Mike Hankes

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

Writing, editing, and proofreading experience with magazine, newspaper, and book publishers.
Human resource experience in recruiting and paying freelancers for three publications.
Marketing and advertising experience in writing and editing web content, in-house training manuals, newsletters, press releases, catalogs, brochures, and direct mail.
Office administration experience in maintaining databases of freelancers and projects as well as maintaining hard copies of publication files.

EXPERIENCE

Freelance Copy Editor/Proofreader

Self-Employed (Maryville, TN)

June 2008 - present

Copy edit and proofread manuscripts for two Chicago authors. Both are publishing a series of educational books scheduled to be released later this year.

Senior Editor

Consumers Digest magazine (Deerfield, IL)

May 2007 - May 2008

Recruited authors to review products and write feature articles on consumer services.
Edited articles and supplemented them with additional information by interviewing industry experts and other sources.
Communicated regularly with product manufacturers’ representatives and public relations professionals to fact check articles and acquire photos for the magazine.
Researched and pitched story ideas for future issues.

Production Editor

Kaplan Publishing (Chicago, IL)

May 2006 - December 2006

Worked closely with acquisitions editors and production artists to develop and maintain aggressive production schedules.
Oversaw the scheduling and copy editing of business trade, marketing, sales, real estate, architecture, engineering, construction, law, medical, and educational test-prep books.
Recruited and managed freelance copy editors, indexers, and other outside vendors.
Communicated deadlines and strategic decisions as directed by the home office.

Production Editor

Buckle Down Publishing (Iowa City, IA)

August 1998 - April 2006

Edited web content, in-house training manuals, newsletters, press releases, catalogs, brochures, and direct mail for the marketing and advertising departments.
Wrote, copy edited, proofread, reviewed, and answer-checked educational K-12 test-prep workbooks, teacher's guides, and practice tests.
Hired and assigned projects to a pool of 15 freelancers.
Processed invoices from vendors and fulfilled reprint orders.

VOLUNTEER WORK

United Way of Blount County (Maryville, TN), June 2008 - present

United Way of Oak Park, River Forest, and Forest Park (Oak Park, IL), May 2006 - December 2007

4Cs Community Coordinated Child Care Resource and Referral (Iowa City, IA), June 2001 - March 2006

Wrote and copy edited grants, brochures, letters, web site content, and other material for all three organizations.
Helped with mailings and assisted at events.

EDUCATION

B.A. Journalism

Western Illinois University (Macomb, IL)

Covered student government beats as a reporter for the university’s newspaper, The Western Courier.
Participated in a one-year media science exchange program at the University of Mannheim in Mannheim, Germany.

SKILLS

Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excess, Access, Outlook), Adobe Acrobat Professional, QuarkXPress, PhotoShop, InDesign, and designing web sites in HTML and CSS.