About Me

What some of my clients have said about me

“…one of my most valued professional associates and I can’t overstate how much I respect and appreciate her competence, kindness, integrity, and community spirit.” Linkedin
“…a boundless dedication of service to others.” Linkedin 

“…the most resourceful and business savvy person… a gifted writer and skillful copy writer…” Linkedin

 

“…an enormously talented, creative writer and thinker! She has always impressed me with her ability to articulate complex subjects, making them easy to understand and without losing the ‘meat’ of the message. All this wrapped in eloquence. She is also a delightful person of substance and exemplary character.” Linkedin

 

 “… a trusted and very highly valued professional resource for communications projects of mine for over ten years. …consistently does an awesome job for us, and her work over the years has helped get us a great deal more work.” Professional recommendation
“…a lot of experience, uses techniques for organization and team-communication that make everything move ahead smoothly, keeps us informed of progress, updates us when she runs into obstacles and always finishes everything promptly and beautifully.” Linkedin
Named in an article about “…the best minds in the technical communications industry…” Adobe DITA case study.
“one of the best English word-smiths out there.” Linkedin		 “We were most impressed with her ability to quickly learn complex technical subjects. …used the system’s tools to independently teach herself its architecture and operations. …also independently illustrated the architecture and processes within it. These manuals relieved the company of many costly training and support hours… punctual and never work-shy… technically strong, learns quickly, communicates exceptionally well, is personable, dedicated, honest, loyal, a great deal of integrity, good sense of humor… Professional recommendation
“…produced a document that thoroughly explained the structure, processes, and functions of Sotheby’s auction web site. …delivered a detailed document of about three hundred pages… …included all the major functional components of the site. …included illustrations. The finished document was enormously useful to the client and the company.” Professional recommendation

(See Linkedin for more references and information.)

 

Andrea Sharp, Professional Writer

In 1981, I very proudly finished my honors thesis at U.C. Berkeley and was awarded a B.A. My major was rhetoric. I’d transferred to Berkeley from U.C. Santa Cruz (go Slugs!) in 1979.

I used email for the first time way back in 1987, when I was working as a secretary and going to UCLA’s film school. We’d type one line into the bottom of a black screen, and then marvel that somebody else would be reading it on another computer way over on the other side of the… building!

I worked a lot. In “Hollywood.” That is, as a secretary and sometimes P.A. on all the major movie lots in the San Fernando Valley, L.A., and Culver City. That’s what I was doing full time when I turned a short screenplay I wrote into a movie (a dark suspense thriller). It won some awards (including one for best screenplay) and was screened at the pretigious London Film Festival (among some other places). I also wrote a few feature-length screenplays back then (three all together). I was a pretty prolific songwriter, too, and was booked many times for half-hour to one-hour sets at coffee houses and bars around L.A. and elsewhere, and invited to perform (more than once, as I recall) at the Roxy on Sunset Boulevard. So I know a bit about entertainment — both the business and the magic!

When the world started going completely digital in the early 1990s, I was working in analog film-making, and teaching high school kids how to draw with pencil and paper. Then somebody showed me telnet, usenet, gopher, and this new information distribution system called “the worldwide web.” Entertainment was starting to merge with computers. The whole world was about to get a lot smaller. Life was about to change in a big way.

So within about a week, I dumped my third or fourth DOS-based desktop computer, got a new one with Windows and a modem, installed Netcom’s “Net Cruiser,” said goodbye to the old era, and very happily joined the technology revolution.

My first job as a technical writer in 1996 led to contracts in Switzerland, Nashville, L.A., and the San Francisco Bay Area. Technical writing led to marketing writing, press releases, social networking know-how, web site development, low-level database work, online store building, and personalized messaging (with tools like AWeber and Mail Chimp). Among other things!

Here’s an overview:

    • Over 15 years of experience in technical and marketing writing for software companies. My own skill evolved along with the always-improving versions of documentation tools (Word, FrameMaker, Visio, Photoshop, PowerPoint, to name a few).

 

    • Experience setting up and writing content for personalized newsletters with email systems like AWeber and Mail Chimp.

 

    • Lots (and lots) of proof of excellent verbal and writing ability. (I can crank out newsletters!)

 

    • Ad copy, web site content, marketing material.

 

    • UX design knowledge and UX-design collaboration experience. (More about that here on this site soon.)

 

    • Graphics skills (Photoshop, Illustrator, Painter, Visio, Paintshop Pro).

 

    • Web site services and support (WordPress, DreamWeaver, and other CMSs).

 

    • Presentation services (PowerPoint).

 

    • Writing, publishing, and documentation services (expert-level Word; an ebook in InDesign; a set of technical documents in FrameMaker).

 

    • Experience producing technical documentation with illustrations for very complex systems. Examples: design documents, user manuals, use cases, process-flow diagrams, operations guides, requirements, etc.

 

    • Requirements analysis and management experience (with Rational Requisite Pro).

 

    • Training in teamwork, personal growth, and leadership (e.g. Byron Katie and others).

 

    • Marketing and social network training from Scott Magers, Alex Mandossian, T. Harv Eker. Sales and marketing training from Lorna Riley. Created a tracking system of my own for calendaring and consistent production.

 

    • Experience with Google Analytics.

 

    • Lots of creative achievements. But strong on analytical left-brain thinking, too, such as writing and illustrating the user manuals for the Voice of America’s digital scheduling system, and a lengthy document that described the structure and functions of Sothebys.com’s auction web site.

 

    • Classroom teaching experience (high school art and English). Invented lessons and lesson plans, adapted coaching from mentors, created friendly productive workshops, kept up with daily prep (one time for four separate topics in one semester), and managed all administrative matters. Organized!

 

    • Strong inclination to take initiative, conceive strategies, and create steps for getting the job done quickly.

 

  • Excellent references on Linkedin who verify my dedication to conscientious quality work.

Communication is my passion, and my profession.

Let me know what your needs are. If I can’t do it, I’ll find someone who can!

Andrea (and you can call me Annie)
andrea at superscription dot biz