Miranda Martin

The best parts of the book are the author’s handy and efficient summations of the long-standing oil and gas culture of Texas, the conflicts stemming from the state’s mineral and surface rights laws, the tangled mess of regulatory agencies with hazy authority over issues of concern, the day-to-day operations at a natural gas site, and the health hazards that may (or may not) be traced to fracking.

Kirkus review of Fracking the Neighborhood

Spotlight on a recent book I worked on as assistant acquisitions editor at the MIT Press: Fracking the Neighborhood by Jessica Smartt Gullion. I’m really glad to see this one out in the world.

As chair of Bookbuilders of Boston’s communications committee, I plan and send a biweekly email newsletter to approximately 2,500 subscribers. I also write a significant amount of the copy and edit that provided by other board members, committee members, and colleagues.

Above is one example newsletter, from November 2015. Hover over the image and click the “link” icon to view the newsletter as a webpage with accessible text.

Graphics provided by other Bookbuilders board members.

I’m now vice president of Bookbuilders of Boston, my local industry organization that supports students and professionals in various publishing-oriented professions. I’m also chair of the group’s Communications Committee, so I’ll be acting as the editor of the blog, sender of the biweekly newsletter, and overseer of social media strategy. Here we go!

mitpress.mit.edu Boston Review | The MIT Press

My quick blog post for the Boston Review Books imprint we publish at the MIT Press.

Proofreading: New England Book Show Catalog

I proofread several sections of the catalog for the 58th Annual New England Book Show (along with being part of the team that planned and hosted the event). This year’s catalog was beautifully designed by a group of students at MassArt.

Before and after screenshots. I was part of a small team of board members that completely rebuilt and updated the website for Bookbuilders of Boston; much of the front-end design is my work. This was a much-needed project for Bookbuilders and a particularly exciting one for me, as someone who’s really into web content.

When I was groped on the subway, I’d grown into a twenty-something professional, but what I was afraid of was the same thing: my own voice. The desperate sound of it. The need to vocalize to a car full of strangers the violation I’d just experienced was scary. Causing a scene, purposefully and loudly, felt impossible. I just couldn’t become a hysterical woman on the train, not when everyone was already having a shitty commute.

I wrote about being afraid to ask for help when I was groped on the subway, for femsplain. You can read the whole thing.

A good copy editing day is when you catch an inconsistency in a second edition that was missed in the first edition.

bookbuildersboston.blogspot.com Submit to the New England Book Show!

We’re accepting entries in SIX brand-new categories this year. I’m looking at you, poets, graphic novelists, cookbook authors, and literary-journal types.

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