I specialize in humor and empathy.
I can write dry, toast-like words with aplomb (and a plum, if desperate times call for it), but I prefer to partner with people and businesses who want to be more like the picture on the left.
Check out some of the great people I’ve worked with below. I included some nice words they said too.
“Sara writes with joyful language that creates vivid mental images. She’s delightful to work with—we never questioned whether she’d meet a deadline or work to understand the subject matter. If there’s feedback or edits, she’s never offended. Her goal is to leave clients with the best work possible.”
– Ronnie Murphy, VP Client Strategy
MerchTable is the shit: a merchandising, print, and logistics shop out of the boondocks of Kanasas. They defy geographic isolation by making anything imaginable, and making artists money. Created by a big-name band that decided to fix all the merchandising problems they’d encountered while touring. Also, they started in a basement. One of their mottos is “On time, not f*cked up.” Simple irresistible. They wanted four case studies that painted the length and breadth of what they do through journalistic storytelling, in their irreverent, honest, “been there, done that” voice. It was a pleasure to the fourth power. Check out two dandy examples, for Yung Gravy and JPEGMAFIA:
R&S Maintenance is a third-generation, full-service millwright and machine shop in the heartland of America. They wanted a revamped website and all new web copy (as well as a lookbook) that gave them greater visibility, clarified their offer, told their story, and embodied their values. Mammoth took care of the design (which was stellar) and provided me a deliciously well-done brief. The result included these sweet tidbits:
Anchor Financial Management was looking to increase SEO content with twice monthly blog posts. But they had a problem: past blog posts lacked personality. They wanted to position themselves as personable and funny. What’s that sound? That’s me rolling up my sleeves and cackling in anticipation. Here’s a bit of what I punched out for them:
“You honestly rocked this…Good gracious, Sara, you write for Larned like you were made for it!”
-Rachel Harden, PR director
After Mammoth overhauled their brand, the city of Larned, Kansas, wanted their social accounts to reflect their pride in history, highlight the assets of their community, build camaraderie, attract new residents, and provide relevant and timely information.
Two months after I took on the project, Mammoth reported that Larned website traffic was up 58% compared to the same month a year ago. I got to come up with a haiku, a few really bad jokes, and to include some wacky historical facts. So we were both happy.
“Sara takes feedback like a professional and takes her job seriously…I’ve used [her] to write and edit articles and show notes, and she hits the ball out of the park every single time. The longer she works with me, the more she matches my own writing style and voice—and now I can’t even tell our writing apart sometimes. I honestly don’t know what I would do without her. She has made all of my dreams come true.
– Natalie Hoffman, coach and advocate
Natalie is the creator of Flying Free, an online coaching, education, and support community for women on faith in abusive relationships. She needed someone to write podcast show notes (over 1,000,000 downloads so far, woot!) and social media copy, and to copyedit articles based on SEO best (or better) practices. The point was to grab people’s interests, compel them to consume content like a very hungry caterpillar, get them on her mailing list (which has grown exponentially), and eventually join her support group, all while writing in her direct, sometimes snarky, often hee-haw-larious voice and without depressing the heck out of readers who are already under unbearable weight. And sometimes she has me as a guest on her podcast, just for kicks and giggles. Here are a couple of examples:
“Even better than her writing is her creativity. It can be difficult to continually come up with topics that are timely and interesting. But Sara does that. She is always on time, remembers deadlines (keeps me on track), and her writing style makes for fun and easy reads on topics that are not always fun or easy.”
– Conni Eversull, marketing director
“Sara makes me laugh. She makes all of us at ProofreadNOW.com laugh. She even makes our stodgy, all-business, want-things-done-now customers laugh. All this while writing compelling entries for our blog and thereby helping us get word out that ProofreadNOW.com is the world’s best B2B proofreading service. I’ll bet she will make you laugh too, and not in a bad way. She has cute kids too.”
– Phil Jamieson, president
ProofreadNOW.com specializes in excellence without fluff. When I learned that many of their stellar editors had been on staff for 20+ years, I was plenty interested. Proofing and copyediting jobs across a huge swatch of industries has taught me more than any other job/client to date. It’s like having a secret closet door into Narnia, but Narnia is the marketing department for biopharma consultancies, workforce management companies, political campaigns, nonprofits, finance firms, and about as many other companies you can think of, including several Fortune 500. A couple of months after coming on, they asked me to tackle biweekly blog posts. The ask? Value-packed posts about English, grammar, writing, proofreading, etc., with an exuberant personality, so readers’ eyes don’t glaze over. I’ve done my darndest. Here are a couple of many, many examples.
