01
Product & interface copy
Onboarding flows, empty states, settings, error messages and the small print that decides whether someone finishes signing up. Written against the real build, not a wireframe.
- UX copy doc
- Microcopy table
- Naming decisions
Freelance writer & editor
Words that survive the second read.
I am Marin Halloway. Sunday Quill is a one-person studio writing product copy, brand voice guides, newsletters and long-form reports for small software and design teams who have run out of writing hours.
Availability
Two project slots, November onward
Working on
Product, brand voice and editorial
First draft
Seven days from an approved outline
The studio
A writer who reads the product before writing about it.
Most writing problems are not writing problems. They are unfinished decisions: two names for the same feature, a promise the onboarding cannot keep, a page that answers a question nobody asked. I start by finding those, because no amount of polish hides them.
So a project begins with reading — your docs, your support threads, your last three releases — and a call where I ask the awkward questions. Then I write plainly, in your voice rather than mine, and hand over files your team can edit without me.
I work alone and take two projects at a time. That is a deliberate ceiling: it keeps drafts fast, keeps revisions honest, and means the person you brief is the person who writes every line.
— Marin
What I write
Four lanes, and the files you get back.
Every engagement ends with editable documents, a short rationale for the choices made, and notes on what I would write next. Nothing is delivered as a screenshot or locked inside a deck.
02
Brand voice guides
A short, usable voice guide: how you sound, how you never sound, and twenty rewritten examples pulled from your own pages so the rules are provable rather than aspirational.
- Voice principles
- Before/after set
- Word list
03
Newsletters & release notes
A repeatable rhythm your team can keep after I leave: a format, a running outline, and enough written issues to prove the format works on an ordinary week.
- Format spec
- Four issues
- Editorial calendar
04
Long-form & reports
Research-backed essays, field reports and customer stories. I run the interviews, check the claims, and cut the draft to the length the argument actually needs.
- Interviews
- Source notes
- Edited manuscript
Selected work
Four briefs, and what left the studio.
Client names are kept private by default. Each note describes the brief as it arrived, what I wrote, and the files handed over at the end.
Rewriting a signup nobody finished
The team had three names for the same object and a first screen that asked for work before showing any. I rewrote the flow end to end, renamed the object once, and cut the setup from nine screens to four.
Shipped: UX copy doc, naming decisions, empty states
One voice for eleven writers
Every page sounded like whoever wrote it last. We agreed four principles, then rewrote twenty real paragraphs side by side so the studio could see the rules applied rather than described.
Shipped: voice guide, before/after set, word list
A release note people read
Changelogs went out as bullet lists nobody opened. We moved to one decision per issue, written as a short story about why it changed, with the full list kept underneath for the people who want it.
Shipped: format spec, four issues, calendar
A field report, properly sourced
Nine interviews, a claim check on every figure quoted, and a manuscript cut by a third in the final edit. The argument held at the shorter length, which is usually the sign it was the right cut.
Shipped: interviews, source notes, edited manuscript
How a project runs
Three weeks, and you always know which one you are in.
A single-piece project runs to this shape. Retainers repeat weeks two and three on a monthly loop, and audits stop after week one with a written findings document.
Week 0 · Kickoff
Brief and access
A sixty-minute call, then I read everything you already have. You get a written brief back for approval, including what I think the piece should not try to do.
Week 1 · Shape
Research and outline
Interviews if the piece needs them, then a structural outline with the argument in order and the open questions listed. Nothing gets written until this is signed off.
Week 2 · Draft
First draft in your hands
A complete draft, not an outline with sentences. It arrives with margin notes explaining the choices I expect you to push back on.
Week 3 · Close
Revisions and handover
Two revision rounds, consolidated feedback each time. Handover includes editable files, source notes and a short list of what I would write next.
Ways to work together
Three shapes, priced from the scope of the brief.
Figures below are starting points for planning, not a menu. Once the brief is agreed you get a fixed price in writing, so the invoice never depends on how long a sentence took.
From £1,400 per piece
Single piece
- One landing page, guide or report
- Research call and written brief
- Outline approval before drafting
- Two revision rounds
Suits: one clear deliverable with a date
From £2,600 per month
Monthly retainer
- Agreed output each month, set in advance
- Standing weekly slot in the calendar
- Editing on anything your team writes
- Rolling, one month notice either way
Suits: teams shipping continuously
From £900 fixed
Editorial audit
- Read of your live pages and product copy
- Findings document with priorities
- Twenty rewritten examples
- Walkthrough call with your team
Suits: deciding what to fix first
Rush work inside a week carries a surcharge agreed up front. Half on acceptance of the brief, half on handover.
Questions
The things clients ask before the first call.
How many revision rounds are included?
Two, on every engagement. A round means one consolidated set of feedback from your side, not a stream of separate notes. If a third round is needed because the brief changed, I will say so before doing the work and quote it separately.
What access do you need from us?
Read access to whatever already exists: product docs, support threads, past drafts, analytics if you have them, and a test account for the product itself. If something is confidential, a summary works. The more I read, the fewer questions you answer later.
Do you write for search?
I write for the reader first and structure for search second. That means real headings, answers near the top, and a target query per piece if you have one. I do not write keyword-padded pages, and I will tell you plainly when a topic is not worth a page.
Will the work be credited to you?
Only if you want it to be. Most of what I write goes out under a client byline or no byline at all, and that is the default. I keep a private portfolio for prospective clients and will always ask before showing anything publicly.
Can you start next week?
Sometimes. Two projects run at once, so the honest answer depends on where those are in their three-week shape. Rush work inside a week is possible with a surcharge agreed up front, and I would rather decline than take a deadline I cannot keep.
Who owns the writing afterwards?
You do, in full, once the final invoice is settled. Files are handed over in editable formats with source notes attached, so your team can change anything later without coming back to me.
Start a brief
Tell me what needs writing.
A few lines is enough to start. Briefs are read on Sundays; you will get either a written proposal or an honest pointer to someone better suited.
- 01 What the piece is and who reads it
- 02 The date it needs to exist by
- 03 What already exists that I can read
- 04 The budget shape you are working within