Here at WriterAccess and on a couple of other similar platforms Dan does a substantial number of blog posts and articles, almost all non-byline ghostwriting examples.
Interests include the English language, writing and editing, sports, automobiles, automotive history, auto racing, cinema, chess, American football, societal norms, history, human interest, news, and commentary. Dan has been a member of local, state, and national writers' organizations, including The Society of Professional Journalists.
Honors and awards received include:
First Place (cash award) Winner, FanStory.com New Arrival Story contest, 2010.
First Place Winner, Suite101.com Writing Bestsellers: Winning Beginnings Contest, 2004.
Finalist, Adams Media Inspiring True-Story Contest, for a creative nonfiction story, 2001.
Best of the Week Award for a film review of: The Watcher, MovieThing.com, 2000.
He is currently editing for publication a California Gold Rush memoir of about 75,000 words.
Dan's university was among the many campuses that were closed down during the tumultous time following the Kent State University shooting by the National Guard. Dan did later return to complete his BA in philosophy with roughly equivalent credits in psychology.
Dan was the sports editor for a weekly newspaper for 17 months, during which time he wrote and edited hundreds of local story contributions. His personal interests include a number of sports franchises, including several from the National Football League (Packers, 49ers, Steelers, Bills, Chargers, Jets, Broncos, Patriots, Giants, Saints, Bears, and others). He has followed and written about prize fighting. He has been an auto racing fan for decades, going back to the days of Jim Clark. His interest in automotive history has also prompted a further interest in auto racing history. Dan has written for automotive, football, and question-and-answer sites concerning sports and sports-related information.
Dan originally wrote the sample article included here for an automotive website. The article traced the development of the V-12 engine from its earliest forms through the period of its most lavish representation, to the most recent crop of examples. The article is representative of Dan's knowledge of the automotive industry and his ability to research little-known facts and background information. He was the Contributing Editor for a collector car website for two years, and has since launched two other automotive-related websites after owning several collector cars. He is in the process of developing two separate dictionaries on automotive subjects.
Dan has been in business as a freelance writer/editor for decades, and has written for numerous business interests during that time. The one business with which he contracted as a writer for the longest period was a weekly newspaper. Dan did writing and editorial work for The Mountain Sun for a year and a half. Other specifically business-related articles that he has written included how-to articles, researched business histories, and informational articles on the running and management of business. He has written two instruction manuals, one for a small family-owned convenience store and one for certain staff positions at a liberal arts college. The article below was used on a website promoting (through both text and SEO) the available products and services.
Dan has written numerous articles on health care, health products, and herbal, homeopathic and natural treatments. The article below was for an advice website. Another article produced for that site involved self-treatment for certain kinds of back pain. That article delved into well-defined exercises that stretched out the spine in ways that alleviated misaligned vertebra, thus avoiding the need or expense of a chiropractor.
Dan has written in several fields that are not represented well in WriterAccess.com's list of "industries." Several of these important areas in which Dan has written include:
Language, specifically American English and its usage;
Religion and religious exploration;
Genealogy;
The cinema including films and film history;
The paranormal;
ESP and psychic phenomena;
UFOs and extraterrestrial aliens.
Language usage in particular is an area in which Dan is currently exploring further publication. The offering below is excerpted from an article on reference sources and his recommendations regarding some of them.
Marketing takes many forms but the most popular (and needed) marketing endeavors today are typically connected with either Internet advertising or home-town promotions in local media. Dan's example introduced below met both of those conditions. The promotion was specifically designed for a website in connection with a popular event, but the automobile dealership in question was locally promoting its sales and community influence, wanting to use the same written copy on both advertising fronts.
Dan has been actively interested in the entertainment industry for many years, writing film reviews for a local newspaper in the 1970s, and later for another newspaper as well as several online publishers. He has written both book and movie reviews, and has become a fan of older classic films. He once wrote a Marilyn Monroe tribute piece for what was planned as an honorary posthumous award during the televised Academy Awards show. However, that presentation was not included in the final programming.
Dan has had some instrumental influence in entertainment, as the sports editor of a weekly newspaper, covering the local sports scene for the community. He has been a fan of several spectator sports for many years on both national and international levels.
The sample below is excerpted from one version of a movie review that has been posted and re-posted online.
