Editorial Freelancers Association
Member Profile
Chris Morton
Isn't That Write
𝗜𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝘄𝗯𝗼𝘆-𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸, 𝗜 𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱—𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀. It’s your story—let me help you convey it in the best possible manner. The goal is for all of your B2B or B2C messaging to represent that of a trusted authority—you!
As Van Morrison sings, “You have to fight every day to keep mediocrity at bay.”
Flow – There could be a reason to write the way Jackson Pollock painted, but it’s not in the non-fiction B2B and B2C communications realm. Notions expressed by your writers and content creators should be presented in a logical sequence, and in as few words as possible.
As reported in Time, the latter is especially true given a 2015 Microsoft report that cited our average attention span has dwindled to a mere eight seconds, “highlighting the affects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.” This is where editing your content is essential for it to ever be impactful.
Key point – Another perspective regarding your work yields better results. Studies show that even a single error in online content can cause your readers to lose faith and click away. Why chance it?
Known for raising the bar, turning lead into gold, and pulling rabbits out of hats, I’m grateful for the many diverse roles I’ve held during my 25+ year career. It all equates to my likely having a unique insight regarding your business communications goals. But my being able to assess them from the point of view of your clients/prospects/readers is of even greater value to your enterprise.
I’ve dealt with an extraordinary variety of requirements and issues enterprises like yours face every day. Often I’m able to offer methods by which you can potentially streamline your processes and reduce costs.
Executives, content marketers, project managers, product marketing managers, project managers, engineers, programmers, and subject matter experts all feel at ease working with me to meet tight deadlines. Leveraging my skills as a technical writer, marketing (marcom) person, content creator, and user experience (UX) advocate, at different times I’m a:
| • substantive/developmental editor | • graphic layout artist | • business/gap analyst |
| • line editor | • copywriter | • proofreader |
| • ghostwriter | • author | • trainer/speaker |
DISCLAIMER: Thanks for reading thus far. You’ve probably noticed my profile isn’t prototypical for the EFA, in that it may not match the mental image most people have for editors/writers. That’s because in addition to being a first-rate wordsmith, I have a rich background in marketing, graphics, layout, and HTML coding. Choosing to apply all of these skills herein, they’re among a wide array of additional assets I’m able to use to enhance your projects. I now return you to your regularly scheduled program…
Pulling equally from both left and right hemispheres, for you and your organization I’m able to finesse all types of documents, manuals, marketing collateral, and web content. Audiences range from physicians to engineers, CTOs to CIOs, developers to operators, and end users across most B2B/B2C realms.
In effect I become a highly trusted extension of your staff—without your organization having to take on another employee compensation package. Knowing I provide exceptional value to my clients, they’re always eager to recommend me—even as they jump ship to other enterprises.
After choosing me from over 65 EFA candidates to assist Imperva’s content creation team each month, marketing author and information security VP Tim Matthews (now at HackerOne) confirms this (below).
Today I edit 5G wireless telecom papers for global operators and scientific papers for a (CRO) medical qualitative image analysis entity. I provide varied content creation services to cybersecurity enterprises (e.g., Exabeam) and Big Data analytics integrators, as well as perform ancillary copywriting while proofreading marketing collateral for a global health care entity. For a medical robotics concerns I update its IFUs (user manuals) in Adobe InDesign and create redlines (PDFs) for FDA-mandated document control.
Being an extraordinarily diverse techie, I’ve worked on outward-facing collateral for everything from programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and X-ray-based sulfur detectors to $1M variable frequency drives.
Designer, copywriter, and producer of several themed Eigen
marketing collateral pieces, as well as an IFU and instructional video
Then there was the paint and coatings global market analysis offered by an NGO that targets an international business readership. The specialty chemicals consultancy charged with its creation had several authors. Going beyond my initial assignment of single-voice unification, the 400-pp. report required substantive editing, complex reformatting, large-scale table manipulation, and PDF conversion—in addition to compilation of its cover, table of contents, and nineteen chapters.
All of that in a matter of four weeks, most of it occurring over a two-week span and including an around-the-clock Easter weekend session to meet deadline. (The last-minute crunch was through no fault of my own.)
“Forward, into the past…” – As the marketing communications director for a statistical software/services concern and later a medical imaging device startup, I was the one-person band of its user manuals and IFUs, respectively. For another employer I was the entire research/editorial/layout/production team of a monthly Windows PC journal, and later had a multi-year role documenting Hewlett Packard’s EAI supply chain software in HTML for distribution to its global data centers.
Donning marketing strategist, copywriter, and graphic artist hats, I won advertising awards while promoting my own CAD/desktop publishing computer consultancy via direct mail and a B2B magazine. Quickly picking up the jargon, prior to that I was a publishers rep for trade magazines covering such topics as international shipping and oil & gas exploration. That let me leverage my earlier experience as both a radio and newspaper ad salesperson/copywriter.
