Portfolio
I became a freelance writer after earning a Ph.D in History and gaining tenure as a history professor at an R1 university.
I specialize in content writing, informative articles and blog posts, legal and business writing, and storytelling. On top of that, I write fiction under the pen name Sylvia Prince.
Storytelling
As a historian, I know how to tell a good story. I have applied my storytelling skills in designing outreach information that appeals to customers, clients, and partners.
For example, I wrote the text for a legal firm's press kit, working with a graphic designer to create a clean, modern look to appeal to referring attorneys.
Business, Legal, and technical Writing
My portfolio includes legal, business, technical, and science writing. As a professor, I taught the history of science, medicine, and technology, skills which I now apply as a content writer.
My business and technical writing includes thought leader blog posts on IT and cybersecurity topics. I’ve also written about finance, career training, and government topics.
I am also the content and SEO manager for Working Now and Then, an employment law site with resources on workers' rights.
Article Writing
I regularly contribute to All That’s Interesting and Ranker's Weird History page, both pitching story ideas and writing pieces based on an editor's pitch.
I have also written history articles for Atlas Obscura and articles on higher education for The Best Schools, Best Colleges, and other higher ed websites.
Read some of my top articles below.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO gets your site in front of viewers. By leveraging keyword research, SEO writing techniques, and off-site SEO, I drive websites to the top of search results.
I craft authoritative and informative on-site content as the SEO manager for WNT and Bruce Wilson.
My custom SEO strategies are based on in-depth research, competitor analysis, and the best practices in white-hat SEO.
Organic traffic and referring domains (WNT 2021-2023)
Historical Fiction
I write historical fiction under the pen name Sylvia Prince. These intense, page-turning novels bring the past to life. My first novel, The Lion and the Fox, imagines Machiavelli as a detective, trying to earn his way into favor by solving a Medici murder.
My other works include Salem Mean Girls, which retells the Salem witch trials in the style of Mean Girls and The Zorzi Affair, the story of a Venetian patrician's daughter who disguises herself as a boy to study science with Galileo.
Sylvia Prince's novels are available on Amazon. Learn more at Sylvia Prince Books.
Academic Writing
As a history professor, I published a book with the University of Chicago Press and multiple articles in top journals. I also wrote scholarly book reviews and presented papers at international conferences.
Selected Publications
Worldly Consumers: The Demand for Maps in Renaissance Italy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, June 2015
“Viewing the World: Women, Religion, and the Audience for Maps in Early Modern Venice,” Terrae Incognitae, v. 48 no. 1 (2016), pp. 15-36
“The World Drawn from Nature: Imitation and Authority in Sixteenth-Century Cartography,” Intellectual History Review, v. 24 no. 3, 2014
“Making an Impression: The Display of Maps in Sixteenth-Century Venetian Homes,” Imago Mundi, v. 64 no. 1, January 2012