistant
Responsible for correspondence for president, confidential reports, travel arrangements, calendars, meetings, events.

CityGuide — Sausalito, CA 1981–1982
Editorial Assistant
Responsible for copyediting and proofreading annual travel guide magazine focusing on food, wine, restaurants, hotels, sightseeing.

EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS

University of California, Santa Cruz

TECHNICAL PROFICIENCIES

Proficiency in a wide variety of software, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, QuickBooks Pro, Filemaker Pro, InDesign.

ENTREPRENEUR

Summer Jo’s Organic Farm & Restaurant & Artisan Bakery, 1999–2012
Managed a staff of 20, inspiring them to embrace and execute a vision that demands integrity in areas of food, wine, customer service, organic food and flower production, cleanliness.


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MAGAZINE WRITING, EDITING, AND MANAGEMENT

• Editor, PragPub, Pragmatic Programmers’ software developer magazine, launched in 2009.

• Editor-at-large, Dr. Dobb’s Journal, leading software developer’s magazine, 1988-2008.
• Editor, Southern Exposure Magazine, food/wine/tourism magazine for Southern Oregon, 2003-2008.
• Editor, Unix Review, software industry magazine, 2000-2001.
• Editor-in-chief/Associate Publisher, Dr. Dobb’s Journal, 1984-1988.
• Senior Editor and member of launch team, InfoWorld, computer industry newsweekly, 1981-1984.
• Columnist/contributing writer/editor, various publications in the United States, Germany, and Italy, including San Francisco Examiner, Upside, Farmer’s Almanac, MacUser, UnixReview, PC Magazin, Business Software, Whole Earth Catalog, Southern Exposure Magazine.
• Editorial manager and consultant: Helped launch a book line and several magazines and newsletters.

BOOKS

Fire in the Valley: the Making of the Personal Computer, 4th Edition forthcoming; selected by Business 2.0 magazine as one of the 100 best business books of all time, made into a movie.
Visual Quickstart Guide: RealBasic for Mac, Peachpit Press.
Dr. Dobb’s HyperTalk Handbook, McGraw-Hill.
• Co-author of the 20,000-word entry “History of Computing” in Encyclopedia Britannica Online Edition.
• Development editor for numerous technical books.

OTHER MEDIA AND VENTURES

• Writer of book for movie Pirates of Silicon Valley, TNT, movie nominated for 5 Emmys.

• Writer and model for comic strip character Max Netroom, Investigatore Virtuale, published by the Italian company WebEgg.

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