Worldwide Editing

This page is under construction

​

What do you do? I provide writing and editing services in three general areas: for businesses and nonprofits, ranging from startups to multinationals; the environment, sustainability and urban agriculture; and grant writing. Here's a summary of the services I provide in each area:

• Business writing/editing: My experience includes, but isn't limited to, producing award-winning reports, internal and external high-end corporate communications, website text writing, blog writing, writing business letters, speech writing, ghost writing for executives and much more. I can produce original text or work from your first drafts.

• Environmental, sustainability and urban ag writing: This is original writing usual done on a contract basis.

• Grant writing: I contract with nonprofit foundations to help them secure grants. Think of this type of writing as story telling, something we excel at, but in a different form than narrative writing. Services available after Oct. 24 when Tom takes a grant writing class at the Georgia Center for Nonprofits.

​

Are these services a form of public relations? No. I think of public relations as developing a comprehensive program to promote an organization to help it achieve a specific goal. I view writing as the face of a business or nonprofit, whether that face is being presented internally to employees or externally to clients and the public. We've all heard the expression that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. I think of writing as that first impression. My goal is to make it the best first impression possible.

​

You have a journalism background. Do you do media relations? Yes. I can provide media consulting services and media outreach on request. As a frontline editor for a major U.S. metro newspaper, the winner of a national award for media innovation and a previous employee of a parent company that also owns radio and TV stations, I know how to navigate print, digital and broadcast newsrooms. It's important to understand, though, that I can't guarantee placement in any of these mediums.

​

Do you do translations? No. But I can sub-contract projects with a company that does.

 

Are you a one-man shop? Yes. I view writing as something that people take personally. Companies/nonprofits contract with me because they respect the work I've done and I've earned their trust me to deliver similar quality products for them. Having said that, I have the ability to scale up on demand depending on the project.

​

What do you mean by scale up? If you wanted me to not only write a brochure or to write your website text but to produce the entire product as well, I could contract with a series of partners I trust that include not only writers but also graphic and website designers, photographers, videographers, translators and, even, a FAA licensed drone pilot.

​

Do you have a rate card? No. I prefer to charge by the project or by easily definable "units," such as a price per word. I try to avoid charging by the hour. That's because much of the time in writing is in research to find and interview sources. The research often falls into numerous back and forth emails, web searches and phone calls that are very time consuming. In addition to being time consuming, this background work often falls into time that isn;t easy to quantify. In short, working by the hour is not only expensive, it can lead to misunderstanding with clients. For these reasons, I think it's best to avoid as a way to price out jobs.

​

Do you require a contract for your writing and editing services? It depends on the project. All book editing projects, for example, require a contract. Several key elements of my contract are that you assure me that the work you submit to me is your original work, that it will not violate the right of any third parties and that you will indemnify me from legal action if you misrepresent the work in this area; and that you understand and agree that I cannot guarantee work edited by me will be published.