Focusing on your purpose, audience, and context, I guarantee quality writing that reflects your voice, values, and brand.

I have a B.A. in English/Journalism and a M.A. in English from Jackson State University in Jackson, MS, and I completed course work for the Ph.D. in English at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI.

My professional background consists of more than 25 years of writing in various capacities with a range of publications, institutions, and agencies. In addition, I have taught university-level writing courses throughout my career and served in a number of administrative roles requiring extensive written communication – which is the center of my work history.

An overview of my experience is included below:

• Technical writer, producing various texts in higher education (syllabi, curricula, assignment sheets, rubrics, and academic articles); human services (alternative sentencing court proposals); and nonprofit management (employee/employer manuals, time sheet summaries, codes of conduct, program profiles, and status reports)

• Features writer for Ambassador Magazine in Detroit, profiling city leaders, authors, artists, nonprofit founders and business owners

• Ghost writer of letters to editor and opinion editorials for McConnell Communications, Inc., a small public relations firm in Detroit

• Ghost writer of articles for weekly newsletter produced by A Game Movement, LLC, a small business in Warren, MI devoted to personal success and entrepreneurial development

• Grant writer for Canfield Consortium, a nonprofit devoted to revitalizing the East Canfield neighborhood, an impoverished community on Detroit’s east side

• Web content writer for Girls for Global Growth (G3), a nonprofit mentoring organization for middle and high school girls in Detroit

• Reporter for the Jackson Advocate in Jackson, MS, covering community events and writing a weekly column on women in leadership

Work Terms

Communication method: I prefer to communicate via email at lawanda_dickens@hotmail.com but am available for telephone interaction at 313.742.1695, between the hours of 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday, excluding holidays.

Payment terms: My rate is 50 cents per word for pieces commonly published in newspapers, magazines, newsletters, or other regularly released publications -- print or online. Examples include blogs, opinion editorials, features, letters to editors, and similar text forms. For proposals, reports, manuals, and other technical text forms, the rate is $50 per hour; this includes editing.

Pricing consists of my working with the client to gather material and information essential for producing strong text that meets the client's expectations, which must be articulated to me in writing. I also guarantee completion of work by the client's specified deadline, which we agree to in advance based on demands of the project. In addition, the rate includes all communication between client and myself, by phone and electronically. The actual writing time and any research required of me are also factored in.

I submit finished projects in Microsoft Word format along with an itemized billing statement containing a service description and record of hours (for technical writing). The client must make payment within one week of the billing date.