Editorial Freelancers Association
Member Profile
Mary Catherine Lewis
MCL Editing, Etc.
I help individuals and companies create accurate, effective content; I’m known for following style guides, meeting deadlines, and enhancing clients’ success. My career began in 1977 at the children’s magazine, Ebony Jr! In 1980 I became a self-employed writer and editor and have focused on educational and religious publishing and corporate media. Recent projects have me tackling content creation, editing and proofreading magazines, blogs, interactive websites, infographics, and other content across the online and print spectrum. I’ve enjoyed proofreading conference proposals by informaticists (2022, 2023); proofreading deliverables for an award-winning brand agency (2017-2023); writing intranet articles for a global investment firm (2022); copyediting and proofreading books for religious publishers (2009-2023); copyediting a book on microfinance in Haiti (Fonkozi, 2017); proofreading test items (FYI Online Learning, 2015, 2013); writing company profiles (Kepos Media and Gale, Cengage reference books, 2009-2013); and copyediting pediatric psychiatrist Karen Taylor-Crawford’s keynote speech for the Institute for Juvenile Research’s centennial program (2010). I excel at using the AP, APA, CMOS, and Gregg style guides, and I’m a regular user of Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, InCopy, Smartsheet, and Teamwork.
My writings appeared in eMerge magazine and the award-winning Echo anthology (2021); Under Her Skin (2004); Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (2003); In Praise of Our Teachers (2003); Faces of AIDS (2000); and Sleeping with One Eye Open (1999), a Chicago Tribune critic’s choice. In 1988, African American Images published Herstory, my nonfiction book on teens, which is in its sixth printing.
I’ve taught writing at grade school, college and adult learner levels. Fellowships and grants for writing have come from the Illinois Arts Council, Carnegie Fund for Authors, and Vogelstein Foundation. I’ve been writer-in-residence at Hedgebrook, Ragdale, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
I’m a graduate of Oberlin College (BA, communications and government). I’ve enriched my education with courses in technical writing and advanced web design at Ill. Institute of Technology, Lynne Grimes’s indexing course, and the NIH course on protecting human research subjects. Along with my passions for films, gardening, and cooking, mine is a satisfying life.
Evanston, IL
US
Home phone: 312-208-7436
Email: mclwriter@msn.com
More information: View PDF file
Years in the field: 46
Years freelancing: 43
Mary Lewis
I help individuals and companies create accurate, effective content; I’m known for following style guides, meeting deadlines, and enhancing clients’ success. My career began in 1977 at the children’s magazine, Ebony Jr! In 1980 I became a self-employed writer and editor and have focused on educational and religious publishing and corporate media. Recent projects have me tackling content creation, editing and proofreading magazines, blogs, interactive websites, infographics, and other content across the online and print spectrum. I’ve enjoyed proofreading conference proposals by informaticists (2022, 2023); proofreading deliverables for an award-winning brand agency (2017-2023); writing intranet articles for a global investment firm (2022); copyediting and proofreading books for religious publishers (2009-2023); copyediting a book on microfinance in Haiti (Fonkozi, 2017); proofreading test items (FYI Online Learning, 2015, 2013); writing company profiles (Kepos Media and Gale, Cengage reference books, 2009-2013); and copyediting pediatric psychiatrist Karen Taylor-Crawford’s keynote speech for the Institute for Juvenile Research’s centennial program (2010). I excel at using the AP, APA, CMOS, and Gregg style guides, and I’m a regular user of Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, InCopy, Smartsheet, and Teamwork.
My writings appeared in eMerge magazine and the award-winning Echo anthology (2021); Under Her Skin (2004); Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (2003); In Praise of Our Teachers (2003); Faces of AIDS (2000); and Sleeping with One Eye Open (1999), a Chicago Tribune critic’s choice. In 1988, African American Images published Herstory, my nonfiction book on teens, which is in its sixth printing.
I’ve taught writing at grade school, college and adult learner levels. Fellowships and grants for writing have come from the Illinois Arts Council, Carnegie Fund for Authors, and Vogelstein Foundation. I’ve been writer-in-residence at Hedgebrook, Ragdale, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
I’m a graduate of Oberlin College (BA, communications and government). I’ve enriched my education with courses in technical writing and advanced web design at Ill. Institute of Technology, Lynne Grimes’s indexing course, and the NIH course on protecting human research subjects. Along with my passions for films, gardening, and cooking, mine is a satisfying life.
