Christine Bruce | Educational and children's publishing | Maths | English | VR & NVR
- [email protected]
- Membership Grade
- Advanced Professional Member
About Christine
Overview
A talented editor with more than 20 years’ experience, and freelance since 2005, I have an in-depth understanding of the full publishing process, from the earliest manuscript stages to published product. I have an excellent eye for detail and am able to work to a high level of accuracy. My organisational skills are exceptional and I am accustomed to working independently and to deadlines, accommodating changes to the agreed schedule or brief where necessary, and often juggling more than one project. I work constructively with colleagues in various different roles (including authors, designers and typesetters) from various walks of life (for example, teachers, fellow freelances, and company employees) to produce quality content that meets the brief and engages the audience.
Areas of interest
I began my editorial career working on the Maths list at Hodder Murray, and I continue to work on Maths titles, but as a freelance I have been able to branch out into other areas of interest, which brings a broader perspective to all my work.
Educational and children’s publishing
I have always been interested in both language and education. Education is important, and educational resources can play a large part in ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their potential. I have worked on a wide range of titles for all age groups, including but not limited to highly illustrated early years workbooks; textbooks and other resources for Key Stages 1–3, GCSE and A-level; and practice exam papers and digital products. In 2016 I took part in two one-week workshops providing training in development editing as part of a major educational reform project in central Asia.
But education is not just about textbooks – it’s also about learning through play and activities and through stories, which allow us both to recognise ourselves and to explore experiences and points of view other than our own. My specialist subjects are Maths (up to and including GCSE) and English (Literature and Language), and I also enjoy working on early years products, verbal reasoning (VR) and non-verbal reasoning (NVR) titles, and children’s novels, anthologies and accompanying resources.
Linguistics
In 2021–2022 I completed an MA in English Language and Linguistics: I graduated with Distinction and won the Joan Beal prize for ‘exceptional work’ in English Language and Linguistics at the MA level. Following this, I am keen to work on more English Language and Linguistics textbooks, as well as academic papers.
Hobbies
Hobbies are a way of bringing balance to our lives – for example, they allow us to continue to learn, to exercise our creativity or to get close to nature. I love walking and the outdoors, as well as all sorts of crafts, in particular bookbinding, book art and paper art.
Services
I offer the following services, and can also carry out specialised tasks, such as mapping checks, on request.
- Project management
- Content/structural/development editing
- Copy-editing
- Proofreading
- Answer-checking
- Checking digital functionality
Clients
My clients include:
- Cambridge University Press
- The Educational Company of Ireland
- Hachette UK
- Haremi
- Just Content
- Oxford University Press
- Pearson
- Scholastic
In-house experience
I joined the Maths list at Hodder and Stoughton Educational (later Hodder Murray) as Editorial Assistant in November 2000. I was promoted to Desk Editor in July 2001 and to Senior Desk Editor in October 2002.
I worked on both series and stand-alone titles, managing a range of student books, teacher resources and revision guides from manuscript to finished product. I had full involvement in all stages of the process: in particular, I worked closely with Design on the development of page designs and covers and the commissioning of artworks, and liaised with Production over schedules and the placing of projects with typesetters. I also worked with freelance editors, as well as carrying out some editing and proofreading in-house, to ensure the content was accurate, engaging and appropriate for the target age and ability range.
Training courses
As well as attending several CIEP annual conferences, I have completed the following training courses.
- Copy-editing Skills (Publishing Training Centre)
- Editing Illustrated Books (PTC)
- Book Production for Editors (PTC)
- New Product Development (PTC)
- On-screen Editing 1 (CIEP)
- In-house Corbis training
- In-house copyright training
Education
2021–2022 MA in English Language and Linguistics (Distinction) from the University of Sheffield
1996–2000 BA in English Literature (2.1) from the University of Bristol
1996 A-Levels: English Literature (A), Latin (A), Mathematics (A)
AS-Level: General Studies (A) GCSE: Ancient Greek (A*)
1994 GCSEs: 7 'A*'s, 3 'A's
Service(s)
Specialisms
Client types
Disclaimer note
The CIEP Directory of Editorial Services should be considered a point of first contact and prospective clients must satisfy themselves that members are capable of the work on offer. The Institute cannot be held responsible for the quality of work provided by any member listed in the directory. The members themselves are responsible for the maintenance and accuracy of their entries in the Directory and the CIEP has not made any attempt to vet them. The institute cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies in the Directory. Inclusion in the Directory as a freelance does not necessarily mean that the member is self-employed as defined by HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions.