ABOUT ME. I’m a West Coast-based writer, editor, and content strategist for hire. While I specialize in writing branded and sponsored content and in editing travel and entertainment content, I’m open to new things, especially challenging, adventurous work.
PRINT ME. I started my career—many moons ago now—as an obituary writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I learned a lot at that job: the importance of double-checking every detail for accuracy, how to interview someone choked with grief, and the rewards of teasing out a single story to sum up a life. My next job was also for a newspaper, this time at the Marietta Daily Journal where I worked the evening copy desk and once yelled in very cinematic fashion, “Stop the presses!” Even then, print was aging faster than a dinosaur near a comet strike, and so I moved online.
EAT ME, DRINK ME. I spent many years at Citysearch.com, starting as a copy editor in Atlanta and later moving to New York City to review bars, then restaurants, and finally to act as senior national editor in charge of other people who were reviewing bars and restaurants—in New York and across the country. I had a blast and made many lifelong friends along the way, as one does in their 20s. While at Citysearch, I watched the internet move from a facsimile of print journalism to a multiheaded beast that wrestled with, among other things, the mechanics of SEO and the ethics of making money. I got married. I had two kids. I started a blog back before it was cool and then uncool. I worked at Zagat after its takeover by Google (but before its association with The Infatuation). I helped launch NewYork.com, a ticketing site built around a comprehensive online city guide. And then, after 11 of the best years of my life living in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens, I moved to L.A. and fully embraced the fickle world of freelance writing and editing. And six years after that, I plunged into a new adventure some 900 miles up the coast in Portland with my kids and cat in tow.
HIRE ME. My working life has spanned genres, but I bring the same curiosity, attention to detail, and collaborative nature to all of my projects. I’ve written medical newsletters for a major dot-com and created trade show brochures for a fledgling paper and packaging company. I’ve crafted sponsored lists for top lifestyle brands and written SEO-friendly content for solar companies and real estate investment ventures. I’ve edited international travel guides and written features on LA-area restaurants and hot spots. I’m equally adept at writing 2,000-word deeply researched editorial features as I am at writing just-so 200-word blurbs. Are you a small business that needs some makeover magic for your website? I can help. Are you a major brand looking for smart copy that makes your brand shine? I’m also available. Not sure how content might fit into your overall business strategy but eager to learn more? Sign me up.
RESEARCH ME.
Find me on LinkedIn.
Check out my spiffy Portfolio for links to my writing.
Email me at erin.behan@gmail.com.