Stephen Culpepper15 Court Street, New Haven, CT 06511

S.CulpepperEditorial@icloud.com ● 203-597-7585

SUMMARY

Executive Editorial Management Professional offering 20 years of editorial management experience in book and niche magazine publishing for enthusiasts, professionals, general audiences. Skilled in defining and planning short-term and long-term goals, product and list creation and development, guiding and motivating editorial, design, marketing and sales staffs. Always focused on the consumer and the bottom line.

List creation, management

Schedule creation, management

Budget development Proposal development

Editorial mentoring Contract negotiation Sales presentations Market and trend analysis Photography direction,

photo editing

Editing, writing, re-writing

Author management

P ROFESSIONAL E XPERIENCE

Stephen Culpepper Editorial Services Ltd., New Haven, CT

Principal, Editorial Freelance Business 2014 - PresentSince its creation in the summer of 2014, the Editorial Service has been active in acquisitions and development editing of books for The Taunton Press, Stackpole Books, The Globe Pequot Press, as well as manuscript repair, rewrite, basic editing, and author management. The service also has been involved in multiple freelance writing and editing projects for local publications and for Media Post Communications.

Pursue freelance acquisitions, book proposals and manuscript development for publisher clients

Manage multiple book projects, a dozen or more at a time, meeting strict schedules Consult with authors on book proposal development and presentation to publisher clients Go after and acquire freelance writing projects of all types Currently developing and authoring illustrated history of New England for fall 2016

publication

The Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, CT

Executive Director of Editorial 2008 – 2014Oversaw three editorial directors and assistant editors who managed FalconGuides, the country’s largest and most trusted publisher of outdoor recreation books; Two Dot, a Western imprint; and The Globe Pequot Press imprint, which publishes in multiple general non-fiction categories.

Restructured badly organized imprint groups; appointed new editorial directors Increased title count for FalconGuides from 60 titles per year to 100 titles per year Energized editorial staff and invigorated dormant programs and imprints such Two Dot,

now one of the leading publishers of Western non-fiction Streamlined acquisition, development, P&L, and contract processes Employed seat on company management team to accomplish editorial initiatives, support

staff

Established a successful regional cookbook program, which generated net gross profit of $1.57mm during my tenure, a nearly 40% increase over the previous period.

Initiated and negotiated profitable co-publishing program with Backpacker Magazine, which won a National Outdoor Book award for Backpacker Magazine’s Complete Guide to Outdoor Gear Maintenance and Repair.

Sales of Backpacker-branded titles grew from 0 to 12 titles for a combined net revenue total of $218,000, for books published from 20010-2012

Worked with Orvis to increase output of best-selling Orvis-branded titles, which in the first five years of my tenure generated $1.17 mm in net revenue, a 21% increase over the previous five years.

Initiated and negotiated publishing partnership with Civil War Preservation Trust to publish the Civil War 150, which published in 2011 had sold nearly 45,000 units as of 2014.

Oversaw publishing projects with Boy Scouts of America, which during tenure generated more then $300k in net revenue.

Dedicated Two-Dot, an underdeveloped imprint, to a primary focus on the American West, which had one title on the New York Times Bestseller list with The Doctor Wore Petticoats: Women Physicians of the Old West.

A Globe title that received critical recognition during my tenure included Boon Island, which won a gold IPPY award for nonfiction from the Independent Publisher Book Award committee.

Oversaw development and expansion of Falcon.com, the country’s largest outdoor recreation imprint, which in my first five years generated $6.55mm in net revenue, a net revenue increase from 34% to 40%.

During my tenure, FalconGuide titles won five national outdoor book awards for Girl on the Rocks, Take a Seat, The Cycling Bible, and The Kid’s Outdoor Adventure Book.

Other FalconGuide awards include Best Climbs: Joshua Tree National Park, selected as the Best Outdoor Guidebook in the Outdoor Writers Association of California’s 2013 Excellence in Craft Awards; a 2012 Banff finalist, Fearless: One Kayak, One Continent.

Acquired books on fly fishing, hunting, history Worked with Orvis to increase output of best-selling Orvis-branded titles, which in the

first five years of my tenure generated $1.17 mm in net revenue, a 21% increase over the previous five years.

Attended London and Frankfurt book fairs to meet with foreign publisher and acquire relevant titles, including Everest: First Ascent, winner of the Mountain Literature Award at the Banff Festival in 2014.

Initiated and oversaw co-publishing program with Western Horseman magazine owned by parent company, Georgia-based Morris Communications; these equestrian titles generated $1.16mm in net revenue through 2014.

