Awards & Memberships
- 2011 – Devastation on the Delaware named Finalist in Best Regional Nonfiction and Best History categories of the National Indie Excellence Awards
- 2010 – Almost Perfect: Disabled Pets and the People Who Love Them wins a Muse Medallion and Certificate of Excellence from the Cat Writers Association for Best Press Kit
- 2006 – Devastation on the Delaware named Notable Reference Book by Writers Notes Magazine in their Annual Book Awards.
- 2006 – Devastation on the Delaware garners runner-up status in Regional History and Nature Writing categories of USABookNews.com Annual Book Awards.
- 1995 – Winner: Best Book In One or Two Colors, Mid America Publishers Assn.
- 1998 – Honorable Mention, Potomac Review Annual Short Story/Essay Contest.
- Member – ASJA (The American Society of Journalists and Authors)
- Member – The Authors Guild
- Member – Pennwriters
- Member – Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group
Employment History
Word Forge Books
Ferndale, PA 6/05-Present
Publisher of this award-winning book publishing division of The Word Forge, which publishes Mary Shafer’s business books under the SavvyBiz! imprint, among other titles. Also offers custom publishing for our clients who want to put out corporate histories, CEO-written business books, etc.
The Word Forge
Ferndale, PA 2/97-Present
Freelance communications. Marketing: concepts, headlines & copywriting for print & new media; writing & editing press releases, publicity features, profiles, newsletters, direct mail; ghostwriting for business letters, speeches, books, manuals.
Rhino Tactics
Buckingham, PA 3/99- 6/02
Creative director, copywriter and project manager for construction-specific advertising and marketing agency. Also created sales proposals and presentations.
Community School
New Hope-Solebury, PA 3/99-12/00
Instructor, adult writing courses.
The Art Emporium
Milwaukee, WI 5/90-2/97
Owner/operator of full line freelance communications studio. Original copywriting and editing for print advertising media, public relations and publicity services.
Milwaukee Area Technical College
Milwaukee, WI 8/94-12/96
Instructor, advertising layout, illustration and copywriting.
Trade Press, Inc.
Glendale, WI 3/94-9/94
Magazine publisher/service bureau. Ad copy and headline concept and writing, graphic design and illustration for trade ads and collateral print.
NorthWord Press/Lost River Press
Minocqua, WI 2/90-12/93
Interim manuscript editor/proofreader and art director for nature book publishers. Wrote sell copy for catalogs, book covers/flaps, trade and consumer ads, promotional materials. Production manager, publicist duties.
Shafer Design
Milwaukee, WI 1/84-2/90
Copywriting, art direction, design & illustration for direct mail and collateral print sales materials.
South Side Spirit
Milwaukee, WI 10/83-9/86
Newspaper reporter. Straight news, features, headlines and ad copy.
Education
Skillpath Seminars
Allentown, PA 11/99
Writing for the Web
Milwaukee Area Technical College
Milwaukee, WI 8/87-5/90
Associate of Applied Science in Commercial Art. Honors graduate, 3.99 GPA.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI Spring 1981
Commercial art, English literature concentration.
3.54 GPA.
University of Wisconsin-Stout
Menomonee, WI 1/80-12/80
Studio art, English/History minors. 3.74 GPA.
Menomonee Falls East High School
Milwaukee, WI Spring 1979
Newspaper layout editor, reporter. Quill & Scroll Society, National Honor Society.
Personal
Avid reader, history buff, nature appreciator. Hobbies: blacksmithing, metal detecting, genealogy, oil painting, drawing & music.
Author of: Almost Perfect: Disabled Pets and the People Who Love Them (Enspirio House, 2008); Devastation on the Delaware: Stories and Images of the Flood of 1955 (Word Forge Books, 2005); Rural America: A Pictorial Folk Memory (Willow Creek Press, 1995); Wisconsin: The Way We Were (Heartland Press, 1993)