“Sara Is My Hero!!!!
Sara brought my vision to life! She took all my chaotic work, years of material, and brought it together to create a creative and cohesive masterpiece! I would have never accomplished this dream without her!”
-April Mills, dental practice consultant
April is one of those women who has accomplished more in her life than most people could in four lifetimes. She runs multiple successful businesses, impresses everybody she meets, and does it all with enthusiasm, humor, and grace. She has brilliant ideas coming out of her ears. But that was the problem. There were years of ideas. Decades of notes. Dozens of seminars she’d written, talks she’d given, resources she’d created, pamphlets she’d designed, and on and on. She needed someone to create a comprehensive web package encapsulating 30 years of dental practice/workforce management wisdom. That led to social media strategy/copy and a radio ad. One day, she’ll probably adopt me. Until then, I’m plugging away on a project that’s, simply put, an honor. I’ll be adding a few screenshots of our ongoing projects soon.
“You are an extremely talented writer, and I am always impressed with how you put words together. You are truly a master of your craft and arguably an artist with language.”
– Jonathan Slider, executive director
Jon needed some guest blog posts by a writer who also loved nature. His nonprofit provides at-risk and underserved kids the opportunity to learn, grow, and heal in the outdoors. The point of his blog is to build his audience, increase awareness and engagement, humanize the topic of hiking, encourage outdoor activity, and establish himself as a leader in outdoor adventures. He also had several marketing, fundraising, and incredibly boring–I mean professional–business docs he needed copyedited or proofed. His reach keeps growing in Miami Valley, in person, online, and out in the woods and fields. Some bits and pieces:
“I love it. You really knocked it out of the park. It’s gangster!”
-S.R., Chef
“When I sought out Sara, I was really struggling with how to put words together to truly convey the heartbeat of myself and my business. After reading some of the other work she had done, I knew she had an extraordinary gift. Working with her was easy and enjoyable. She asked all the right questions to understand not only the practicality of what I wanted to share, but the emotion I wanted to evoke as well. I am so grateful for the exceptional verbiage she pieced together for me and have already recommended her to several people.
– Rebekah Slider, mindset coach
“Sara has edited an incredible amount of content for me, and not only is her work thorough and clear, she was consistent and timely with her updates. Working with Sara is a pleasure. I am extremely grateful for her work and highly recommend her expertise.”
– Kylar Dunn, author and HeroRising fitness app and fitness coaching community creator
“20 years in business and I’ve worked with countless “marketing geniuses” and “gurus.” They were all overpriced disappointments, spewing the same old tired ideas they mass marketed to all their clients, with no personalization. In contrast, when I met with Sara she took the time to get to know my business, she listened to my wants and needs, maybe more importantly she listened to what I didn’t want to do. What she came back to me with was a customized multi[-]step approach to meet my goals including timelines, imperatives, and subordinate plans. I would highly recommend anyone desiring to grow their business meet with Sara immediately.”
– Michael Jokerst, D.C. CFMP
“Thanks for the depth of detail that you used when copyediting my dissertation. I am a journalism teacher and have been immersed in the world of writing for many years, but I am a newcomer to scholastic style (APA, in this case). You caught a lot of small errors that I would never have seen, especially in such a length[y] document. After writing and rewriting, editing and reediting my manuscript, I just could not see errors any more. I am confident that my APA Style is flawless at this point and I am very pleased with your service. I especially appreciate the fact that you were available for my follow-up questions even after the initial copy edit was done. In addition, your price point was affordable and yet reflected the work of a professional. Thank you so very much for working with me.”
– Dr. Karyn Campbell, Ph.D.
“Sara Richmond came to me recommended by a mutual friend and fellow proofreader, who suggested Sara as a good candidate to accept occasional jobs that didn’t fit into my own schedule. The first job I referred to her was a project written by a personal friend of mine, whom I knew to be a stickler for good editing. It was a little like throwing a lamb to the wolves, but I knew that if Sara satisfied THIS client, she was a skilled professional. My friend the stickler was thrilled with Sara’s work. Since then Sara has become a valued colleague, and I wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone looking for professional-grade proofreading, editing, and/or copywriting.”
– Cherilyn Johnson, freelance editor & consultant, Sparrow’s Nest Communications
Lessons in Concrete 