Wordsmith for Hire
The Smithy is currently open for the following:
Press Releases
Editing
Live Merch Sales
Writing
Pronunciation Coaching
Voice Acting
Transcription
Looking for multiple services? Ask about package deals!
Discounts available for indie and small label artists!
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Discounts available for indie and small label artists! ✬
PRESS RELEASES
Are you wanting to shout out your new artistic creation, but you’re not confident with words, or perhaps English isn’t your native language? Consider hiring me to write one for you! With over 10 years of history in music journalism, I’ve read and written my fair share of press releases, features, and premieres over the years, so you can focus on making music and I will take care of making you sound good to the medias and publicists!
Starting rate: 30€ (~300 words)
EDITING
Whether it’s your novel, thesis, article, website, game text, transcript, or the lyrics to your song, good English always translates directly to professionalism! My aim in editing your text is to maintain the spirit of the original, while making it sound smooth and professional in English. With a background in medical grammar and 10+ years as a media editor and style guide creator, I’m confident that I can whip your text into perfect professional shape!
Starting rate: 5c/word, minimum 20€ (proofreading only)
Current Projects: “Aphrodite Rising” by Kathy Criswell
Live Merch Sales
Looking for someone to take care of your merch sales while you’re on stage? Consider bringing me along for the ride! I’ll take care of your merch counts, display, sales, and packing up at the end of the night so you can kick back and focus on the performance! If you’re extra nice and I can see the stage, I might even write up your performance!
You may have seen me regularly with bands like Marko Hietala, Merta, and Frozen Factory, casually with acts like Geoff Tate, Postmodern Jukebox, John Maus, Brymir, Arion, Where’s My Bible, Battle Beast, Enemies Everywhere, and Paolo Nutini, or at festivals like Dark River Festival, Maaliskuun Musta Messu, Saarihelvetti, and Metal Capital.
Rates: 15% sales commission + dinner & transit/ride outside Helsinki area
PRONUNCIATION COACHING
Even native speakers know the struggles and challenges that come with English and its complicated history and many nuances! As a coach, I will go through your vocal lines with you and point out problem areas, as well as assist in training you in proper pronunciation. My aim is not to mask your natural accent, but make your English sound more natural (and to help avoid any verbal faux pas).
Rates: starting at 40€/hour online, 60€/h in-studio
WRITING
Perhaps you have great ideas, but the written word is not your forté. Fortunately, I’ve been playing with language for well over 30 years by now, so if you have something you need written, I’m confident that I can do it and do it well! Whether it’s lyrics for your new song, a creative biography or backstory for your website, or you’re looking for a ghost-writer for your novel, I’m here to convert your ideas into words!
I’m currently particularly interested in writing short stories set within the worlds that musicians create!
Rate: project-dependent
TRANSCRIPTION
Before I was a music journalist in Finland, I was a medical transcriptionist in Canada. Not only did this teach me my stringent grammatical consistency, it also taught me an impressive typing speed. Paired with some software and a transcription pedal, I can transform your audio into text at a far more rapid speed than anyone having to pause and rewind their audio manually. Save yourself some time and let me do it for you!
Rates: starting at 1€/audio minute (cost per audio quality)
VOICE ACTING
Are you looking for a spoken word part for your song, or some voices for your video game? I’ve always had a knack for picking up verbal nuances of new languages easily and have always been able to manipulate my voice in many different ways. I am currently expanding my skills to include singing as well, having received lessons from Netta Laurenne, Sara Strömmer, and Mikael Salo.
As a voice actor, I have a plethora of available quirky voices and a few accents, many of which I am able to sing with, and my pull to the dramatic helps my ability to bring these voices to life.
Rates: project-dependent