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Earlier, over 100 of my copyedits were published in three Microsoft user manuals after having been chosen from a pool of 8,000 to be a technical editor. I’ve been a copy editor for a Que software book about CorelDRAW!, the popular vector graphics application (akin to Adobe Illustrator), and have led CompUSA classroom sessions in its use.
How might I be of assistance to you?
Through the years people have frequently commented that I write just like people speak. In view of the Plain Writing Act of 2010, that is indeed a compliment.
I strive to be a good steward of the English language while keeping an eye on changing trends. My style follows that of On Writing Well author William Zinsser (“make every word count”) and the inimitable Sgt. Joe Friday (“Just the facts, Ma’am”)—coupled with a bit of David Ogilvy as appropriate. And I’m with Harvard linguist/author Steven Pinker when he cites the “curse of knowledge” as being responsible for much bad writing. I’m thankful he has debunked so many of “the rules” Miss Thistlebottom taught us (e.g., never split infinitives or end a sentence with a preposition).
Following in the footsteps of my forebears as an autodidact—along with having the Renaissance mind of an engineer, lawyer, and artist—I’m a fifth-generation family member to work in the US publishing realm. Like my forebears I can instantly spot a typo, for which the revered author of Business Writing in the Digital Age thanked me when I discreetly notified her of a glaring mistake on her website. (Studies show that even a single error in online content can cause your readers to lose faith and click away.)
Being a thought leader, my following on the member-only EFA discussion forum is expansive. My marketing articles have been featured in the EFA newsletter, The Freelancer, and I’ve led online Adobe InDesign training for the association (having also moonlighted as a vocational school PageMaker instructor in the ’80s).
In what way might I provide writing, editing, design,
and/or coaching assistance to you and/or your team?
I enjoy coaching aspiring business writers how to hone their craft (yes, writing is a craft) while I edit their work. Along with considering an author’s argument, logic, organization, and clarity/accuracy of expression, obviously good grammer ‘n’ speling count (sic). And I diligently work to stamp out, eradicate, destroy, and and (sic) otherwise abolish redundant redundancy. ;<)
After creating the aforementioned paint and coatings report, I shared about my advanced MS Word troubleshooting in Wrangling the Word Unwieldibeast, a long-form, evergreen article on LinkedIn. At that social media site I often share knowledge to assist the business community at large.
In 2018 one client nominated me for the prestigious Robinson Prize awarded by the American Copy Editors Association. Akin to a case study, you can read the nomination here.
“Nominees are evaluated on a combination of elements, which can include editing, design, mentoring and training, fostering a sense of teamwork and pride among colleagues, and anything else that furthers the craft of professional editing.”
Trainer/Instructor – As a featured seminar presenter, IT instructor, and PowerPoint master, in day- or week-long sessions I’ve edutained thousands from such diverse entities as Bank of America, the FBI, and Lucent. And I’ve conducted private, onsite Windows networking training sessions for Boeing, Exxon-Mobil, Dow Chemical, Sprint, Nortel, and Navajo Indian Health Services.
In recent years I’ve presented PowerPoint-driven LinkedIn webinars both live and via Zoom to many EFA chapters, the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, and The Communicators Club. And I was a featured speaker at Communication Central’s Be a Better Freelancer® conferences two years running.
Beyond praises from attendees and students, for my marketing and publishing efforts I’ve received letters of commendation from Autodesk’s (AutoCAD) marketing VP, the executive editor of Ziff-Davis’ Windows Sources magazine, and the founder of Aldus Corporation—the latter having spearheaded the mid-’80s electronic publishing revolution with its PageMaker software.
At these locations you can view my portfolio samples; extensive, award-winning LinkedIn profile; long-form articles, videos, and more about how I roll:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Click to see a list of links for a few articles I’ve either edited or ghostwritten in recent times.
“Just Give Me Money…” – ‘Wow!’ you might be thinking, ‘I’ll bet Chris command$ a rate that is beyond my budget.’
Nope—but it is commensurate with the level of commitment, passion, and excellence I put forth in the assignments you award me.
Take it from Aggie Lotz, ChemQuest Group VP: “Chris has a top-notch work ethic and superb substantive editing skills. He delivers on time without prompting and has a thorough grasp of editing assignments with minimal instruction. Plus, he charges a reasonable fee.”
