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About

Brandon Sanford has a BA from Whitman College in English and a MA in book publishing from Portland State University. He currently lives in Portland, where he spends a lot of time editing and writing, both for work and for fun. In his spare time, of which he has none, he plays board games - because he is geeky like that. He should get out of his apartment more. He has a very loving and lovely partner, who also writes and creates art.

My Interests

 

Below is information about the publishing-related services I offer, as well as areas of publishing in which I'm interested in pursuing a career. Because each freelance project has unique needs, rates vary, so to request information about a particular service, send me an email. If you are interested in approaching me with a job offer, please also email me. You can also look at my resume here.

 

Freelance Services

Developmental Editing

This type of editing focuses on the story. Plot, structure, dialog, characterization - I may discuss any or all of the big-picture elements of your project, depending on its individual needs. I will also mention any habits that I notice while reading, and may line edit sections of your manuscript to provide examples. After I finish the edit, I will send you a copy of your manuscript with my notes, as well as an in-depth letter analyzing and explaining all areas that I think could use some more attention. You can see examples of past developmental letters I've written here.

 

Copyediting

Editing at this level focuses on the details. During this process, I will correct errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and word usage. Depending on your needs, I can also keep my eye out for any specific areas you think need attention, such as wordiness, speed of story, repetition, or consistency. While I will mention any large-scale issues I see, such as major plot holes, I will not be looking for big-picture issues. When I finish the edit, I will send you a copy of your manuscript with my notes, as well as a short letter describing any pervasive mechanical issues, and a sheet explaining any special editorial decisions. You can see an example of my copyediting work here.

 

Proofreading

Editing at this level is the last line of defense. I will compare the designed document to the final version of the manuscript, making sure that no errors were introduced during the design step. I will also keep an eye out for any lingering mechanical errors. Depending on the type of document I am given, I will either make notes on the designed document, or I will create a proofreading document and call out errors by page, paragraph, and line. You can see an example of a proofreading document I worked on here.

 

Career Interests

Event & Project Management

Before attending Portland State University, I worked as operations manager for Cafe Flora, Seattle's premier vegetarian restaurant. I ordered all non-food items, managed the bar, handled organization and maintenance, supervised staff, and participated in restaurant marketing, events, and budgeting. While I am not passionate about the food industry, I loved the constant variety of challenges that came with the job. At Portland State, I worked as event manager for Write to Publish, Ooligan Press's industry conference.  I and my comanager arranged all aspects of the conference, from venue, participants, and programming to budget, ticket sales, and marketing. It was a great success, and I found that project managing contained all the aspects of restaurant operations that I enjoyed: attention to detail, marketing, community involvement, and organization. I could do the same sort of work, but in an industry I was passionate about. You can see more about Write to Publish here.

 

Acquistions

Portland State University's book publishing program is very hands on. Ooligan Press is run by the students, who decide everything from which projects they acquire to the overall direction and aesthetic of the press. While working in Ooligan Press, I spent a lot of time in the acquisitions department. I love getting sneak peaks at future must reads and championing the books I believe in. You can see some of my acquistion evaluations here. I also wrote a few developmental edits for acquisitions, which you can see here.

 

In addition to my work at Ooligan, I worked as an acquisitions assistant at Dark Regions Press, a local horror publisher. I would read submissions, rank their suitability for the press, and give detailed feedback about why I did or did not think they would be a good fit. You can find out more about Dark Regions here.

 

Book Review

I have always loved the idea of reviewing books for a living; perhaps I was influenced by movie depictions of authors, like in Under the Tuscan Sun, who wrote reviews in addition to novels. In a way, writing book reviews is like being an acquisitions editor: you want to find the hidden gems and bring them to light. While at Ooligan, I wrote several book reviews, both of books we published and of outside works. I also wrote book reviews while volunteering with the Friends of the Library. While the FOTL reviews are unfortunately no longer online, you can see examples of my other book reviews here.

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