FIELDS:	• Trade nonfiction — business, leadership, social sciences, psych • Computers — end-user materials, games • Fiction — SF, fantasy, mystery
SKILLS:	• Copyediting and substantive editing • Developmental editing • Keeping authors and staff editors happy • Building Word macros
AUTHORS’ COMMENTARY:	“I have to say that I was a bit apprehensive about this piece of work, from my past experience working for editors for various articles. I was quickly relieved after reading just a few of your comments and questions.      What a pleasure to work with a high-level editor like you. Your comments are always to the point, and show a thorough understanding of the content (and interest in the topic). Far from being a burden, it was a rich experience, so thank you for your excellent work!”  —Sebastien Henry, re EQ and Leadership in Asia (Wiley, to be published in 2011) “Hilary, you did a fantastically helpful job on the copyedit! You caught some very critical things.”  —Dave Crenshaw, re Invaluable (Jossey-Bass, 2010) “Hilary, I can't thank you enough! And I can't imagine trying to write a book without you (and you can use that phrase in your marketing materials).”  —Ron Ashkenas, re Simply Effective: How to Cut Through Complexity in Your Organization and Get Things Done (Harvard Business Press, 2009). “Thank you, Hilary! I want you to know that I really appreciate your work on this book — you have made the content much clearer and more reader-friendly. Great work!” —Craig Pohlman, re Revealing Minds: Assessing to Understand and Support Struggling Learners (Jossey-Bass, 2007) “Hilary: Thank you for such a great job. We learned a lot from reading your comments. It was an enjoyable experience. We really appreciate your expertise and professionalism. It’s a pleasure to work with you.” —Jim Kouzes & Barry Posner, re A Leader’s Legacy (Jossey-Bass, 2006) “I wanted to thank you again for your help — the book is much better as a result of your input. I don’t know if references matter for your business, but if you ever need one, please feel free to have the author or publisher call me.” —Mark Weiner, re Unleashing the Power of PR (Jossey-Bass, 2006) “What a fabulous job you have done with us! It has been a pleasure working with you. You kept us (me) on track with gentle yet strict remembrances of simplicity and page length. You took elephants and transformed them into sleek greyhounds — which, of course, we kept trying to feed heavy diets of meat, potatoes, and ice cream.” —Wayne Brockbank, coauthor with Dave Ulrich of HR Value Proposition (Harvard Business Press, 2005) “Lots of gratitude from this direction. Meredith and I thought the ms was pretty tight, but you not only saved us some embarrassment, you often added grace and clarity to the book. What a pleasure to work with a pro.” —Gerald Fleming, coauthor with Meredith Pike-Baky of Rain, Steam, and Speed (Jossey-Bass, 2004) “To pull this book together, we owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to our developmental editor, Hilary Powers. Hilary provided the discipline, organization, and writing skills that we needed to turn lots of text into a finished product. The fact that she did this with an unwavering sense of humor and good cheer made the difficult last stages almost fun. We can clearly say that without her insights and persistence the book might never have been completed.” —Dave Ulrich, Steve Kerr, and Ron Ashkenas, re The GE Work-Out (McGraw-Hill, 2002). “Rick and I thought your corrections and suggestions made the manuscript a more readable book. And we enjoyed your bits of humor as we were making our way through the manuscript.” —Mary Vielhaber (coauthor), re Strategic Interviewing (Jossey-Bass, 2001). “Hilary, you are simply the best.” (On a card attached to a 2.5'x4.5' floral arrangement.) —Dave Pottruck and Terry Pearce, re Clicks and Mortar (Jossey-Bass, 2000). “Hilary, I just finished reviewing your reviews of Chapters 13–16. My gosh, you’re good. No, way better than good. Fantastic! Wow! I’m so glad you’re the new editor!!!” —Barbara T. Ling, re Poor Richard’s Internet Recruiting (Top Floor, 2000). “For Hilary Powers — I’m so glad you worked on this one.” —Dennis L. Prince, re Online Auctions at eBay (Prima, 1999). “Hilary Powers taught me about good will, clarity, and gentle persuasion in editing this book. She brought to the task a deep understanding of the subject matter, the mind of the reader, and the heart of an author. She is superbly suited to do her work, and I have been honored by her service.” —Joel P. Henning, re The Future of Staff Groups (Berrett-Koehler, 1997).
EDITORS’ COMMENTARY:	“First off, very nice job editing on [this book]—I was impressed with your questions and the language you used to ask them. I met with the authors today (in person) and told them they will like what they read.” —Mark Karmendy, Jossey-Bass “Hey, thanks so much for all of your hard work on this one. [Our author] would have really been floundering without you—I really appreciate your dedication, patience, and skill. I sure look forward to working with you again!” —Willem Knibbe, Sybex “Initial feedback was glowing (‘Hilary did a wonderful job on this— rewording, softening, transforming tables into examples or bulleted lists and more. Jill, tell Hilary we love her.’)” —Jill Anderson-Wilson, Davies-Black Publishing “Thanks to you I got this off on schedule, still a little incredulous that the damn thing is on track.” —Jeff Wyneken, Jossey-Bass “I’m very impressed with the way you’ve handled this pressurized and somewhat demanding project. Thanks for your careful, very intelligent work and approach to the various issues along the way.” —Rachel Anderson, Satellite Publishing Services “Maybe it’s overkill, but I can’t thank you enough for your help and contribution to this project. It was particularly ugly from the beginning, and for it to turn out so stellar has been major kudos for me. But I know a large part of that is thanks to you.” —Kim Benbow, Prima “Just started going through the Wheeler/Hirsh and felt moved to tell you what a great job I think you’ve done. You are the best.” —Mary Garrett, Pleasant Run Publishing Services
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:	• Met or beat every editing project deadline-often by 50 percent or more. • Rescued a scrambled 260-page manuscript in nine days, consolidating duplicate material and reorganizing the remainder. • Created a book out of a disastrous manuscript the publishers had committed to print sight unseen, from an author who was too important in their market to reject and who had resisted all efforts to edit earlier work. The author’s response: “The copy editor did a superb job!!!” To which the project editor added, “It’s a pleasure to have a reasonably coherent manuscript. And it’s a real breakthrough to have [this author’s] ‘blessing’ on it.” • Helped clients develop smoother and more efficient electronic editing procedures. • Developed techniques for consolidating and editing chapter-level bibliographies to ensure consistency throughout a volume. • Conducted workshops on electronic editing and editor-author relations for the Bay Area Editors’ Forum, the Editorial Freelancers Association, and other groups. • Assembled and edited a 228-page reference volume, negotiating with roughly a hundred authors and artists, arranging keyboarding and typesetting for the text, editing and proofreading the copy, resizing the art to fit, pasting up the boards, and selecting and dealing with the printer.
BACKGROUND:	• Full-time freelancer since 1994 • Nonprofit management • EDP audit and computer security administration • Management audit and job design • B.A. cum laude in journalism, Stanford University