Susan came highly recommended to me by a fellow editor and after about a year of working with her, I’ve not been disappointed. In fact, her professionalism, responsiveness and thorough researching skills have exceeded my expectations. She’s extremely conscientious of deadlines and is accommodating even under deadline pressure. Rare is the freelancer whose actual abilities match the resume—dare I say, Susan is a gem in a sea of posers.
Editor
Materials Management in Health Care magazine
(an American Hospital Association publication)

Our medical organization retained Susan's services as a medical and science writer in 1996, and we have been more than pleased ever since with her writing expertise and, as important, her attention to detail. With her writing and interviewing skills, she has cracked the code on many highly scientific abstracts, making the sometimes incomprehensible results come alive for the general public to understand and appreciate. That's not easy to do. She also has worked with our medical consultants on highly critical and sensitive report writing and has never failed to deliver -- on time, on budget and on target. Assistant Executive Director
American Society of Anesthesiologists

Susan Birk's abilities as a quality management writing consultant have been the backbone of the American Society of Anesthesiologists' Consultation Program. She receives an extensive report on audio tape, often dictated in cars or aircraft by physicians who do not do report dictation in their regular work, and thus produce a challenging rough draft on tape. Susan's ability to craft a coherent, crisp and readable document from this raw material has been a lifesaver for our program. She is always ready and willing to go the extra mile to meet a deadline or rework a particularly difficult passage.
Chair, Committee on Quality Management and Departmental Administration
American Society of Anesthesiologists

Something happened to me when I read your recent stories for CornerStone: I broke out in a big smile. With minimal background information, you were able to write with clarity and style about diverse topics . . . Fast work that's top-notch is hard to come by . . . Thanks again for making my job easier.
Internal Communications Manager
Stone Container Corporation/Smurfit-Stone

I just wanted to thank you for your excellent work and fast turnaround on the daycare and "C-team" articles you recently wrote for me for our employee newspaper. Since I had not used you before the daycare article, I felt that I was taking somewhat of a chance in using an unknown entity to write on a sensitive topic. However, both the professional manner in which you went about gathering information, and the personal, "real" tone in which you wrote the article, impressed me a great deal. It's nice to know that there is a responsible professional out there who can be relied on when our own staff is overloaded.
Employee Communications Manager
Continental Bank

I just wanted to let you know how pleased we are with the quality story and sidebars that you wrote for us. They're interesting, readable and well organized. Moreover, with very little prior knowledge of our organization and culture, you caught on quickly, which is evidence of good insight on your part. I appreciate your ability to process volumes of information and present it so well. I was also pleased that you kept within our project budget and submitted your work before our deadline. From my personal perspective, it was great to receive freelance work that required so little editing. You made my job easier! Thanks again for a job well done.
Internal Communications Manager
Inland Steel Industries, Inc.

Your marketing article is the first feature in the attached Inside Ryerson magazine. Thanks again for the excellent story. Your subject matter was right on target. Changes were minimal and all the people involved were highly complimentary of your efforts. Reader comments have also been favorable-we couldn't ask for more.
Communications Manager
Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc.

I wanted you to know that your freelance article on emerging specialties in nursing was quite a hit with staff here at the American Nurses Association. The feature was the lead article for the October issue of The American Nurse, "Shaping Your Career." I felt it was an excellent addition to our annual issue directed at nursing students. But it also gave "veteran" nurses a look into three nursing specialties that are gaining popularity throughout the profession. I am always looking for freelancers who are comfortable writing about nursing and health care issues. Because I still have two staff vacancies at the newspaper to fill, I need to rely on freelance writers who can delve into assignments and seek out nursing resources for information. I was extremely pleased with your assignment and know that we will be able to work together in the future.
Editor, American Nurse
American Nurses Association

Just a quick note to let you know how pleased I am with the media relations campaign you are developing on my behalf. Although we have only been working together on this project for a few months, I am impressed with the fact that you have already obtained so much publicity for me with major radio and television stations. I look forward to our continued association.
Chicago-based consultant

As you can see from the enclosed samples, our USA Today supplement is fresh off the presses and looks marvelous! Thank you for your work on this most important AAOMS project. . . Our Board of Trustees couldn't be more pleased and we expect our entire membership will feel the same . . . Again, thank you for sharing your talents with us!
Associate Executive Director, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons