What can you expect when you work with me? That depends on what you need most.
MY APPROACH
If you want a quick read to make sure your copy is unfettered by grammatical errors or that you’re linking to the best sources, I can do that.
If you need an editor who can shred your drafts — or rewrite them entirely — I can do that, too.
Or you can hand me your notes, your bullet points, and your voice memos. I’ll get right to work. We’ll go back and forth for as long as it takes to get your copy just where you need it to be.
Editing is meditative problem-solving, paragraph by paragraph, line by line, and word by word. It’s like crosswords, Wordle, or jigsaw puzzles are for some people — my brain goes into overdrive making connections and moving things around until I’ve hit on the right configuration.
WHAT TO EXPECT
No matter what kind of content is on your list, work with me and you can count on:
A great opening line.
Nothing turns heads like an unexpected first sentence.
Keywords that are effortlessly woven into the copy.
Keyword stuffing is like socks with sandals, only worse.
Relentless fact-checking and validation of sources.
I’m a former journalist. I can’t help myself.
Blue-ribbon grammar.
Sometimes “among” is the correct word, not “between.” Then there are times when “less” is correct, not “fewer.” And if you make the cardinal mistake of “that” rather than “who,” don’t worry, I’ll catch it.
Cross-channel strategy.
Need a zinger of a social post to promote a thought leadership piece? Done. An email campaign to drive downloads of a white paper? Done. Copy for an ad? Done.
BACKGROUND
I bring over 20 years of experience to every bit of content I produce. As a journalist, I worked for KQED Public Broadcasting and wrote pieces for outlets ranging from PBS.org to CNN.com to The San Francisco Chronicle. I also wrote one of Salon.com’s most-read pieces in its history (back when people read Salon and it was cool).
Also from my keyboard: The Little Book of Heartbreak: Love Gone Wrong Through the Ages, which was hailed by O, the Oprah Magazine as “a hilarious salve for the lovesick.”
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Dec 2021 – Present
Supervised a global team of writers who produced B2B website content, blog articles, industry reports, email campaigns, sales decks, reports, ebooks, CTAs, and other marketing collateral
Responsible for overhauling blog strategy and content to improve SEO and credibility
Coached both native and non-native speaking writers in advanced blog and business writing
Closely collaborated with Brand Strategy; Inbound and Outbound marketing teams, including SEO; and Sales
Led strategy to incorporate generative AI into content production
Led dramatic increase in blog traffic and rewrites of hundreds of web pages
Created a global copy guide for use across teams and channels
Managed the full content production cycle, from ideation to publication
Results: 191% increase YoY in organic blog traffic and 114% increase YoY in organic web traffic
Skills: Digital Marketing Analytics, Demand Generation, Lead Generation, Thought Leadership, Subject Matter Experts, Messaging, Direct Marketing, Brand Awareness, Content Marketing, Proofreading, Communication, Online Journalism, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Team Leadership, Branding & Identity, Multi-Channel Marketing, Brand Strategy, Leadership, Editing, Editorial, Content Development, Marketing, Research, Marketing Strategy, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Web Content Creation
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July 2021 — December 2021
Within just a few months, I was promoted from editor with no reports to running an entire dream team.
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Aug 2020 – Jul 2021
I joined Edutopia, the flagship publication of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, as a freelance editor. From there, I created the edtech beat, which meant writing original articles and editing articles by contributors.
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Apr 2018 – Nov 2019
As head of marketing for one of the top-performing real estate teams in the Bay Area, I wrote web copy, thought leadership, and ads.
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Jul 2017 – Mar 2018
Back before App Annie had a major fall from grace and rebranded as data.ai, I wrote web copy, e-books, and blogs — and learned a lot about mobile app analytics and marketing along the way.
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Jan 2016 – Apr 2017
My stint in the belly of the ad tech beast: I wrote site copy and owned the research, writing, and production of the blog for AppLovin when it was a unicorn startup.
FAQ
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“Between” is the correct word if you’re writing about two entities/nouns, e.g., “between you and me,” or “between a rock and a hard place,” or “Luxembourg is between France and Germany…”. If you’re writing about multiple entities or a group, then “among” is the correct word, e.g., “monkeys are swinging among the trees” or “the DevOps approach fosters collaboration among developers, IT staff, and healthcare providers.”
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A nugget is a tidbit, often hyperlinked, that enlivens B2B copy. It’s something unexpected and often playful that surprises and engages the reader. Nuggets are key to a writer’s voice and they’re a neat way to signal that the writer is well-read.
Example 1:
Adaptability, short development cycles, regular feedback loops, speed, and continuous integration and delivery: As web-based applications took off, those were imperatives for companies to be competitive and successful.
Enter history’s only game-changing après ski, where the Agile Manifesto was drafted by a group of veteran developers. It was a declaration that celebrated twelve principles that upended the waterfall — and was a shot heard round the software world.
Example 2:
Pachama raised $55M in Series B funding in 2022, and among its 800+ clients are leading companies like Salesforce, Microsoft, and Airbnb. (Heads up: If you’re into orangutans, check out Pachama’s work in Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan Peatlands, which are apparently capable of storing 20x more carbon than most forests.)
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That’s my term (feel free to adopt it) for unnecessarily stringing together multiple verbs, e.g., “they were starting to think about going to the store.” Usually you can eliminate at least one of the verbs, e.g., “they considered going to the store.”
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“Diminish” and “modernity.” Unfortunately I don’t have much opportunity to use the latter.
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“Impactful” and “insightful.” They’re nothing-burger words: vague, meaningless, and boring. Use more precise words instead. Even “influential” is better.
Lots of people have an aversion to “moist,” but I don’t mind it. I like cake.
“Bespoke” is a pretty unfortunate word, too.
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There are so many heinous options to choose from, but I think “move the needle” and “low-hanging fruit” win the prize.
I’ve also heard the term “optimizations” used for layoffs, which is just plain offensive.
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I’ve got nothing against gerunds, I just think they’re a crutch and get overused because they offer an easy way out.
Often writers get into a groove where they’re just cranking stuff out — web pages, blog posts, whatever — and tacking on a clause that starts with a gerund, e.g., “Our software development teams dive deep into your business requirements, ensuring that their starting point is a comprehensive understanding of…”, is the easiest way to end the sentence. There’s nothing wrong with it, even if it’s boring.
But then before the writer knows it, they’re landing on boring-but-respectable in quick succession because it’s easy and because they’re not listening to what they’re writing and catching the repetition. I tell writers that they can get away with a gerund construction to end a sentence every 300 words minimum. (If I’m feeling sassy I’ll tell them they can use one only once every 500 words.)
I’m also not a fan of gerunds in heds or deks, e.g., “Transforming the insurance industry.” They’re tedious, inelegant, and lazy.
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