About

I am an editor living in Queens, New York, and this is my blog. I am an avid photographer. I am interested in typesetting on the Web. I am a sometimes Web designer, developer, and WordPress contributor. Beyond a day job as an editor, I freelance in all these areas.

A less brief introduction

I was born in Colorado and raised in Texas. After receiving my BA in English in 2001 from the University of North Texas, I joined the Peace Corps as an English Language Teacher Trainer. I worked for the District Education Office in Birganj, Parsa District, Nepal.

In Nepal, I taught primary-level English for one year and then spent a second year training teachers. I wrote extensively about it on my first blog, The Peace Corps Experience of Scott Allan Wallick. I was also the first Peace Corps volunteer to have his blog shut down.

After my Peace Corps tenure ended, I went to Darjeeling, India, with Binita and stayed with her family for almost half a year. It was a great life. I would have some breakfast and a coffee, go for a walk, hang out with the family, take some photos, read the paper, etc.

We came to the US and settled in New York. I began teaching ESL in Jackson Heights after being in the city for ten days. I taught to the melting pot I had learned about in school. Teaching a melting pot, by the way, is rather difficult—fun but complicated.

I left teaching after four months to work as an editor of ESL materials for Oxford University Press in Manhattan. I worked mainly in production, i.e., editing manuscript and page proofs, but later became more involved in development.

After two years, I found a new challenge: working in medical publishing for the nonprofit Cardiovascular Research Foundation. I still work as a freelance editor, dabbling in a variety of educational and commercial projects, print and online materials.

Contact

I enjoy getting email. Feel free to download my vCard, which has my contact information.

Elsewhere

There are better places to find me. Such as:

Of course, you are welcome to have a look around here. Enjoy.

Resume

Download a PDF of my resume or contact information to entertain yourself. This page also prints very nicely too.

  1. Scott Allan Wallick

    Picture of Scott A. Wallick
    +1 (646) 722-0171 c v m
    Woodside, NY 11377

  2. Summary

    Over five years of professional experience and academic background in editing for publishing. Over five years experience developing accessible, standards-compliant Web sites. Four years experience teaching English in Asia, Europe, and the US. Energetic and personable, with a strong eye for detail.

  3. Experience

    1. Copy editor

      Cardiovascular Research Foundation 03/2007–present

      New York, NY
      • Provided accuracy, clarity, and timelessness in manuscript editing and delivery
      • Supervised division editorial assistant, managing workload and transferring skills
      • Worked directly with medical faculty to revise and hone program agendas
      • Responsible for writing, editing, and managing content for Web sites and eblasts

    2. Associate editor

      Oxford University Press 01/2005–03/2007

      New York, NY
      • Extensive experience editing and proofing manuscript and reviewing author samples
      • Created materials review templates to streamline course auditing by teachers
      • Developed content for interactive Web sites and managed freelance writing teams
      • Scheduled and organized editorial research trips to US colleges and high schools

    3. Freelance editor and project manager

      New Editions 05/2006–08/2006

      Athens, Greece
      • Revised grammar presentations, rubrics, and exercises with US English for a four-level grammar series
      • Self-led research and analysis of competition titles and submitted summary of suggested series-wide revisions
      • Maintained complex schedules for components by liaising with a project team in three countries

    4. ESL teacher

      New York Language Center 08/2004–01/2005

      Jackson Heights, NY
      • Taught over 300 hours of English to multicultural classes of adult language learners
      • Wrote and taught lesson plans daily for a broad spectrum of courses and levels
      • Extensive experience teaching literacy and descriptive and prescriptive grammar
      • Revised NYLC‘s 15 textbook- and competency-based oral and written evaluations

    5. English language teacher trainer

      Peace Corps 02/2004–01/2005

      Birganj, Nepal
      • Collaboratively developed, wrote, and implemented national English competencies
      • Identified 26 teachers interested in development and gave over 27 hours of training
      • Facilitated over 20 hours of teaching workshops to 28 Peace Corps trainees
      • Presented over 20 hours of regional teaching realities to 53 Peace Corps volunteers

  4. Skills

  5. Education

    1. Bachelor of Arts, English

      University of North Texas 05/1998–12/2001

      Denton, TX
      • Minor and certification in editing and technical writing with a 4.0 GPA in advanced coursework

    2. TEFL training

      Peace Corps 02/2004–05/2005

      Kathmandu, Nepal
      • Completed over 400 hours of intensive training on EFL methodology and a 25-hour teaching practicum
      • Collaborated with Peace Corps technical trainers by presenting three one-hour sessions on TPR teaching techniques

    3. Laubach literacy instruction

      Plano Public Libraries 09/2001–12/2001

      Plano, TX
      • Completed a nine-hour certification program in literacy instruction techniques
      • Voluntarily taught literacy and reading skills to Latino immigrants attending civics courses

Projects

My fingers are in many pots. These projects are essentially my hobbies and what I enjoy doing when I find the time. You may also be interested in my portfolio or resume, which may help explain in further detail what I do—in my spare time, that is.

Editorial

Becoming an editor was a gradual process. In high school I wrote for the school newspaper, though I composed less often than I corrected. In college, I rewrote as many essays as a professor would read. In the Peace Corps I created and revised an enormous government document library.

After finishing my Peace Corps service, I decided I wanted to be involved in publishing and moved to New York. I was offered a position as an associate editor in the English Language Teaching division of Oxford University Press. Currently I work for a medical research foundation as an editor.

I do all sorts of freelance editing, e.g., polishing manuscripts, editing for accuracy and clarity, prepping for typesetting (styling/coding). I love manipulating text. If you would like me to manipulate yours, please contact me.

Photography

I have been a rangefinder user for the past few years. I started with a Leica CL and then a Zeiss Ikon. Currently, I am happily shooting with a Leica M9. I mostly photograph what I experience, meaning I carry my camera with me everywhere and when something triggers the photographer within, out comes my camera. The rangefinder is, in my opinion, the best tool for this type of documentary photography.

Find more of my photography at Scott Wallick Photography, my (albeit basic) portfolio. The larger pool of my photography is posted on my Flickr, which I update most days. I started the Flickr groups for Darjeeling and Nepal’s Terai, which are two of my favorite places to photograph.

Web (WordPress) development

My interest in blogging came about by necessity. Publishing my letters online for family and friends while I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal was much sexier (somehow) than writing letters, buying stamps, and finding a post office.

I am WordPress user and occasional contributor (my code is in the core). My theme blog.txt was rated one of the top ten WordPress themes in WordPress for Dummies, which must be a good thing.

The Sandbox is a WordPress theme I co-created with Andy Skelton of Automattic. The Sandbox is a blank canvas, a tool for those designing a personal blog or developing a theme for public release. It was mentioned in Microformats: Empowering Your Markup for Web 2.0 by John Allsopp.

For more info about my WordPress projects, please visit plaintxt.org.