Karen Wise

Current

Freelance copyeditor and proofreader at Wise Editorial Services

Past

Senior Editor at D. C. Heath & Co.

Education

Wesleyan University

Recommended

1 person has recommended Karen

Connections

61 connections

Industry

Writing and Editing

Websites

Karen Wise’s Summary

I was born to be a copyeditor. I love language, and I'm nerdily detail-oriented. For more than 20 years, it has been a daily delight to sharpen my red pencil (or, these days, click on "Track Changes") and work with words.

My mission is to help authors express themselves clearly and authentically, without letting my own voice creep in. Authors request to work with me time and again, because they say I really "get" them and make the process easy for them and their publishers.

Karen Wise’s Specialties:

I specialize in copyediting cookbooks and college-level textbooks (in all disciplines) but am comfortable working on everything from business journals to novels to online media, and everything in between. I am also a crackerjack proofreader.

Karen Wise’s Experience

Freelance copyeditor and proofreader

Wise Editorial Services

(Publishing industry)

1986 — Present (23 years )

I copyedit and proofread manuscripts for college-level textbooks (in all disciplines), cookbooks, novels, business journals, websites, marketing research reports, nursing manuals, software guides -- you name it. I also do accuracy checking of e-books (that is, ensuring that there are no glitches when a textbook is "poured" into an online template). If it involves working with words, I'm the one you want to call.
Senior Editor

D. C. Heath & Co.

(Publishing industry)

1984 — 1995 (11 years )

In 1984, fresh out of college, I took a job as an Editorial Assistant at the now-defunct textbook publisher D. C. Heath & Co. Over the next 11 years, I soaked up everything I could and moved up the ranks, eventually to Senior Editor. In that role, I got to oversee the production of college-level textbooks in every imaginable discipline (algebra! Italian! 20th-century history! organic chemistry! remedial grammar!) and also to train new editors as they learned the ropes. When D. C. Heath was sold to Houghton Mifflin in 1995, I declined an offer to be Senior Editor there and opted instead to start my own freelance business. Being my own boss allows me to pick and choose my projects and also to expand my horizons.

Karen Wise’s Education

Wesleyan University

B.A. , English , 1980 — 1984

After all these years, I still write the "Class Notes" column for the quarterly alumni magazine. It's a great way to stay in touch with former classmates.