Jeffrey Bouley –
One could argue that my first published work was in fifth grade, at the age of 10 or 11. Of course, it was only five or six pages long and there was only one copy. However, it was a gripping vampire yarn and it had a readership of my four closest friends at the time.
In actuality, my first professional publication was at the age of 17, when I had an article published in the role-playing game magazine Dragon, which had a sizable national distribution—Dungeons & Dragons and many other role-playing games having been quite popular at the time. I also won creative writing honors in county-wide competitions during high school (and no, it wasn’t some little-populated rural county…I grew up in Silicon Valley).
I attended Northwestern University, in what is one of the top-rated journalism programs in the United States (the Medill School of Journalism). I earned a bachelor’s degree, and then immediately went on to earn a master’s degree in the magazine publishing program that Medill offered.
From there, I went into mostly magazine-based work, primarily trade publications and association publications (in other words, nothing you’d find on the newstands). Most of my writing and editing has had some connection to healthcare, medicine, pharmaceuticals and environmental health/safety issues. I also have written extensively on issues related to management and business (particularly project management and high-tech business), information technology and social issues.
In addition to writing and editing, I have done newsletter design/launch work; communications consulting for non-profit organizations; publication layout work as well as design and layout of pamphlets, brochures, invitations and other communications materials; and grant-writing work.
In the years from earning my postgraduate degree until about 2002, most of my work was based in offices, either at a magazine, custom publishing house, or association or corporate entity. Since 2002, I have been mostly self-employed, working on a freelance or contract basis for a variety of publications and organizations.
Contact Information
To contact me via e-mail, click here.
I can be found on Facebook under the name Jeffrey Bouley, and if you want to access my public profile, click here.
On LinkedIn, to access my public profile, click here.
A more resume-like account of my skills, experience and education is below:
Career Accomplishments
- Transitioned from an office-based, employee-style career to sustainable freelance/self-employed model in less than a year
- Expanded from largely healthcare/environmental expertise to add business and technology areas, among others
- Quickly grew skill sets from solely writing/editing to include layout/design/desktop publishing, without formal training
- Single-handedly oversaw most communications work for three non-profit advocacy organizations simultaneously
- Spearheaded redesign of staid, black-and-white physician magazine into a lively, better organized, full-color publication
- Aided student health advocacy organization in going from state-focused agenda to becoming a regional and national force
Freelance/Contract Work
Most of my work in the new millennium has been on a freelance or contract basis, and I also did freelance work pre-2002 on a sporadic basis while holding down office-based jobs. Here’s a sampling of my freelance/contract work:
Writing, Editing & Publication Consulting
Magazines/Newspapers/Newsletters
- PM Network, Drug Discovery News, Mainebiz, The D.O., Interface Tech News, Mouth, Brides Noir, Assembly, Successful Student, Secure Retirement, Journal of the AOA, Health Watch, Whole Patient, Radiology Administrator’s Compliance & Reimbursement Insider and View from the TreeTop
Books
- Contributed to A Man’s Guide to Women (Rodale Press: 1999, 2000 & 2001 editions), The Hard-Body Plan (Rodale Press) and Fresh Choices cookbook (Rodale Press)
Associations/Corporate Communications
- TreeTop Technologies, American Osteopathic Association (AOA), Harris Bank, Generation Green, Illinois Healthy Schools Campaign, The Consumers’ Voice, Food and Water Watch, Aprigo Inc., Health 2000, Joyful Harvest Neighborhood Center, Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, and American Student Dental Association
Web Sites & Web-related
Blog
- Holy Sh!+ by Deacon Blue (at http://holyhell.wordpress.com)
Site/Forum Administration and Consulting/Content (and some design work)
- TreeTop Technologies’ electronic newsletters: www.treetopt.com/newsletter (ongoing)
- Generation Green: www.generationgreen.org (past work)
- Illinois Healthy Schools Campaign: www.healthyschoolscampaign.org (past work)
- The Consumers’ Voice (past work – group now defunct)
Other Experience
Drug Discovery News
Managing Editor / Online Content Editor
Imagination Publishing Chicago, Ill.
Senior Editor / News Editor / Contributing Editor
KPMG LLP • Midwest Proposal Group Chicago, Ill.
Manager, Proposal Strategy & Communications
American Osteopathic Association • Dept. of Communications Chicago, Ill.
Managing Editor
Cahners Publishing Des Plaines, Ill.
Special Projects Editor, SECURITY Magazine (1993-1994)
Staff Editor, Pollution Engineering Magazine (1992-1993)
Education
Northwestern University • Medill School of Journalism
Master of science degree in journalism, magazine publishing program (1991)
Bachelor of science degree in journalism, newspaper journalism (1990)
Notable Skills
- Switch easily between different writing styles—from technical to academic to conversational
- Proficient with Windows and Macintosh operating systems
- Proficient in InDesign and PageMaker and Microsoft’s Publisher and PowerPoint applications
- Competent with Dreamweaver, QuarkXPress, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and Microsoft Excel