Writing

Feature Articles

As an experienced writer, I am knowledgeable in all areas that come together to make a great feature. I have backgrounds in both creative nonfiction and news writing, and my editorial chops allow me to correctly fact check and flow articles into useful resources for readers.

How-to Pieces, Columns & Front-of-the-Book Pieces

Sometimes the reader needs a short-and-sweet rundown of a given issue, and that's where these abbreviated tidbits come in. I have experience putting together articles that dig right at the point and show readers something new in a quick and concise way.

Book Reviews

I accept review requests from publicists as well as editors (so if that's you, please submit your request via my Contact page). I often venture out on my own to look for just the right books to pitch back to editors, as well. As a lit fanatic, I adore writing up reviews because these humble articles can boost public literacy and help new writers get their work out there.

Creative Nonfiction

I occasionally find the time to put together creative pieces that skew artsy and help tell a story more intimately than a typical article or blog post would. For a recent sampling of my creative style, check out my essay "Dirty Girl" in the book Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religions, available for order pretty much anywhere.

Editing

Copy Editing

I entered the publishing world in 2006 as an doe-eyed intern at a local magazine and have been tuning up the written word ever since. In the years when I haven't worked full time as an editor, my job has consisted of hefty pockets of copy editing, like checking for language compliance on international product packaging as well as editing for publicity, social media, and marketing departments. When I act as full-on editor for a project, my expertise ranges from novels and nonfiction books all the way down to sentence-level mechanics in tweets.

I'm versed in The Chicago Manual of Style and AP, with experience both creating and following house style guides.

Document Clean-up & Coding

An oft-overlooked step in the editing world, document clean-up makes a world of difference when it's time to deliver edited copy to designers. I am skilled at removing unwanted formatting and characters in a document and getting everything spotless for the typesetter. My work here allows your designer or web poster to grab the text and transfer it seamlessly into print or web.

Proofreading

This near-final step in the editorial process is crucial to a clean product. I have the skills to cold-read a proof and sniff out infelicities that the editor may have missed or typos introduced in the design process. As an experienced typesetter, I'm also eager to ensure that all page elements and styles are consistent and well executed, giving the reader the best user experience possible.

Design

Typesetting & Layout

As an editor with substantial design experience, I offer a unique perspective in laying out a project. I understand the basics of page design—like paragraph styles, proportion, and graphic placement—as well as the finer points of design that take a project from draft to polish.

I work primarily in Microsoft Word for source text and Adobe InDesign for final layout.

Graphic Design

I offer a full range of graphic design solutions for print and web. Visit my visual portfolio to learn about my style and experience in design, typography, lettering, photo editing, and illustration.