Dan wrote six entries for the eHow instructional website in the category of hobbies, including those on postage stamp collecting, stamp preservation, and board games including chess, Scattergories, Pictionary, and Trivial Pursuit. Among the additional hobbies he has had personal interest in over the years, is antique and classic car collecting, about which Dan has written numerous articles and edited two websites.
Dan has worked in connection with two institutions of higher learning, in one case tutoring students with learning disabilities. He has written several articles on education in general, or on specific questions regarding aspects of education. The article excerpted below was in answer to a specific question regarding the definitions of, and differences between, institutions.
Dan has written articles on HVAC, home improvement, home decor, and other areas of home and household maintenance and improvement. Recent articles here at WriterAccess have occasionally focused on these areas.
For The Mountain Sun, a weekly newspaper in Texas, Dan was the sports editor for a year and a half and temporarily also the acting news editor. After decades of writing and editing experience he was contracted to produce two editions and the major part of a third during the vacation period of the primary newsroom editor. Producing a newspaper on deadline constitutes some fairly intense experience in the publishing industry.
Ecological concerns are only becoming more prevalent in our Western culture, and Dan has advanced into this growing field of interest with several articles. With green-related and ecological items in the news almost daily, this is an interest area that is due to explode with excitement in the very near future. The article excerpted below explores the interesting possibility of utilizing rain as a previously unexploited resource in the production of usable energy.
Science questions are among the most interesting of all, and will never all be answered, since new ones keep emerging from answers to the old ones. Dan has written a few very brief, but very well received, informative articles of a scientific nature, including the one offered below. It was directed to an audience of grade school children.
Dan wrote the content for two office-oriented websites and has contributed individual articles, notes, and comments on several others. The article offered below was for a website dealing with the setup of an office environment to facilitate work flow and productivity. The articles were, by order of the client, rich in SEO keywords.
Search engine marketing (SEM) has become an important tool in every promotional writer's repertoire, as search engine optimization (SEO) and keyword saturation have assumed such prominent roles in Internet promotion. Dan has ascended that learning curve and now produces highly effective copy that meets the needs of advertisers, website builders, and business owners with a web presence they wish to utilize in promoting their business.
Politics is increasingly divisive, and as such has become a difficult subject area to address by anyone not willing to risk alienating a large portion of our society. Dan has nevertheless contributed content in the political sphere to several websites and blogs. The article offered below was one of several written in an attempt to bridge the widening gap between left and right in today's caustic political climate.
Dan has been writing resumes for others since the 1990s. Prior to that he was the coordinator of an employment and career education program for disadvantaged high school students. He formulated the lesson plans and organized the instruction of 20 students for St. Anne Community High School, St. Anne, Illinois. The article excerpted below is a how-to article on constructing the best resume you can assemble for each specific job applied for.
Dan has written about animals and specifically about house pets for years, but has only presented these works for public viewing in the past decade. He has used some of them for inspirational purposes, examples such as the piece offered below. It is based on a true story and a real pet, who was truly remarkable.
Due to increased poverty, basic nutrition is an increasing area of concern for a large portion of the public. But there are also concerns that affect everyone, including problems with proper digestion. Dan has written several articles on nutritive values, digestive disturbances, herbal and natural treatments for digestive problems, and investigation into what constitutes proper digestion to effectively utilize nutritional components of our diet.
Marriage and relationships in general have always been among the more interesting subjects of conversation and exploration. Dan has written several articles on relationships and the difficulties in establishing, re-invigorating, or ending them. The article excerpted below details an answer to one of the more popular questions posed by couples, particularly newly formed couples eager to explore the physical aspects of their relationship more thoroughly. To keep things congenial, it was intended as a light-hearted treatment of the subject rather than strictly informative and authoritative.
Dan helped raise his two children and now shares the responsibility of raising his grandson, as well. The process is even more rewarding as a grandparent, as life's learning experiences have added cumulatively to a grandparent's perspective. In the article excerpted below Dan recommends some excellent children's books to read aloud to an eager child learning to read.
Dan worked for a short period as a baker for Schlotzksy's, a national restaurant chain famous for their home-made bread. While there, he produced a formal written analysis of a new baking technique that was under consideration by corporate management. The document he wrote was submitted to corporate headquarters without charge. The analysis was critical of several facets of the new technique. It is unknown how much influence the analysis had with regard to corporate decision making, but the new technique was cancelled.
