Hello Ashley,
I’d like to help you create wildly successful ebooks and sales copy. I’m a lover of life and a positive outlooker. I believe that simple acts of kindness can be far-reaching, and that happiness results from an unshakable inner peace and loving deeply. I believe that if we hold on tightly to our inner courage and share our talents, the world’s imperfections cannot bring undue despair. I will never retire from this world. When I’m “too old” to be an employee, I will spend my time teaching others to read and write. I will live to put hope into people’s hearts and smiles on their faces. For now I’ll remain on my current path as a writer and editor, mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and gardener.
I’ve been a technical writer and editor for 17 years, and have written a wide range of documentation projects, including online text, user guides, tutorials, product abstracts, and marketing collateral. I’m a novelist, too; my first novel, “Northern Destinies”, was published in August 2007. Its summary can be found in Amazon. Please consider this a writing sample.
As a second writing sample, Ive placed a brief article below. The bid I’ve posted is not my hourly rate, as you requested, because the program won't let me enter a number lower than 30.
Sample Article – 450 words
(c) 2008 Lilli Babits
"The Important Papers in My Paperless Office"
How many years ago did the techno-gurus say that the future office would be paperless? If this prediction was asserted in 1983, then 2008 would certainly be the future. Right? The idea of file folders, stacks of reports, and coffee-stained memos is supposed to be a thing of the past. But I’m not seeing it. And despite the fact that I’m not a clutter-bug, papers flourish in, around, and on top of my desk. I don’t mind. They’re proof positive that I’m a living, thinking, and hard-working person. Oodles of paper notes are taped onto my bookshelf and computer screen. I need to see and touch them as a reminder that there is indeed a wonderful life outside of this office. You’ll also find a poem written by my 5th grade son and the track meet schedule for my 10th grader. I don’t want these things stuffed inside an electronic icon. There might come a day when the green light fails to glow after pressing my computer’s ON button. Hey, it could happen. And then what? Searching through my back-up files for the electronic versions of all my important documents would put me into an awfully sour mood.
Tucked beneath my keyboard, you’ll find cherished quotes from my all-time favorite reference book, “The Elements of Style,” by William Strunk. Who wants to log into their computer to glean quick inspiration from a quirky thought? And the basketful of handwritten notes; well, those are priceless. Scanning my numerous and very yellow Post-Its that contain teeny messages makes me wonder whether there’s a transdermally delivered chemical on those notes. Perhaps this chemical creates a subconscious need for paper. But on second thought – nah. I think we humans have been in love with paper since applying berry juice to papyrus thousands of years ago in Egypt, don’tcha think?
Look around your workspace and imagine nothing more than a computer screen and telephone. Do we really want to limit our information-delivery and storage methods to these two devices? I don’t. The ragged spine of my Funk & Wagnall’s dictionary warms my heart with familiarity and I much prefer it to the online dictionaries. I’m often inspired by my raggedy friend full of words, thousands of which I’ll probably never use, but they’re there just in case. I like the stack of memos and reports on the side of my desk because they’ve been thumbed through, pointed at, written upon, stapled, copied, and ripped. They’re alive in their own right and when one comes up missing, an emotional panic ensues. I need my paper.
A paperless office? None for me, thanks.
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Thanks for your consideration.
Kindly,
Lilli Babits