Gary Hoffman, freelancer

I am a freelance writer based in in Ann Arbor, Mich., USA, with a varied client base: a newspaper based in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, a major U.S. online firm (AOL), editorial services companies serving major corporations, along with other local and national clients. During my three-decade career, I have covered general news and lifestyles, technology, the auto industry, as well as commercial and residential real estate. The common thread in all my work is a demonstrated ability to write in an interesting and entertaining manner, even on the most complex subjects. As a former newspaper reporter, magazine editor and wire services rewrite editor, I am able to adapt to nearly any editorial need. I started out my career as a reporter at a small Michigan newspaper and then worked in a number of writing and editing positions, before moving into magazine management.

I have been the editor or managing editor of a number of magazines and newspapers: The Michigan Real Estate Journal, Detroit Monthly, Corporate Detroit, Ford World and Chevy Pro, among others. In 2003, I began working as a full-time freelance reporter, writer and translator.

To some extent, I have also built my freelance business on a combination of skills that are somewhat rare in the United States: journalism and foreign languages. Early in my career, I worked for two years as a rewrite person on the news desk of the English-language service of Agence France-Presse in Paris, writing and editing, and translating from French to English under daily deadline pressures.

Over the past four years, I have translated approximately half a million words of German into English for a special, subscriber-based newsletter published by a biweekly trade publication (Automobilwoche) in Germany. (I am a certified by the American Translators Association for German-English translations.) I also translate from both German and French on a freelance basis for translation houses in Detroit and Stuttgart.

I studied English literature, French, and political science at the University of Michigan and hold a master's degree in journalism from Michigan State University. I also teach journalism part-time at Wayne State University in Detroit, specializing in publishing on the Internet, media management, and writing.