Richard Bayan

Need the services of an established wordsmith? I'm friendly, reasonably priced, easy to work with, and intent on delivering top-quality work that gets results. You can contact me directly at rickbayan at Verizon dot net. I was born in New Brunswick, NJ, and raised there during the idyllic 1950s and '60s. After graduating from Rutgers with a degree in history, I picked up a master's in journalism from the University of Illinois. I worked briefly for a couple of trade magazines and Time-Life Books, then found my professional calling as an advertising copywriter -- first at Barron's and later at Day-Timers, where I served as copy chief from 1985 through 1999. While at Barron's I wrote my first book, Words That Sell, a copywriter's thesaurus that quickly became a standard marketing reference. The Cynic's Dictionary followed ten years later. In 2003 I was asked to write a sequel to Words That Sell, and the result was (surprise!) More Words That Sell -- actually a very different book with a more targeted approach to selling. In 2006 I completed a major revision and expansion of the original Words That Sell. I quit my day-job in 1999 and have been busy since then establishing myself as a freelance writer-consultant. My clients have ranged from Louis Borders (co-founder of Borders Books) to a small art cinema in Allentown, PA. In 2007 I launched a political blog called The New Moderate (http://newmoderate.com) in a valiant (but probably doomed) attempt to bridge the gap between the battling "red" and "blue" camps in the U.S. My first essay collection, Extremely Dark Chocolates, appeared as a Kindle e-book in 2014, followed by Lifestyles of the Doomed (2016) and The World Is My Obstacle Course (2018). They're impassioned, personal, stylishly written, and reflective of my appealingly dark brand of humor. I live in a quaint, tree-shaded, 125-year-old former livery stable in Philadelphia with my teenage son and a middle-aged cat. I'm available for freelance projects or contract work. Wish me luck (and buy my books!).