Andrew Park

I’m a PhD-trained editor, researcher and writer who edits both fiction and non-fiction. While I am open to all sorts of editorial work, I am particularly interested in projects that deal with environmental issues, conservation and climate change, together with speculative fiction that tackles those subjects. I have secondary interests in environmental economics, art and art history, outdoor recreation, and philosophy.

Editorial Goals

Whether you’re writing urban fantasy or a government report, clear communication between author and reader is essential. My overarching goal is therefore to help clients express themselves with elegance and clarity. When assigning undergraduate term papers, my injunction to students is always, “Write this as though you want someone else to actually read it.” My goal as an editor is to help clients to achieve such effortless readability.

EXPERIENCE

Freelance editing

Although I have been editing academic materials for at least 25 years, I am relatively new to the world of editing fiction and non-fiction targeted at general readers. During the last five years, I have made an intensive study of writing craft while writing drafts of my own fictional work in progress. I have successfully completed the online Editing Certificate program at Simon Fraser University, and recently completed the excellent Developmental Editing for Fiction course at Editorial Arts Academy.

I am familiar with the Chicago Manual of Style and APA style, and have a good working knowledge of Microsoft programs, including Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint.  In my science projects, I use “R” open-source statistical software for statistical analysis and to generate graphics.

Recent freelance projects completed include:

• Copy editing of a 100,000-word thriller. 
• Developmental editing of the proposal for a wildflower guide targeted at younger children.
• Copy editing a book on fantastic animals, targeted at older children/young adults.
• Structural editing and critique of a speculative fiction short story (pro bono for friend).
• Expert review and edit of modules for Karr, Scientific American Environmental Science
  for a Changing World, 3rd Edition (2019) (Client: Bedford Freeman & Worth Publishing Group, LLC).
• Expert review and critique of “November Warmth” essay from Treed:Walking in Canada’s
  Urban Forests (2019) by Ariel Gordon (Wolsak & Wynn Ltd.).

Academic editing and review

• Peer-reviewed over one hundred papers for Global Change Biology, Climatic Change, Ecology, Conservation Letters, Plos One, Biodiversity and Conservation, Environmental Reviews, Forest Ecology and Management, and others.
• Reviewed grant applications for NSERC, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.

Consulting and Communication

• Wrote, edited, and illustrated technical reports for BC government and forest industry.
• Wrote a number of articles in magazines and newspapers.
• Early career experience as medical artist.
• Experienced nature and landscape photographer.

Research

• General ecology, forest ecology, and climate science, participatory rural appraisal.
• Geographical scope: Canada, Mexico, Panama, Bolivia, Malawi.
• Active interests in environmental philosophy, environmental economics, conservation, and environmental issues in general.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Developmental Editing for Fiction, led by Pat Dobie and Editorial Arts Academy (2022)

• Covered all aspects of organizing, pricing, and executing developmental editing on a work of fiction.
• Completed a full developmental edit and editorial letter on a 30,000-word novella.

Editing Certificate, Simon Fraser University (2019–2020)

• I successfully completed all requirements for the certificate in December 2020.
• Courses completed: Editors and Editing, Proofreading, Copyediting, Stylistic Editing, Structural Editing, Grammar, Ethics and Legal Issues, Document Design and Production for Editors, Plain Language Principles, Freelancing for Editors, Writing and Editing for the WEB, Advanced Study in Writing for Business and the Professions, and the capstone course, Final Project.

 Mentorship. I completed an Editors Canada editing and communication mentorship with Carolyn Brown in July and August 2020.