Going well beyond an old-school resume, click my logo below to view my extensive LinkedIn profile. Borrowing from the late Paul Harvey, there you’ll find “the rest of the story…GUH-day!” #IsntThatWrite
Ashburnham, MA
US
Cell phone: 518-257-2169
Email: chris@isntthatwrite.com
https://linktr.ee/IsntThatWrite
More information: View PDF file
Years in the field: 25
Years freelancing: 25
Chris Morton
𝗜𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝘄𝗯𝗼𝘆-𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸, 𝗜 𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱—𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀. It’s your story—let me help you convey it in the best possible manner. The goal is for all of your B2B or B2C messaging to represent that of a trusted authority—you!
As Van Morrison sings, “You have to fight every day to keep mediocrity at bay.”
Flow – There could be a reason to write the way Jackson Pollock painted, but it’s not in the non-fiction B2B and B2C communications realm. Notions expressed by your writers and content creators should be presented in a logical sequence, and in as few words as possible.
As reported in Time, the latter is especially true given a 2015 Microsoft report that cited our average attention span has dwindled to a mere eight seconds, “highlighting the affects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.” This is where editing your content is essential for it to ever be impactful.
Key point – Another perspective regarding your work yields better results. Studies show that even a single error in online content can cause your readers to lose faith and click away. Why chance it?
Known for raising the bar, turning lead into gold, and pulling rabbits out of hats, I’m grateful for the many diverse roles I’ve held during my 25+ year career. It all equates to my likely having a unique insight regarding your business communications goals. But my being able to assess them from the point of view of your clients/prospects/readers is of even greater value to your enterprise.
I’ve dealt with an extraordinary variety of requirements and issues enterprises like yours face every day. Often I’m able to offer methods by which you can potentially streamline your processes and reduce costs.
Executives, content marketers, project managers, product marketing managers, project managers, engineers, programmers, and subject matter experts all feel at ease working with me to meet tight deadlines. Leveraging my skills as a technical writer, marketing (marcom) person, content creator, and user experience (UX) advocate, at different times I’m a:
| • substantive/developmental editor | • graphic layout artist | • business/gap analyst |
| • line editor | • copywriter | • proofreader |
| • ghostwriter | • author | • trainer/speaker |
DISCLAIMER: Thanks for reading thus far. You’ve probably noticed my profile isn’t prototypical for the EFA, in that it may not match the mental image most people have for editors/writers. That’s because in addition to being a first-rate wordsmith, I have a rich background in marketing, graphics, layout, and HTML coding. Choosing to apply all of these skills herein, they’re among a wide array of additional assets I’m able to use to enhance your projects. I now return you to your regularly scheduled program…
Pulling equally from both left and right hemispheres, for you and your organization I’m able to finesse all types of documents, manuals, marketing collateral, and web content. Audiences range from physicians to engineers, CTOs to CIOs, developers to operators, and end users across most B2B/B2C realms.
In effect I become a highly trusted extension of your staff—without your organization having to take on another employee compensation package. Knowing I provide exceptional value to my clients, they’re always eager to recommend me—even as they jump ship to other enterprises.
After choosing me from over 65 EFA candidates to assist Imperva’s content creation team each month, marketing author and information security VP Tim Matthews (now at HackerOne) confirms this (below).
Today I edit 5G wireless telecom papers for global operators and scientific papers for a (CRO) medical qualitative image analysis entity. I provide varied content creation services to cybersecurity enterprises (e.g., Exabeam) and Big Data analytics integrators, as well as perform ancillary copywriting while proofreading marketing collateral for a global health care entity. For a medical robotics concerns I update its IFUs (user manuals) in Adobe InDesign and create redlines (PDFs) for FDA-mandated document control.
Being an extraordinarily diverse techie, I’ve worked on outward-facing collateral for everything from programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and X-ray-based sulfur detectors to $1M variable frequency drives.
Designer, copywriter, and producer of several themed Eigen
marketing collateral pieces, as well as an IFU and instructional video
Then there was the paint and coatings global market analysis offered by an NGO that targets an international business readership. The specialty chemicals consultancy charged with its creation had several authors. Going beyond my initial assignment of single-voice unification, the 400-pp. report required substantive editing, complex reformatting, large-scale table manipulation, and PDF conversion—in addition to compilation of its cover, table of contents, and nineteen chapters.
All of that in a matter of four weeks, most of it occurring over a two-week span and including an around-the-clock Easter weekend session to meet deadline. (The last-minute crunch was through no fault of my own.)
“Forward, into the past…” – As the marketing communications director for a statistical software/services concern and later a medical imaging device startup, I was the one-person band of its user manuals and IFUs, respectively. For another employer I was the entire research/editorial/layout/production team of a monthly Windows PC journal, and later had a multi-year role documenting Hewlett Packard’s EAI supply chain software in HTML for distribution to its global data centers.