Dan has studied and written about comparative religion and the similarities and differences within various religions. The following example perhaps demonstrates not only knowledge and research on the subject, but also insight into what spirituality is and can be for many people. Spirituality goes well beyond the limitations of formalized religion.
Dan has written some satire, as in the mock news story excerpted below, as well as specific comic material such as jokes and skits. The piece excerpted below was a satirical poke at numerous societal trends and institutions, including the exaggerated importance of sex in the mindset of our culture, the ineffectiveness of governmental and social controls, and the medical industry.
Dan has written numerous self-help articles in the areas of home maintenance, health care, and herbal, homeopathic, and natural treatments. The article below was for an advice website. Another article produced for that site involved self-treatment for certain kinds of back pain. That article delved into well-defined exercises that stretched out the spine in ways that alleviated misaligned vertebra, thus avoiding the need or expense of a chiropractor.
Sharing an interest in plants, gardens, and landscaping, Dan wrote a proposal for a new landowner, who wanted an "arresting" landscaping project from the firm he had contracted to do the job, but whom he didn't trust to do it to his satisfaction. Dan modeled the plan after his own memories of the place where he was fortunate enough to grow up. The home and property resembled his own just enough to be a near duplicate, so the "transplanting" of his memories was fairly easy.
Government is a strong concern for many in a period of economic difficulty such as the world continues to experience today. Dan edited a commentary for a private client in 2004, well before the current financial crisis gripped the nation and the world. The assignment was to edit a presentation on what the government of the United States was, and how it works. Below is the first part of Dan's edited version of the material presented to him. Since that time Dan has contributed numerous articles on how and why the current system appears to be failing and what can be done about that.
One of the most common examples of writing in today's market is the blog post. Dan has written many very well-received posts, both on this platform and elsewhere. The excerpted sample offered here is of a scientific nature, for a website targeting a population of current and near-future students in organic chemistry.
Dan writes articles in several different styles. These include the AP-styled journalistic news media tradition as well as creative nonfiction, expository nonfiction, fiction, and technical writing.
He has written for several websites, a weekly newspaper with both news and sports journalism, and other print media. Dan's interest areas for articles have included the automotive field, specializing in collector cars. The excerpted example offered here is from an article published in History Magazine, April/May, 2010.
Dan has provided newsletter content for individual clients, both on marketing platforms similar to WriterAccess, and on a private basis. In addition, for about two years he was the editor of two distinct columns in the newsletter of the Writers' League of Texas. He wrote the content for these columns, which consisted separately of League members' success stories, and a calendar of events.
Dan has completed product descriptions for multiple clients, both here at Writer Access and elsewhere. Product descriptions are typically a fairly simple assignment, with known parameters and features simply needing to be expressed in a creative, informative, or entertaining manner.
Like blog posts, articles, and brochures, email copy is one of the more common forms of business and organization promotional tools. Dan promotes both his own business as well as those of his clients through email marketing plans of various types, supplying the written content for regular and irregular updates and informational reminders. Email communication follows a more informal and less structured pattern and form than even blog posts, although not as free-form as texting communication. As such, is entails a level of informality while also offering a sense of professionalism often found lacking it the texting environment.
Dan has been writing advertising copy and promotional material since the 1970s. This has included everything from press releases to print advertising. Following is an advertisement written in promotion of a special event in connection with a sponsor organization. His first advertisement was one written for a health food store in Illinois, in a community advertiser publication.
Dan completed his first white paper this past year and is hoping to further explore this market. White paper writing seemed intimidating until one was actually completed. Now it is a preferred type of work! Such projects are easier than anticipated and far more rewarding to complete than many other assignments.
Proposals are the bread and butter of a freelance writer's customary workload. Without a good proposal the freelancer doesn't secure many contracts for work. Dan has been submitting proposals for the use of his professional services for years, including the one offered as an example below, which was only recently submitted. On a broader scale, proposals are also a possible assignment for the freelance, and Dan has written several well-received proposals for clients.
Dan recently published his first book and anticipates more of them on both the immediate and more distant horizon. Currently editing the "project of his lifetime," a California Gold Rush memoir, Dan has also created two genealogical projects nearing publication, and a recipe collection. He has completed one ebook assignment here at WriterAccess, and looks forward to further ghostwriting assignments in this regard.