AN EDITOR FOR ACADEMIA

SERVICES OFFERED

• Copyediting
• Substantive editing
• Rewriting
• Translating Chinese and Japanese

SUBJECT AREAS

• History, especially Chinese and Japanese history
• China and Japan studies
• The fine arts
• Archaeology
• Philosophy
• Economics

EXPERIENCE

I began my editing career in 1977. I edited scholarly books for fourteen years at the MIT Press. I began editing as a free lance in 2003, primarily serving publishers of encyclopedias, but also the academic community.

ENCYCLOPEDIAS COPYEDITED

Medieval Warfare and Military Technology: An Encyclopedia, 2009.
Oxford Encyclopedia of African Thought, 2009.
Encyclopedia of Modern China, 2009.
Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History, 2009.
Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy, 2008.
New Dictionary of Scientific Biography, 2008.
Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World, 2008.
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2007.
Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History, 2007.
Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History, 2007.
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2006.
Encyclopedia of Religion, 2005.
Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics, 2005.
Encyclopedia of the New American Nation, 2005.
International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis, 2005.
New Dictionary of the History of Ideas, 2005.

LANGUAGES

CHINESE Work as a professional translator. Published four Chinese essays in Chinese newspapers. Wrote my autobiography in literary Chinese.
JAPANESE Work as a professional translator.
FRENCH Proficient in speaking and reading.
GERMAN A reading knowledge.

COMPUTER

• Can work with MS Word, PDF, and text files.
• Can receive and deliver projects by e-mail.
• Immediately receive and reply to e-mail when working.
• Use a Dell computer running Windows XP.
• Connected to the Internet via a high-speed connection.

I have an impressive track record of quality editorial work, as you can see from my résumé, below. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to your publishing program and am confident that I can deliver a quality product.

Alan Thwaits
66 Hopedale St., Boston, MA 02134

SUMMARY

• Proven ability to edit a wide variety of material.
• Extensive editing experience at MIT, in Japan, and as a free lance.
• Have done rewriting and substantive editing.
• PhD in philosophy.
• Considerable experience in translating Chinese and Japanese.
• Have published in Chinese.

FREELANCE COPYEDITING

COP10  2010
Edited a booklet on Japan's biodiversity for the tenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Nagoya in 2010.

JOURNAL OF CULTURAL INTERACTION IN EAST ASIA  2009-present
Edit academic papers on cultural interaction among the countries of East Asia.
• Improved articles in style and readability.
• Helped establish contributor guidelines.

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS  2006-present
Edit encyclopedia articles on primarily on East Asian history for content and style.
• Improved articles in style and readability.
• Checked facts.
• Implemented SGML coding.

GALE CENGAGE LEARNING  2004-present
Edit encyclopedia articles on history, philosophy, thought, ethics, and psychoanalysis for content and style. Worked for such imprints as Macmillan Reference and Charles Scribner's Sons.
• Improved articles in style and readability.
• Checked facts.
• Implemented SGML coding.

NIIT  2003
Edited a variety of textbooks on information technology and business for style and presentation.

UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO PRESS  1978
Copyedited Labor and Management, edited by Keiichiro Nakagawa, 1979.

IN-HOUSE COPYEDITING

EDITOR  THE MIT PRESS  1988-2003
Edited the press's most technical books primarily in cognitive science, psychology, philosophy, and linguistics, and on occasion in biology, physics, logic, economics, political science, and the history of science. Marked technical mathematics, logic, and linguistics. Redesigned authors' figures and tables for greater clarity. Applied design specifications to authors' manuscripts.
• Edited the works of leading authors from many first-rate universities, including Oxford, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, MIT, and McGill.
• Gave authors critical feedback, on highly technical material, that removed errors and clarified authors' points.
• Earned authors' praise for improving presentation, mending errors, and enhancing clarity (see authors' comments).

EDITOR  PRESS INTERNATIONAL, TOKYO  1977-1979
Edited economic and business articles for China Newsletter, Focus Japan, and the White Paper on International Trade. Translated a portion of "The Other Side of the Twain," a series in the Mainichi Daily News.

FREELANCE TRANSLATING

CHINESE TRANSLATIONS

Experienced in the following fields:
• Antique Chinese furniture
• Biographies of Chinese scientists
• Chinese aesthetics
• Chinese economics
• Chinese fiction set in the Qing period
• Chinese imperial seals
• Chinese musical performances
• Chinese paintings
• Chinese poetry
• Chinese porcelain
• Daoism
• Literary Chinese
• Qing women's court apparel and accessories
• Scholars' rocks
• Scientific ethics
• Television programming
• Traditional Chinese law

JAPANESE TRANSLATIONS

Experienced in the following fields:
• Chinese ceramics
• History of East Asian education
• History of Japanese Sinology
• Japanese ceramics
• Japanese economic history
• Japanese naval history
• Japanese painting (Nihonga)
• Japanese swords
• Japanese traditional mathematics
• Japanese ukiyo-e artists
• Japanese war artifacts
• Peintures de moeurs

IN-HOUSE TRANSLATING

ASSISTANT EDITOR  JAPAN ECHO, TOKYO  1979-1981
Translated articles on the economy and politics of Japan for Japan Echo, Pacific Friend, Press Guide, and Information Bulletin. Translated a portion of Kura: The Japanese Storehouse. (Japanese to English)

CHINESE PUBLICATIONS

"Wo de zizhuan," Meizhou Shibao, 21-27 March 2003.
"Wo qu le yige zhongguo qizi," Xin Dalu, 26 January 2000. Also published in Boshidun Jishi Bao, 23 February-1 March 2000, and Remin Ribao, Haiwai Ban, 16 May 2003.
"Wo de yisheng," Boshidun Jishi Bao, 26 January-1 February 2001.
"Wo de meimei," Boshidun Jishi Bao, 12 December-4 January 2001.

TEACHING

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR in philosophy at California State University at Northridge, 1988. Taught General Logic.
LECTURER in philosophy at the California State University at San Bernardino, 1984. Taught Argument and Evidence.
INSTRUCTOR for the Chapman University Residence Education Program, 1974. Taught Ethics.

EDUCATION

PHD in philosophy, Claremont Graduate University, 1988. Area of specialization: philosophy of language.
MA in philosophy, Claremont Graduate University, 1978.
BA in history, Drew University, 1973.
STUDIED CHINESE at Harvard University, 1990-1996. Studied four years of modern Chinese and two years of literary Chinese.
STUDIED CHINESE at Harbin Institute of Technology, 1993. Studied modern Chinese.
STUDIED JAPANESE HISTORY AND LANGUAGE at the International Christian University, Tokyo, 1970-1971.