Book Publishing Freelancers from Diverse Communities Database

I am a freelance designer, typesetter, and recent graduate of Simon Fraser University’s Master of Publishing program (Fall ’23). I have designed a wide variety of projects in publishing and beyond, including book covers, ARCs, technical documents, a tabletop game, and print/digital advertising. Since 2022, I have also worked as a teaching assistant for undergraduate publication design courses at SFU, leading tutorials on all things book production, from interior layouts to accessible ePubs to bookbinding.

I love all forms of design problem-solving, but I am most at home in InDesign, applying my strong attention to detail and workflow efficiency to interior layouts and typesetting.

Email: ruthormist@gmail.com

Cleopatria Peterson is a illustrator, storyteller, and prolific zine-maker based in Toronto, Canada.Their work focuses on themes of nature, healing,community and representation. Their work has been self-published and published in Shameless Magazine, Acta Victoriana, and the Toronto Comics Anthology.

I am a Nebula-nominated writer and editor, with various consultancy (inclusivity, sensitivity, cultural) experience for independent clients and large corporations. Tabletop roleplaying game titles include: Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel (D&D), Hunter: The Reckoning, Advanced Swords & Lesbians. Each work required high levels of technical skill, deep nuanced narrative writing, and a keen eye for inclusivity.

I have done copyediting, editing, and writing through publications that highlight voices of those in marginalized communities and those who have been underrepresented or misrepresented. Publications include: The Eyeopener, New Wave Magazine, and White Wall Review. As a WOC and a person in the bi community, I understand how important it is to elevate these voices.

Jo Ramsay (they/she) is a book enthusiast who works as a literary assistant at P.S. Literary Agency. They’ve worked in publishing for over seven years at places which include Simon and Schuster, Shrapnel Magazine, Arsenal Pulp Press, PRISM International, Greystone Books, and This Magazine. Their writing has been published in The Globe & Mail, Maclean’s, and This Magazine among others. Jo is experienced in developmental/structural editing, copy editing, and proofreading.

I have a PhD in English Literature, and have been editing, writing and publishing as an academic for over ten years. I have completed professional development workshops on Copy Editing, Proof reading and indexing as a member of the Editors Association of Canada (editors.ca). I have designed and taught courses on business writing, academic writing, communications, and literary analysis to undergraduate students enrolled in university and college courses in both London, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Chloe Robinson is an award-winning, detail-oriented, and passionate publishing professional, with experience in freelance journalism, copywriting, and editing. She is certified with a BA in English Literature from Toronto Metropolitan University, and a graduate certification in Book and Magazine Publishing from Centennial College. Chloe lives and works in Toronto as an Executive Literary Editor at RE:BOOKS Publishing. Areas of expertise include music history and theory, psychology, entrepreneurship, and genre fiction editing. She has worked with magazine publishers, book publishers, and literary agents in the past, contributing to her growing network. She is currently copyediting three books, all of which will be sold in bookstores around North America this year. Past career highlights include published articles in On the Danforth Magazine, Canada Christian Business directory, amd copywriting the website for The Loft Queen, a Toronto based real estate agent who will be featured on HGTV later this year, among many others.

Barbra Rodriguez is a versatile, efficient editor and writer who works with publishing houses such as W.W. Norton and Catapult, independent authors, and long-form content clients in the sciences, conservation, diversity and equity, health, spirituality and other topics around healthy living. Recent work includes editing a memoir about growing up as a farmworker in Texas, web educational modules for physicians for the State of Texas, and annual reports and web pages for The Nature Conservancy, as well as writing conference reports about the mental health challenges of underserved students in higher education. Barbra is also ghostwriting a book on social justice activism, and has edited engineering and geological sciences magazines.

I’m a storyteller (writer & speaker), & book reviewer, passionate about diverse representation in literature & media. I have done freelance sensitivity reading & content Writing & editing for years, including brand statements, website content, applications, children’s books & content, & YA novel “You Asked For Perfect”, by Laura Silverman (March, 2019). I am an experienced sensitivity reader & editor for a variety of different identities, based on lived experience & research (including: South Asian (Pakistani); Muslim; Fat; Queer (bisexual & pansexual); & disables (chronic illness + chronic pain) identities).