The Taunton Press, Newtown, CT

Executive Editor 2004 – 2008Oversaw all publishing in the home building, architecture and carpentry categories for professional builders, architects, and homeowners, and radically transformed and increased title output and net revenue, signing the company’s most prestigious and best-selling titles.

Grew the list, market, and revenue of titles targeted to professional builders and to DIY homeowners

Signed the second and third books in the Not So Big House franchise by Sarah Susanka, recognized by Builder Magazine as one of the 30 most notable innovators in the housing

industry; named by Fast Company to their debut list of "Fast 50" innovators whose achievements have helped to change society; selected by Newsweek as a "top newsmaker," and by U.S. News and World Report as an "innovator in American culture," and who was presented with the 2007 Anne Morrow Lindbergh Award by the Lindbergh Foundation for outstanding individual achievement in making positive contributions to our world. Her Taunton Press books have sold more than 1.5 million copies.

Created multiple profitable book franchises, e.g. The Cabin (which as sold more than 175,000 copies and is still on racks at Lowes home centers), Build Like A Pro, and the For Pros By Pros series.

Initiated and managed publishing partnership with Habitat for Humanity to publish a book personally conceived and signed, Habitat for Humanity’s How to Build A House, which has sold more than 165,000 copies to date.

Initiated and managed publishing partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation to publish a book personally conceived and signed, Where We Lived, a $40 hardcover that has sold nearly 45,000 copies.

Worked closely with Taunton magazines to publish new and repurposed branded content Attended / directed many photo shoots nationwide to ensure quality and

comprehensiveness of results Held seat on publishing review board Hired and mentored talented assistant editor and managed editorial assistant.

GARLINGHOUSE, INC.SABOT PUBLISHING / ACTIVE INTEREST MEDIA

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/GENERAL MANAGER JANUARY 2001-MAY 2004Hired as editorial director but after two years became general manager of a now-defunct Virginia-based company, Garlinghouse, which owned published home plan magazines, blueprints, and owned a Wisconsin-based log home magazine, Log Home Design Ideas. Garlinghouse and other magazines owned by parent company Sabot Publishing were sold in 2003 to Active Interest Media, then a startup and still based in Santa Monica, CA.

Reorganized and expanded editorial / art staff of home plan magazines along with issue frequency

Worked closely with architects and house designers to acquire best for company in a competitive market

Improved and greatly increased output of home plan magazines, although the category for all home plan publishers had begun its steady decline

Oversaw simultaneously Appleton, Wisconsin-based log home magazine, Log Home Design Ideas (LHDI)

Monitored effectiveness of LHDI publisher, whom eventually was terminated Assumed publisher responsibilities, promoted in-house editor to editorial director, hired

sales director Traveled to Appleton, WI, at last monthly to oversee editorial content, calendar and meet

with sales staff. Profits were flat throughout this period. Regularly traveled to Richmond, VA, to meet with parent company, Sabot Publishing Worked with Sabot to sell the above assets to newly created Active Interest Media (AIM) Maintained leadership role with AIM and management of magazines for more than a year

before refusing offer of centralized leadership position with AIM at their then-headquarters in Chantilly, VA, after receiving an offer to return to The Taunton Press.

THE TAUNTON PRESSSenior Acquisition Editor September 1998-December 2000Conceived, acquired, and edited titles for Taunton’s Fine Homebuilding magazine’s books imprint and capitalized on the magazine’s strong place in the pro/DIY market to recruit new authors.

Collaborated with magazine staff and best-regarded authors on original branded titles Expanded and created branded book series to both professional builders and to DIY

builders Launched several successful series including Build Like A Pro, books authored by

professional builders but written for a DIY audience; and For Pros By Pros, a series described perfectly by its title.

Took over an abandoned manuscript entitled the Not So Big House, which became a franchise and itself sold more than 550,000 copies.

Expanded a spiral-bound flipchart book called Code Check into a much larger series that broke down home inspection into its basic categories, such as Electrical, Plumbing and Mechanical, Commercial. To date books in the series have sold more than 1 million copies, many through large national home center chains.

Fine Homebuilding Magazine, The Taunton PressAssociate Editor May 1994-September 1998Reviewed magazine submissions, contacted authors and initiated signed agreement/scheduleTraveled nationwide to photograph builders at work as well as architecturally designed housesConceived story ideas and wrote stories along with acquiring or shooting photography for storyParticipated in story submission review meetings

EDUCATIONLouisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LAGraduated with a B.A. in English and History, May 1980