cynthia alcott

I write, therefore I am. Louisa May Alcott is my great-great-great-great-great-GREAT aunt. From her, I suppose, I inherited the gene for storytelling with spark. Everything is, after all, a story. I have traveled widely; never met a stranger with a sincere handshake; earned a Master's degree in English at age 50. During a 25-year career, mostly in New York City, my work received nods for capturing audiences and earning profits.

I write across diverse genres for diverse clients, from fashion to the North Pole, medicine to newborn baby photography, from a 300-word press release to a 60,000-word manuscript.

Example: I can take a thousand scraps of paper with arrows scribbled in every direction and hand you back a page-turner. I name things, promote things, elevate things, whittle things, add things, all by stringing words. Music, fine art, fashion, Italy, and poetry are also passions, along with a headline that grabs you and won’t let go. Oh I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener.

Now tooting the horn because it’s necessary: I managed public relations for DuPont Textile Fibers Division (overhaul of company image with measurable three-year profit surge); wrote copy for Lands' End (honored by president for writing single most profitable catalog page in the company's 39-year history); revamped “Lands’ End Women,“ renaming it for instant visual recognition from “First Person Singular;” conducted research and wrote advisory for Italian Trade Commission (double-digit apparel manufacturing profits over two years in US and Italy); organized and edited a popular anti-aging book co-authored by editors-in-chief of Bazaar and Mademoiselle (earned acknowledgement); edited / packaged manuscript of TESLA by Tad Wise (earned dedication); and rewrote international economics piece for Russian native Dean of Dedman School of Economics, Southern Methodist University, to reflect effortless English syntax (earned acknowledgement in International Law Review).

Since 2001, I have owned and operated a writing / editing business called &C.—which means “and so forth” in Italian—handling print and digital content for corporate clients of every size, Hollywood screenwriters, published and unpublished novelists, PhD dissertations and Master’s theses.

You need something well spoken, you can call me / I’ll be around.

Cynthia