Mark Sinker
Professional MemberLocation | 7 St Johns Mansions, Clapton Square, Hackney, London, E5 8HT |
Mobile | +44 7533 410034 |
[email protected] | |
Website | http://marksinker.co.uk/ |
Mark Sinker: writer, editor, writing consultant | |
https://www.facebook.com/dub.d.dee | |
@dubdobdee |
I’m a freelance editor and writer with several decades of experience of copy-editing, proofing, fact-checking and rewrite, in many areas of publishing.
I’ve worked on magazines, catalogues and books, popular and specialist, with long stints at Crafts magazine, Sight and Sound and The Wire. I'm quick, accurate, friendly and level-headed in a team, and knowledgeable about the arts, science, politics and technology. On small teams with tight deadlines I’ve ensured precision, clarity of expression and a vivid, readable end product. I enjoy the challenge of unusual projects -- of work that's ground-breaking or imaginative or highly experimental, and have some knowledge of the pitfalls that can be avoided here. At many titles and in many set-ups, including the workshops I sometimes run, I've offered knowledgeable judgment and advice about effectiveness of content and style, helping writers and non-writers at all levels of ability bring out the best in their work. I’ve written for academic journals and pop weeklies, art catalogues, books and blogs, about music, film, and the politics of culture, technology and science. As a writer I understand the anxiety that comes with writing, even among hardened professionals. Whatever it is, I can help make it clearer, tighter, brighter and more winning.
Skills
- Proofreading
- Writing
- Copy-editing
- Rewriting
- Developmental/substantive editing
- Project management
Media
- Magazines
- Books
- Multi-author books
- Websites/blogs
Experience
Freelance since 1983
Sub-editor, proofing and fact-check, Crafts magazine, 1998-2014
Contributing editor and sub-editor, Sight and Sound, 1994-2012
Editor, The Wire, 1992-94
Training
On-the-job training towards becoming editor of The Wire, 1991-92
On-the-job training in house style and procedures, copy-editing and proofing requirements (Sight and Sound magazine), 1995
Clients
Royal Academy of Arts (2019): copy-editing and proofing a catalogue (Humphrey Ocean)
Strange Attractor publishers (2016-19: copy-editing various books on music; commissioning, copy-editing and proofing an anthology (A Hidden Landscape Once a Week)
The Crafts Council and the Saatchi Gallery (2017): sub-editing and proofing a catalogue (COLLECT)
Subjects
music, history of instruments, popular music, jazz, rock music, contemporary music, experimental music, modern music, avant-garde music, composed music, blues, folk music, heavy metal, world music, musicology, notation, music theory, music and technology, culture and technology, material culture, history of popular music, history of composed music, history of experimental music, history of jazz, history of film, history of cinema/film, history of television, history of broadcasting, history of art, history of applied art, history of video, history of audio, European art history, popular art history, 20th century history, 19th/20th century art history, social history, history, crafts, contemporary art, decorative art, visual art, applied arts, furniture, ceramics, jewellery, textiles, woodwork, metalwork glasswork textiles, design and technology, computer-assisted design, electronic/online publishing, HTML, web editing/writing, newspapers, publishing history, UK culture, English language usage, English language grammar/syntax, English language writing skills, literary studies, comparative literature, literary criticism, literary theory, media studies, children’s literature, general English literature, humour, modern poetry, modern literature, post-colonial literature, Victorian literature, fiction, crime fiction, mystery fiction, thrillers, historical fiction, literary fiction, popular fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror fiction, scientific writing, cultural studies, folklore and mythology, continental philosophy, philosophy of science, film/TV biography/autobiography, historical biography/autobiography, literary biography/autobiography, classical musical biography/autobiography, jazz musical biography/autobiography, political biography/autobiography, popular biography/autobiography
Qualifications
BA in Mathematics and Philosophy
Specialised software
QuarkExpress
InDesign
Testimonials
Over the last three years, I’ve worked with Mark as author and editor on a major project – A Hidden Landscape Once a Week, a large anthology involving some 30 writers. A strong and very experienced writer himself, he is an excellent project manager, firm and diplomatic, with a good grasp of how to coax a wide variety of people into hitting deadlines. From his time editing a magazine he knows exactly how to shape a collection that’s more than the sum of its parts, and also how to troubleshoot when problems arise. He’s fun to work with and unflappable, with a meticulous eye for detail and good antennae for problems that are likely to emerge down the track.
He has also acted as consultant editor on books I’ve published authored by others. He works speedily, accurately and tactfully, recognising how inexperienced writers can be nudged towards clearer and punchier presentation of their work, while fully respecting their own sensibility and the subtleties of the stories they’re trying to tell.
Mark Pilkington, Strange Attractor