Patrick Stephenson

Current

• Proofreader at OLSON
• Editor/Writer at Self Employed (Self-employed)

Past

• Proofreader/Copy Editor at Fallon
• Intern at Graywolf Press

Education

• University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Recommended

8 people have recommended Patrick

Connections

59 connections

Industry

Writing and Editing

Patrick Stephenson’s Summary

As a proofreader, I offer my extensive experience and expertise. An advertising-perfect mix of descriptivist and prescriptivist, I know a split infinitive from a dangling participle. I can correct your spelling and grammar, but I can also explain why your copy does not cohere. I’ve proofed TV and radio scripts, magazine ads, billboards and Web sites for corporations both small and multinational from multiple genres of business: insurance, financial, retail, food, pet food, health & fitness, and nonprofit. I’ve proofed during high-pressure pitch sessions lasting till 3 a.m. I’ve proofed German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and Arabic. The OED is my friend; manuals of style are my confidants.

Patrick Stephenson’s Specialties:

Proofreading, Writing

Patrick Stephenson’s Experience

• Proofreader

  OLSON

  (Privately Held; Marketing and Advertising industry)

  June 2009 — Present (2 months)

• Editor/Writer

  Self Employed (Self-employed)

  (Self-Employed; Writing and Editing industry)

  2003 — Present (6 years)

  As a freelance editor, I’ve proofed work for Robert Louie Austin (Austin Real Estate Services), Sidney Levinsohn (author of "Witness a Miracle—Your Own") and Spunk Design Machine.
  
  As a freelance writer, I’ve contributed hard-news stories, features and columns to numerous publications, including "The Post-Bulletin," "Rochester Magazine," "Simply Minnesota," "Bloody Disgusting," "Return of the Reluctant," "The Believer," and others. My favorite stories are experiential, first-person features. I’ve learned, for example, how to voice-act, clog, unicycle and survive an hour in an isolation tank. I also enjoy writing humorous, personality- and persona-based rant and rave columns. For my journalism, I was recognized by the MN Society of Professional Journalists (Gold Award) and the Minnesota Magazines and Publication Association. I collected my writing from 2003–2007 into "Endothermic," a self-published anthology/experimental novel.
  
  Most recently, for Fallon’s "Culture Vultures," a blog of which I was the editor, I conducted long-form interviews with Susan Just, a hypnotherapist, and Martin Schmutterer, the assistant manager of Garrison Keillor’s Common Good Books.

• Proofreader/Copy Editor

  Fallon

  (Public Company; Marketing and Advertising industry)

  November 2007 — May 2009 (1 year 7 months)

  At Fallon, one of advertising’s most respected firms, I proofed for clients like NYSE, Equinox Health & Fitness Clubs, Travelers, NBC Universal, Nestlé, Johnson Controls, Holiday Inn, TheLadders, Boston Market, General Mills, Purina and ADCB (Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank). I interacted with project managers, account managers, creatives and studio to ensure my proofing went through and argued for corrections when necessary.
  
  Outside of my everyday duties, I created and maintained a database of RFP responses the New Business team used during pitches. In addition, Brenda Fogg and Chris Wiggins—the creators of Skimmer, a social media aggregator released free by Fallon—appointed me Editor of and Contributor to Culture Vultures, a blog on the reworked Fallon Web site designed to promote cultural goings-on in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Wiggins and Fogg selected me for my engagement with Twin Cities culture.

• Intern

  Graywolf Press

  (Publishing industry)

  June 2007 — September 2007 (4 months)

  In summer 2007, I interned at Graywolf Press, a prestigious, Saint Paul-based publisher loved worldwide by in-the-know literati. Graywolf has published Ander Monson, Benjamin Percy, Jane Kenyon, Charles Baxter and Percival Everett, among others. Its list is incredible and incredibly diverse. Alongside regular editorial duties like recommending or rejecting slush-pile manuscripts, I became Graywolf’s de facto social media expert, signing the company up for a Facebook profile and a Twitter account long before (two years before) such things seemed necessities. The former received nearly 500 friend requests during my three months at Graywolf. The latter (@graywolfpress) now has almost 2,500 Twitter followers and is used by Graywolf to promote new releases, readings and articles about its authors. My social media efforts prompted a September 2007 "Publisher’s Weekly" article.

Patrick Stephenson’s Education

• University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

  BA , English , 2002 — 2006

  I graduated in May 2006 with a BA in English and a 3.7 GPA, having earned several academic honors, including Dean’s List placement, a Latin Student of the Year award, and the Donald V. Hawkins scholarship. I also received a scholarship from the Mayo Clinic and studied under "Prairie Home Companion" creator Garrison Keillor.