• PHIL CLISBY

    Production | Editing | Writing | Design

Meet Phil

Phil Clisby photo  

My name is Phil Clisby and I am a freelance journalist. I have 16 years’ publishing experience working in a variety of roles, such as production manager, sub-editor, layout sub, writer and designer. I have also been involved with new launches and redesigns. In effect, I can turn my hand to anything.

My last full-time role saw me production managing more than 30 issues annually across 12 different publications, contributing articles and blogs, editing, and designing pages and adverts, among other responsibilities.

As a freelancer, I can provide a number of services: production management, sub-editing, page layout, advert and brochure design, news and feature writing, copywriting and blogging.

People I have worked for recently include Reed Business Information, Progressive Content, Last Word Media, Gecko Publishing, DiversityQ.com, Legal Week Events, BioPhorum Operations Group and Condé Nast Traveller.

I have experience of a number of different genres – from finance to football and from business to travel – covering B2B, B2C, consumer and contract publishing. I have been employed by some notable publishing houses – H. Bauer Publishing, Incisive Media, Press Holdings Media Group and Gecko Publishing – across a diverse array of titles, including: Travel Africa, ZiNG Caribbean (for LIAT airline)msafiri (for Kenya Airways) and Rafiki (a staff magazine for Kenya Airways), Investment Week, Bloomberg Money, The Business, Cut and Soccer Investor.

I know the importance of meeting deadlines, can work to the tightest or broadest of briefs, and am comfortable liaising with clients, printers, writers, designers, editors and publishers throughout the production process.

Qualification-wise, I trained at the Journalism Training Centre in Mitcham, receiving the Best Production Editor award for that year’s intake.

On a personal level, I am married with a 10-year-old son. I am a Chelsea season ticket holder, having been a supporter through thick and thin. Mostly thin. I like to keep healthy, regularly running and swimming, and I can just about still manage to kick a football around. I love to travel and enjoy reading, comedy and music. I am also a school governor.

I live in Wokingham, near Reading, so am within easy reach of London and surrounding areas should you need me to come into your office. Otherwise, I am fully set up to work from home.

This site gives you a flavour of what I have done and what I can do to help your business…

My Work

Production editor, sub-editor, layout sub and writer.
Below is a summary of the services I can provide:

Flat Planning, Print production, advertising

Production Management

  • Ensuring all magazines are produced on time and managing workflow
  • Planning and managing the production schedule
  • Creating PDFs, preflighting and signing off pages for print
  • Liaison with contract clients, publishers, editors, designers, sub-editors, freelancers, sales, advertisers, printers and other key parties involved
    in the production process
  • Flatplanning
  • Artwork chasing, assisting with ad sales and creating ad pages
  • Picture research and Photoshop work
  • Print orders and delivery instructions
  • Managing printer relationships and print tender process
  • Projects, including magazine pitches and launches

Editing

  • Editorial planning
  • Commissioning writers
  • Sourcing copy and pictures
  • Writing articles
  • Sub-editing (print and online)
  • Liaising with clients, contributors, designers and proofreaders
  • Proofing and page corrections
  • Cover selection

editing_writing
Editing Design

Writing, Design
& Digital

  • Contributing news, articles and features
  • Blogging
  • Copywriting
  • Page layout and design
  • Designing adverts, sponsored editorials, flyers and banner ads
  • Producing digital flipbooks
  • Updating websites (knowledge of WordPress and Joomla)

Portfolio

  • All
  • Advert Design
  • Page Design
  • Writing and Editing
  • Travel Africa articles
  • Legal Week Events programme
  • Portfolio Adviser feature
  • Legal Week Events invite
  • Zing Half page
    ZiNG half-page print advert
  • Rafiki, editor
  • Msafiri – Kenya Airways news
  • Travel Namibia feature
  • I-Delight digital newsletter
  • DID flyer
  • Travel Africa supplement
  • Travel Africa half-page print advert
  • Outposts trifold leaflet
  • Travel Africa sponsored editorial page
  • Travel Africa full-page print advert
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H Bauer Publishing

Senior sub-editor on Cut, a weekly consumer magazine for men; involved with development and launch of the magazine.

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Soccer Investor

Part of the editorial team that produced Soccer Investor Daily, an online daily news bulletin, and Soccer Investor Weekly magazine for people working in the football industry worldwide; included being interviewed for television, radio, magazines and national newspapers in an expert capacity

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Press Holdings Media Group

Deputy Production Editor on The Business, a weekly consumer magazine covering global business; included migration from QuarkXpress to InDesign and input to redesign.

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Incisive Media

Production Editor on Professional Pensions, a weekly trade newspaper for the UK Pensions industry; included managing sub-editor.
Deputy Production Editor across four monthly financial magazines/newspapers, both consumer and trade: International Investment, Financial Marketing, Bloomberg Money and Real Adviser and related supplements.

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Gecko Publishing

Publications Manager on up to 12 monthly/bi-monthly/quarterly consumer and contract magazines, including Travel Africa (and sister titles), msafiri (for Kenya Airways), ZiNG Caribbean (for LIAT), Paa Tanzania (for Precision Air) and The Option (for Safaricom).

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Blog

Travel Blog 

Africa time

My finely honed appreciation for ‘Africa time’ was developed over two years of travelling through more than 20 African countries in the early ’90s. I have returned to the world’s most exciting continent several times since, experiencing it from a different perspective – through the eyes of my young son. It’s a place that throws up countless adventures…

Written for the Travel Africa magazine website, www.travelafricamag.com

On the Ball - Sports Blog

On the ball

A collection of random articles that I have written, mainly about football…

Testimonials

Phil helped me out massively when I first came over to England, editing my articles when we worked together on Soccer Investor magazine. He is also the funniest person I know.

Henning Wehn

Comedian
Phil has helped us create some lovely artwork for marketing purposes for our Africa travel company over the years. He is always very helpful and interpreted what we discussed as our aim into designs that had exactly the feel we were after. He got back very quickly with required alterations in order to reach deadlines and was very easy to work with. I hope we can continue to do so.

DD Kingscote

Director, Outposts Travel Africa
I have worked and known Phil for more than 10 years. In that time he has consistently been one of the most talented, hardworking and reliable members of our production teams, either when he has been employed full-time or on a freelance basis. He has continually proven to be able to rise to any challenge we have thrown at him with the sort flexibility and tenacity that is required in a modern digital publishing business. I would thoroughly recommend Phil to any business looking for someone unflappable with an ability to turn his hand to a range of challenges.

Lawrence Gosling

Group Editorial Director, Incisive Media
Phil is a remarkably safe pair of hands. He has an enviable ability to focus and just get on with the work at hand and, when that’s done, to move on to the next thing with a clear sense of purpose. Over his eight years at Gecko Publishing, he has steered the production of 30+ magazines each year with patience and diligence, hitting deadlines and keeping the team on track. Beyond the production process, he has proven to be a very able editor, a competent designer, an entertaining and amusing writer and has been reliable and efficient when communicating with our customers. He has turned his hand to any task given and executed well and efficiently. If you want a reliable, multi-skilled production man, I would recommend Phil without hesitation.

Craig Rix

Publisher, Gecko Publishing
Incredibly quick, incredibly resourceful and incredibly nice to work with, Phil is a good all-rounder – editing, subbing, print, production and even a bit of designing. He is a great asset to have in any workplace. I have worked with him on projects that simply could not have existed without his speed, initiative and imagination. An absolute gem!

Lisa Duke

Designer

Contact

If you need more information, have any questions or would like to commission me, then please call 07962 116680.
Alternatively, you can get in touch via the form below and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

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