Donning marketing strategist, copywriter, and graphic artist hats, I won advertising awards while promoting my own CAD/desktop publishing computer consultancy via direct mail and a B2B magazine. Quickly picking up the jargon, prior to that I was a publishers rep for trade magazines covering such topics as international shipping and oil & gas exploration. That let me leverage my earlier experience as both a radio and newspaper ad salesperson/copywriter.
Earlier, over 100 of my copyedits were published in three Microsoft user manuals after having been chosen from a pool of 8,000 to be a technical editor. I’ve been a copy editor for a Que software book about CorelDRAW!, the popular vector graphics application (akin to Adobe Illustrator), and have led CompUSA classroom sessions in its use.
How might I be of assistance to you?
Through the years people have frequently commented that I write just like people speak. In view of the Plain Writing Act of 2010, that is indeed a compliment.
I strive to be a good steward of the English language while keeping an eye on changing trends. My style follows that of On Writing Well author William Zinsser (“make every word count”) and the inimitable Sgt. Joe Friday (“Just the facts, Ma’am”)—coupled with a bit of David Ogilvy as appropriate. And I’m with Harvard linguist/author Steven Pinker when he cites the “curse of knowledge” as being responsible for much bad writing. I’m thankful he has debunked so many of “the rules” Miss Thistlebottom taught us (e.g., never split infinitives or end a sentence with a preposition).
Following in the footsteps of my forebears as an autodidact—along with having the Renaissance mind of an engineer, lawyer, and artist—I’m a fifth-generation family member to work in the US publishing realm. Like my forebears I can instantly spot a typo, for which the revered author of Business Writing in the Digital Age thanked me when I discreetly notified her of a glaring mistake on her website. (Studies show that even a single error in online content can cause your readers to lose faith and click away.)
Being a thought leader, my following on the member-only EFA discussion forum is expansive. My marketing articles have been featured in the EFA newsletter, The Freelancer, and I’ve led online Adobe InDesign training for the association (having also moonlighted as a vocational school PageMaker instructor in the ’80s).
In what way might I provide writing, editing, design,
and/or coaching assistance to you and/or your team?
I enjoy coaching aspiring business writers how to hone their craft (yes, writing is a craft) while I edit their work. Along with considering an author’s argument, logic, organization, and clarity/accuracy of expression, obviously good grammer ‘n’ speling count (sic). And I diligently work to stamp out, eradicate, destroy, and and (sic) otherwise abolish redundant redundancy. ;<)
After creating the aforementioned paint and coatings report, I shared about my advanced MS Word troubleshooting in Wrangling the Word Unwieldibeast, a long-form, evergreen article on LinkedIn. At that social media site I often share knowledge to assist the business community at large.
In 2018 one client nominated me for the prestigious Robinson Prize awarded by the American Copy Editors Association. Akin to a case study, you can read the nomination here.
“Nominees are evaluated on a combination of elements, which can include editing, design, mentoring and training, fostering a sense of teamwork and pride among colleagues, and anything else that furthers the craft of professional editing.”
Trainer/Instructor – As a featured seminar presenter, IT instructor, and PowerPoint master, in day- or week-long sessions I’ve edutained thousands from such diverse entities as Bank of America, the FBI, and Lucent. And I’ve conducted private, onsite Windows networking training sessions for Boeing, Exxon-Mobil, Dow Chemical, Sprint, Nortel, and Navajo Indian Health Services.
In recent years I’ve presented PowerPoint-driven LinkedIn webinars both live and via Zoom to many EFA chapters, the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, and The Communicators Club. And I was a featured speaker at Communication Central’s Be a Better Freelancer® conferences two years running.
Beyond praises from attendees and students, for my marketing and publishing efforts I’ve received letters of commendation from Autodesk’s (AutoCAD) marketing VP, the executive editor of Ziff-Davis’ Windows Sources magazine, and the founder of Aldus Corporation—the latter having spearheaded the mid-’80s electronic publishing revolution with its PageMaker software.
At these locations you can view my portfolio samples; extensive, award-winning LinkedIn profile; long-form articles, videos, and more about how I roll:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Click to see a list of links for a few articles I’ve either edited or ghostwritten in recent times.
“Just Give Me Money…” – ‘Wow!’ you might be thinking, ‘I’ll bet Chris command$ a rate that is beyond my budget.’
Nope—but it is commensurate with the level of commitment, passion, and excellence I put forth in the assignments you award me.
Take it from Aggie Lotz, ChemQuest Group VP: “Chris has a top-notch work ethic and superb substantive editing skills. He delivers on time without prompting and has a thorough grasp of editing assignments with minimal instruction. Plus, he charges a reasonable fee.”
Going well beyond an old-school resume, click my logo below to view my extensive LinkedIn profile. Borrowing from the late Paul Harvey, there you’ll find “the rest of the story…GUH-day!” #IsntThatWrite
