Company overview
LifeLines is all about helping you share your story—whether you are a business, a nonprofit, a political hopeful, or a regular person.
Everyone has a story to share. Businesses want their customers to know what they do and how much it costs. Parents want their children to know what it was like to come to America, or grow up during the Depression, or survive cancer. Nonprofits want their donors to know how many children need to be sponsored, or how many Bibles need to be translated, or how much it will cost to keep the doors open. Everyone has a story to share.
But not everyone knows how to share most effectively. That’s why they ask for my help.
I know where to use an apostrophe, and when to use whom instead of who—but good writing is more than obeying the rules of grammar. Good writing is understanding how to use grammar to convey your message most effectively. Good writing builds a bridge between you and the people you want to reach.
Products and services
There are a lot of different skills involved in helping you share your story—writing, editing, proofreading, layout, font selection, printing…. But it’s probably most helpful to organize all these skills into the categories below:
Areas of expertise
Contact info
I do have a phone number, but I prefer to communicate by email first:
Melanie Jongsma, Wordsmith
lifelinespublishing@gmail.com
Media mentions
- 2008 interview with AKGmag
- 2010 article about Cancer Freedom
- 2013 article by SavvyDad founder, Greg Hague
- “Social Media Success,” 2010 interview with Denise Wakeman
- “Spreading the Message,” 2008 Times article
- “Thank You, Melanie,” 2008 column
- “Social Media: Get On Board,” 2012 panel participation
JPEGs
These images are high-resolution, RGB. Click to open them in a separate page for download. If you need a different format, please let me know.
You can quote me on that—
“Whether it’s their own priest or pastor, or a celebrity theologian like Rick Warren or Joel Osteen, most Christians would rather be fed Biblical truths than feed themselves.” (from “3 reasons Christians don’t read the Bible“)
“Barack Obama is the first black President of the United States, but he’s not the first black person to break a barrier, or to give white people reason to dismantle our stereotypes. We seem unable to apply truths proven before (by Jackie Robinson, for example) to new situations (like President Obama). Will we go through the same jokes, disrespect, and fear the first time a woman is elected? The first time a Mexican is elected? Why do we have to start all over again? Every. Single. Time.” (from “‘Show me your papers’—thoughts on respecting President Obama“)
“What’s unique about selling writing services is that almost everybody is able to write—we learned it in grade school! But not everyone writes well, and not everyone knows the difference between good writing and adequate writing. Even fewer understand that good writing is good business—a worthwhile investment that can reap measurable returns. (from “Cost and value“)
“American mission trips tend to focus on alleviating some kind of material poverty. We are materially rich, and we assume that the rest of the world needs what we have. But there are other kinds of poverty. And people who are materially rich are often completely unaware of their deep needs in other areas.” (from “We are all poor“)
“The art of diversity is not just a one-day celebration at Living Springs. It’s a journey, an adventure, a fragile, hope-filled, daily decision.” (from “Diversity: art and illusion“)