CV | Melissa Wilson

May 2006 – Present
Freelance Writer/Editor/Girl Friday

Write, edit and fact-check for This Magazine, Spacing, McClung’s, OpenFile, Toronto Star, J-Source, Sharp and Shameless, among others
Copy edit and proofread books (on the subject of law in Canada) for Irwin Law
Frequently assist with a variety of editing and event-related tasks for Magazines Canada

May 2013 – August 2013
Sales, Scribble Technologies Inc.

Collaborated with team at ScribbleLive to launch Scribble Market, a new outlet for syndicated real-time content
Reached out to hundreds of clients to increase brand awareness of Scribble Market
Assisted clients in troubleshooting with the new technology
Consistently met sales targets

March 2011 – August 2012
Founder, BrokeTO (Now defunct)

Launched and contribute regularly (3–5 posts per week) to BrokeTO.ca, a personal finance blog aimed at twentysomethings living in Toronto.

April 2010 – December 2011
Assistant Editor, Precedent Magazine

Wrote, edited, proofread, copy edited, fact-checked and assigned content for the magazine.
Managed production process, including recruiting and training proofreaders and fact-checkers, liaising with art directors and printers, and maintaining schedules.
Managed day-to-day operations of the magazine while editor/publisher was on maternity leave. From November 2010 to October 2011, was the only full-time staff member.
Assumed the role of online editor on top of regular duties when the previous editor quit suddenly. Maintained the position for a month and trained replacement.
Created a circulation database and strategy from scratch and continue to manage all aspects of circulation and subscriptions, and, in one year, tripled the number of request subscribers (from 1,000 to just under 3,000), all on a small budget
Assisted with the planning of several events to promote and raise money for the magazine
Managed social media for the magazine, including Facebook, Twitter, flickr & LinkedIn
Assisted in the administrative side of the business, including managing cash flow, keeping track of advertisers, scheduling other employees, etc.

September 2009 – April 2010
Managing Editor, Ryerson Review of Journalism

Handled all aspects of production for the summer 2010 issue, including keeping the RRJ team organized, implementing production-related deadlines and ensuring they were met, organizing the proofing schedule and inputting corrections and changes
Coordinated and oversaw the fact-checking and copy editing of all features and online stories and vetted all checking packages and fact-checked/ copy edited manuscripts; trained colleagues on how to properly conduct tasks relating to copy editing and fact-checking.
Designed and updated an in-house style guide
Developed a copy flow system for fact-checking and copy editing and keep a regularly updated schedule of due dates and live dates
Reported and wrote a 6,000-word feature for publication in the magazine, as well as a short, front-of-book piece, a 1,000-word story for the RRJ website and numerous blog posts about the Canadian journalism industry

January 2010 – May 2010
Submissions Coordinator/ Editor, Magazines Canada

Sorted and processed all incoming entries for the National Magazine Awards Foundation
Edited the program for the NMAF gala

August 2009 – August 2010
Students’ Lounge Editor, J-Source.ca

Assigned and edited incoming copy and generated and maintained ongoing projects (e.g., internship lists). Regularly blogged about issues relevant to journalism students
Attended and covered events related to the Canadian journalism industry
Assisted in promoting J-Source and, specifically, the Students’ Lounge section

January 2009 – April 2010
Writer/ Researcher, The Not So Much News

May 2008 – August 2008
Intern, This Magazine

Fact-checked incoming copy, both short pieces and features up to 5,000 words
Sat in on editorial meetings and assisted editor in all stages of production
Worked with publisher to coordinate the Great Canadian Literary Hunt (duties included responding to entrant questions, processing entries, approaching potential judges and screening entries to send to judges)
Wrote, assigned and edited copy for the magazine
Answered phones, sorted mail and performed various administrative tasks

September 2006 – April 2010
Ryerson University

Graduated with honours in spring 2010 with a Bachelor of Journalism with a minor in English and a specialization in magazine writing and editing
Final year GPA: 3.86

Experience with Microsoft Office, Adobe CS5, Quark Xpress. Proficient in photo and video editing. Very capable with both Windows- and Mac-based systems.
Knowledgeable in all areas of new media and online publishing, including HTML, Blogger, WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, flickr, RSS feeds, various CMS, etc.
Knows how to correctly use a semicolon
Well-versed withThe Canadian Press Stylebook, CP Caps and Spelling, Canadian Oxford Dictionary, The Globe and Mail Style Book and The Chicago Manual of Style

Melissa Wilson