Helping get your message to your readers.
Please note that as of January 2026, I am no longer taking freelance work.
In working with businesses, I worked to clear away anything that might distract the reader from the message—an unclear point, a faulty argument, right down to a typo or a mislabeled chart—and let the brand shine through.
Whether writing from scratch, shaping a piece from your assembled notes, or editing your written draft, I helped clients say what they wanted to say, clearly, succinctly, and effectively.
After seventeen years in the corporate world, I know how businesses work and how business people think. I always fought hard against jargon, working to keep language simple and accessible while retaining the appropriate level for the audience.
“Special kudos to Jess—this is one of the best editing/proofreading jobs I’ve ever seen.”
my clients and services
I have worked for several very large, established companies (such as Deloitte and Canadian Tire) and also for a number of newer, smaller ones. No matter what your size, product, service, or industry, if it involves words, a professional writer and editor can help.
I’m equally experienced with internally and externally focused materials, from simple description to complex analysis. I’ve worked in a wide variety of topic areas and industries, including professional services, healthcare/life sciences, technology, innovation, employee benefits/pensions, insurance, investments, customer analytics, and loyalty marketing. I wrote and edited articles, executive memos, points of view/white papers, case studies, blog posts and other web copy, presentations, speeches, letters, proposals, executive summaries, briefings, Q&As, brochures, sell sheets, product overviews, editorial style guides, and more.
How does it work?
How I worked with a freelance client depended on where they were in their process and on what they wanted done. So we’d spend time upfront talking about what they were looking for, what level it was already at, how long it was or would be (i.e., the word count), what its purpose, goals, and audience were, and more.
Writing
If the client didn’t have a draft already in the works, I would ask them to help me learn about their topic (I can write about just about anything, but I certainly don’t know about everything!), giving me as much detail as possible whether by phone call or in a written brief, along with any available supporting materials. If time and budget allowed, I conducted interviews with subject matter experts. This type of in-depth project required that both of us invest more time to bat ideas back and forth and to ask and answer questions. I’d provide a full draft in MS Word. The client could take it from there if they wanted, but generally I suggested that we allow for two or three iterations to revise it together and get the piece into the best shape possible.
Editing or rewriting
The most efficient method was for a client to give me a written draft. It didn’t need to be a good draft—it was my job to turn it into one. But it was often easier and more cost-effective for someone to put their thoughts down on paper before I started.
Then, whether it needed a full rewrite or a minor copy edit, the client would send their draft to me, ideally in MS Word. I’d edit it to the level we’d agreed on (see types of editing) and send it back. Unless it was a major rewrite, I’d use Track Changes to highlight what I’d done and Comments to make suggestions, to ask questions, or to explain why I’d done something. The client could decide to take it from there, or they could review my changes, accept/reject them, address my questions, and send it back for me to create a clean, final version.
“Jess is an exceptional writer, and the very best editor I have ever worked with—by far. She is wicked-smart, has great integrity, and is a strong people leader and a strong project manager.”
Fees
You won’t find project costs on my website. Every project has unique needs—some need a very deep, detailed edit, some need only a light copy edit, others need to be written entirely from scratch. I only offered quotes once I’d reviewed each situation, understood what the client was looking for, and often completed a sample (if editing).