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Freelance Committee

The Freelance Committee's purpose is to promote, assist, and build a communication network for freelance reporters, writers, editors, copy editors, photographers, designers and all additional contract journalists. This committee?s goal is to bring heightened awareness to freelance journalism. It acts a bridge to connect freelance journalists with editors. This committee is an advocate for freelance journalism. It also provides a professional and social outlet for freelance journalists. This committee encourages reasonable work-pay ratios, respect, and education for the growing number of freelance journalists.

Freelance Committee Chair

Dana Neuts
Freelance Journalist
P.O. Box 6231
Kent, WA 98064
E-mail
Twitter
Freelance Directory Profile
Bio (click to expand) After a career in financial services, Dana (Blozis) Neuts began freelancing in 2003. Based in Kent, Washington, Dana is a freelance writer and editor as well as the owner and publisher of iLoveKent.net and iLoveCovington.com, hyperlocal blogs. Her work has appeared in many Seattle-area publications as well as national publications including GSN: Government Security News, HS Today and American Profile. She is past-president of the award-winning Western Washington Pro Chapter of SPJ, serves as the Region 10 Director of SPJ, is a member of the membership committee, and chairman of the freelance committee. She previously served on the SDX foundation board and has been a facilitator for Scripps. For more information, please visit VirtuallyYourz.com. Specialties: Business Writing and Editing, Features, Humor, Small Business, Nonprofits, Finance, Insurance, Travel, and Marketing Consulting and Implementation including Social Media.

Freelance Committee Members

Crai Bower
E-mail
Twitter
Bio (click to expand) Award winning travel and lifestyle writer Crai S Bower contributed over 100 articles in 2010 for more than 20 publications and online sources. He is the travel commentator for NPR-affiliate KUOW and American Forces Radio and was featured in “Seattle 100: Portrait of a City.” www.FlowingStreamWriting.net

Carol Cole-Frowe
Freelance journalist
E-mail
Twitter
Freelance Directory Profile
Bio (click to expand) Carol Cole-Frowe is a full-time freelance writer and veteran journalist specializing in profiles, environmental, science, business and health reporting. She is an award-winning journalist who has written or edited at several daily Oklahoma newspapers, the Oklahoma Gazette and The Associated Press. She also is president of the Oklahoma Pro chapter.

Jeff Cutler
E-mail
Twitter
Bio (click to expand) Jeff Cutler is a content creator and social media strategist with 21 years experience in traditional journalism and new media. He is the Social Media Trainer for the Society of Professional Journalists nationwide. With interests that range from food (he’s one of the hosts of NomX3.com) to technology (he regularly attends and reports on technology events like CES Las Vegas), Jeff harnesses the power of social media in his job and his avocations. Jeff has advised the University of Massachusetts, the New York Press Association, AIM Mutual Insurance Group, HRM Diet, MetroWest Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Women Business Owners and a number other businesses on how to leverage social media in their operations.

Jeff is a published author; has written for WBUR (NPR Boston), the Boston Globe, New York Post, AutomotiveRhythms.com, Gatehouse Media, MobileMag.com, Technology Review, and other publications. You can find Jeff at jeffcutler.com.

Michael Fitzgerald
E-mail
Twitter
Freelance Directory Profile
Bio (click to expand) Michael Fitzgerald has freelanced for nearly 10 years, writing for publications and Web sites including the Boston Globe Magazine, BNet, The Economist, Fast Company, Inc., the New York Times and Yahoo! His most recent awards were 2nd place finishes in the American Society of Journalists and Authors’ 2009 Outstanding Article awards in the Business and Technology and Trade categories. His Web site is www.mffitzgerald.com

Eric Francis
E-mail
Twitter
Freelance Directory Profile
Bio (click to expand) A new addition to the Freelance Committee in 2011, Eric Francis has been a journalist and grant writer for three years.

Paula Pant
PDP Associates
E-mail
Twitter
Freelance Directory Profile
Bio (click to expand) Paula Pant is an award-winning freelance journalist specializing in small business and personal finance. A former newspaper reporter and assistant news editor (The Colorado Daily, The E.W. Scripps Company), she has won a regional Society of Professional Journalists award for online video reporting/producing. She is co-President of the Atlanta Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and was named a 2010 SPJ Diversity Fellow. She has traveled to more than 30 countries across the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Latin America. She graduated magna cum laude from the Honors Program at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Specialties: Money, Personal Finance, Budget Travel, “Mom & Pop” Real Estate, Small Business Management/Entrepreneurship

Tara Puckey
E-mail
Twitter
Bio (click to expand) Tara Puckey is a freelance journalist based in Indianapolis, Indiana. She always enjoyed writing, premiering her work at the age of three with “Blue Dot, Yellow Dot,” a story about two colors that befriended each other. Later, she participated in the Young Authors competition and wrote an article for American Way magazine. Sadly, there's no link to that since it was written before the Internet existed. Later in life, after choosing journalism in a list of alphabetical majors, she fell in love with the business. In 2011, she graduated from IU School of Journalism at IUPUI with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, with High Distinction. At that point, she had been freelancing for four years and won several national awards. Part of a military family, Puckey originally focused her freelance business on military media. Later, she expanded to offer web design, branding, editing and other services. She is especially fond of working with small, local businesses and non-profits.

David Sheets
Sports Editor
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
E-mail
Twitter
Bio (click to expand) David Sheets is a sports editor and technology writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and its electronic alter ego, STLtoday.com, and is president of the St. Louis Pro Chapter of SPJ. He has worked for newspapers in Missouri, Illinois, Florida and Nevada over the past 28 years, and briefly was a freelancer during that time.

Maya Payne Smart
E-mail
Twitter
Freelance Directory Profile
Bio (click to expand) After spending six years in the trenches, Maya Payne Smart founded WritingCoach.com to help journalists, authors and other writers build profitable businesses. Her mission is to provide the tools, information and advice that freelancers need to thrive, from marketing basics to advanced business-building strategies. Smart also uses her expertise to teach entrepreneurial journalism courses for the Society of Professional Journalists, the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism and other organizations for wordsmiths. She currently serves on the boards of the Society of American Business Editors & Writers and James River Writers. Visit WritingCoach.com for tips and tools to help you build a more profitable writing business.

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter
Freelance journalist
Rochester, N.Y.
E-mail
Freelance Directory Profile
Bio (click to expand) Ruth E. Thaler-Carter (www.writerruth.com) has been a full-time freelance writer, editor and desktop publisher since 1984. She is chapter coordinator, national newsletter editor and workshop presenter for the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA); member of the SPJ and American Copy Editors Society freelance committees, among other association memberships; author and publisher of “Get Paid to Write! Getting Started as a Freelance Writer”; and author of “Freelancing 101: Launching Your Editorial Business.”