Nicholas Cravotta

V:510-558-8906, F:510-558-8914, nicholas@cravottableau.com


Editorial Resume

 

Cahners Business Information, December 1998 – present

Technical Editor, EDN (Electrical Design News), December 1998

One of fourteen staff editors. Distributed every two weeks to 169,000+ design engineers.

Responsible for coverage of both communication technologies (for example, network infrastructure, wired/wireless, interconnect (1394, USB)) and digital technologies (for example, digital ICs, digital signal processing (DSP), digital audio/video). Determine direction and coverage of these technologies for the magazine as a whole.

Duties include researching and writing eight in-depth design articles per year with at least one "Hands-On" design project; technical evaluation and editing of contributed articles; editorials; new products, "Leading Edge", and "How It Works" departments; development of Electronics Group’s web site and Communication Beat web page; and assisting in numerous trade shows.

 

Miller Freeman, Inc., January 1996 – November 1998

Executive Editor, Multimedia Systems Design, June 1998

Senior Editor, Multimedia Systems Design, July 1997

Launched Multimedia Systems Design, a monthly engineering magazine with a controlled circulation of 25,000, premiere issue November 1997. Created first editorial calendar; defined editorial mission, target markets, and intended readers; and led design and definition of magazine direction, style, and soul.

Primary responsibilities included guiding the editorial direction of the magazine; generating quality contributed editorial (over 50 pages/month); managing editorial and production processes and staff; following technology and market trends; and evangelization of magazine to reader and vendor bases.

Editorial duties included generating and managing writer resources and article development; technical copyediting; writing editorial, news, and new products departments; managing three regular columns and one guest column; developing analyst and vendor relationships; serving as a technical resource for five trade shows and non-technical sales staff; and writing six articles/year with buyer’s guide tables. Assisted publisher in evaluating the reader base, as well as participated in the creation of marketing materials targeted at both potential readers and advertisers.

In charge of creating web site for magazine from the ground up. Goal was to create significant and repeated traffic to the site through material complementary to magazine content. Traffic had reached over 30K hits/month.

Technical Editor, Embedded Systems Programming, January 1997

The move from working on two magazines to one allowed me to focus completely on a single industry. Additional responsibilities included involvement with obtaining articles, technical copyediting, and writing new products and news departments. Responsibilities with Communication Systems Design continued for three months. Worked on Multimedia Systems Design pre-launch and managed second Annual Embedded Systems Buyer’s Guide.

Technical Editor, Embedded Systems Programming/Communication Systems Design, January 1996

Primarily responsible for writing two buyer’s guides each month (one for each magazine). Each buyer’s guide involved research, writing an article, designing a product survey, developing a list of companies offering that product, collecting data, editing data, and managing the production of product tables. Acted as technical resource for production and sales staff. Other responsibilities included meeting with vendors, attending industry trade shows, and following technology trends, enabling me to participate in guiding the editorial direction of the magazines.

Launched 13th issue (Annual Embedded Systems Buyer’s Guide). Project consisted of collecting information from 500+ companies on over 20 product categories, resulting in more than 100 pages of tables; from creating product surveys to organizing and executing collection of data from companies; and from editing data and designing tables to managing production and layout on a tight schedule and budget.

 

Peripheral Experience

University of California, Berkeley, August 2000 – Present

Professor, Engineering Department, August 2000

Teaching “E192: Writing for the Technical Press”.  Working with Dean of Engineering to build a complete writing program for technical students and engineers that recognizes the value of writing in the sciences and teaches students useful communication skills.  Co-developed initial curriculum.  Also involved with selling the concept to university administration and students.

Dutton Books, September 1990 – December 1990

Intern, Assistant for editorial department

Duties included reviewing manuscripts and proposals, shifting through the slush pile, collecting clippings, managing relations with authors, tracking manuscripts through the editorial and production pipes.  Experienced the worm’s eye view of the publishing world firsthand.

 

Related Writing Endeavors:

Ghostwrote "Beer for Pete’s Sake" with Pete Slosberg of Pete’s Wicked Ale fame

Participated in two 18-week fictional writing workshop classes

Started two Writer’s Group meetings. Monthly meeting lasted 13 months. Biweekly meeting lasted 18 months.

Various published and unpublished fiction projects

Literacy tutoring