Gale Winskill

Experience

• 

  Worldwide Fruit, Geest.

  Aug 1991 - Nov 1992

  Procurement Buyer

  Imported fruit from Italy for the major supermarkets and wholesale markets. Included a one-month work placement in a Geest subsidiary company (Francis Nichols), in Bologna, Italy.

• 

  Youth Bookroom (Hong Kong)

  Jan 1993 - Jan 1995

  Editor and writer

  Wrote and edited English textbooks for Hong Kong schools.

• 

  Macmillan (Hong Kong)

  Jan 1994 - Jan 1995

  Freelance editor and writer

  Wrote and edited English language textbooks for Hong Kong schools and Chinese universities.

• 

  SEPA (Hong Kong)

  Jan 1995 - May 1995

  Freelance editor

  Editing environmental tender

• 

  Floris Books

  Jun 1998 - Jun 2011

  Editor

  Involved in all areas of their children's and adult lists, including manuscript assessment, editing, proofreading, liaising directly with authors and illustrators, marking text for layout, commissioning illustrators, writing blurbs and marketing materials, list building.Also, heavily involved in assessment of Kelpie Prize entries.Worked full- and part-time until November 2008, and then as a freelance editor until November 2011.

• 

  Erskine Writers’ Group.

  Jul 2008 - Jul 2008

  Guest Speaker

  Informal workshop on general publishing and editing matters, given to the local writing group.

• 

  Winskill Editorial

  Nov 2008 - now

  Editor and Owner

  Developmental/structural editing, copy-editing and proofreading Literary critiques and manuscript assessmentExperienced, professionally qualified and insured editorSpeciality: Fiction (adult, YA and children's)Also, general non-fiction, including narrative non-fiction/memoirSelf-publishing projects welcomedTraining (for authors and editors)Check out my website for further details and testimonials: www.winskilleditorial.co.ukAll enquiries welcome. Free, no-obligation quotes provided. Show less

• 

  Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators (Scotland) (SCBWI)

  Jun 2009 - Jun 2009

  Workshop Instructor

  Summer Retreat: Spring into Summer Inspired. Workshop given on: ‘What does an editor do?’

• 

  Publishing Scotland and Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce

  Nov 2009 - Nov 2009

  Course Facilitator

  Workshop given to outgoing Chambers Harrap staff at the request of Publishing Scotland in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce (Edinburgh) on: ‘The realities of freelancing’.

• 

  Kingston University

  Sept 2010 - Sept 2010

  Guest Speaker

  Annual Kingston Publishing Conference: Self-Publishing: Last resort or heralding a new era of author participation? Seminar given on: ‘How do you know if it’s any good? Remaining objective about your work; recruiting objective feedback, working with editors. Why this essential not optional’.

• 

  Safe Space Write-athon

  Sept 2012 - Nov 2013

  Consultant, Contributor and Trainer (voluntary position)

  Assisted with a six-month write-athon project (Sept 2012–Nov 2013) to raise money for the Safe Space charity (Charity Patron, Iain Banks).Gave workshop to Write-athon participants on 12 November, 2012, on general writing points, common errors and things to consider.Attended launch event, 3 September, 2012, including question and answer panel session alongside Iain Banks, Will Jordan, Moira McPartlin, Mac Logan and Scott Lidell.Awards ceremony, 13 November, 2013. Winner won a free critique and copy-edit of their winning entry from Winskill Editorial, which I duly provided. Show less

• 

  Publishing Scotland

  Sept 2012 - Sept 2013

  Course Facilitator

  Training Course leader: 'Setting up as a Freelancer'.Aimed at those who have recently started out as a freelancer, or are thinking of doing so, the course covers the practicalities of setting up and establishing yourself, and provides a solid foundation in the realities of freelancing (in all areas of publishing and its associated disciplines).

• 

  SfEP Glasgow Group

  Nov 2013 - Nov 2013

  Guest Speaker

  Informal talk to SfEP Glasgow Group about 'Editing Fiction'.

• 

  PublishedEd Society, University of Edinburgh

  Nov 2013 - Nov 2013

  Guest speaker

  Informal talk to students about what an editor does, the qualifications required to be an editor, the sorts of things a writer should be aware of, common writing errors etc.

• 

  Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP)

  Nov 2013 - Apr 2015

  Course Developer

  Project managed and contributed to the development, content and launch of a new SfEP online training course: Introduction to Fiction Editing.

• 

  Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP)

  Sept 2015 - Sept 2015

  Course Facilitator

  Adapted and presented the SfEP's online training course, Introduction to Fiction Editing, as a one-day introductory course, presenting the topics covered in more detail in the online version.

• 

  Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP)

  Sept 2016 - now

  Tutor for the CIEP's online 'Introduction to Fiction Editing' course, providing support for students with queries and problems.Mentor for the CIEP's Proofreading Mentoring scheme. Assessing proofreading assignments and providing feedback to mentees. Wrote and presented a 90-minute interactive session on Live Editing (Fiction), introducing delegates to issues that they might encounter when copy-editing fiction.

  • Tutor/mentor

    Apr 2015 - now

  • Session leader (fiction editing)

    Sept 2016 - Sept 2016
• 

  HarperCollins Publishers

  Jan 2021 - now

  Writing Tutor (fiction stream)

  Fiction stream tutor for the HarperCollins Author Academy. The 6-week fiction course is run twice a year and helps students from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds to hone their craft and master the art of writing great fiction, and aims to enhance the author’s existing writing toolkit, in the knowledge that there is always more to learn. The course covers the basics of structure, plotting, theme, dialogue, characterization, point of view, pace, and more.The HarperCollins Author Academy trains and supports writers from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds, with the aim of helping them to become commercially successful in the publishing environment. Show less

• 

  The Publishing Training Centre

  Jun 2021 - Dec 2021

  Contributing Writer

  Revision and updating of existing course materials: An Editor's Guide to Editing Fiction & An Editor's Guide to Editorial Style

• 

  Freelance

  Jan 2022 - now

  Judge

  Judging entries for literary prize (fiction)