Shaun Turner
Curriculum Vitae
Summary
SEO and content strategist by day, writer and editor by night—I help brands tell compelling and informative stories (read both by humans and Google’s ever-mysterious algorithms). With a background in academia, customer service, freelancing, and grassroots arts advocacy, I bridge creative storytelling and data-driven marketing.
Key Skills
Professional Experience
Creekmore Marketing | Nicholasville, KY
Senior Content & SEO Specialist | Nov 2023 – Present
Content & SEO Specialist | Jan 2022 – Nov 2023
Stirring: A Literary Collection
Fiction Editor | 2017 – Present
Curating stories from general submissions for one of the internet’s first literary journals—where "no" is delivered kindly
Eastern Kentucky University
Part-Time Faculty | 2017 – 2021
Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen
Director’s Assistant | 2018 – 2019
Additional Roles
Education & Certifications
Certifications: Google Analytics 4, SEMrush, HubSpot Email Marketing, others
Professional Publications
Creative Publications
Chapbook
"Trying Not to Write Roadkill: Poems," Ghost City Press, August 2019
"The Lawless River: Stories," Red Bird Chapbooks, January 2016
Flash Fiction:
"Trav'lin' Light," museum of americana, Americana Stories, June 2023
"Memaw's Story," Looking at Appalachia, September 2018
"Pigeonblood," The Fourth River: Tributaries, April 2018
“The World that Thinks the Worst,” New South Journal, January 2018
"Planting by Design," "A Naming Story," & "After A Couple Years, You Can Distinguish All the Sirens," FRiGG Magazine, Issue 49, Spring/Summer 2017
"You Know by Instinct," Reservoir Literary, Issue 3 (January 2017)
"These Are The Things That They Know," SHARK REEF, Issue 29, (January 2017)
“Bowlcuts,” Devil’s Lake, Fall 2016 (January 2017)
"No Hiding Place," Stirring: A Literary Collection, October 2016
"The Wraytown Incident," Helen: A Literary Magazine, Issue 5 (October 2016)
"Heartland Sermon" & "A Fixed Idea," Connotation Press, (May 2016)
"An Evening Appointment," Bear Review, Issue 4 (March 2016)
"The Men's League," HARK Magazine, Issue 5, January 2016
"The Greek Tragedy," REVOLUTION JOHN, May 2015
"Crime Spree," Tin House: Flash Fridays, January 2015
"On His Journey to the Pacific Ocean," Night Train, January 2015
"The Woman From Brazil," The Legendary, Issue 46/47 (November 2014)
"This Is What He Knows," Literary Orphans, Issue 14 (July 2014)
“How I Learned to Fish,” Crack the Spine, Issue 118 (July 2014) + (print anthology)
“Kentucky Snakes,” Cleaver Magazine, Issue 6 (June 2014)
“Dissolution of Care,” Blue Lyra Review, Issue 3.3 (April 2014) + (print anthology)
“God Bless the Child,” Word Riot, December 2013
Short Fiction:
"Carry Me Back to the Mountainbirds," Entropy Magazine, (September 2018)
“Something Special,” 1888 Center’s The Cost of Paper, Vol. 5, (March 2018)
"The Funeral March," Appalachian Heritage, Winter 2018: Vol. 46, Issue 1 (February 2018)
"The Blue Heron," Still: The Journal, Issue 22 (October 2016)
"Ice Storm, Gray Smoke, and You," Permafrost Magazine, Volume 38.1 (Winter 2016)
"The Vine Dynamic," Flyleaf Journal, Issue 19 (October 2015)
"Darkness Will Settle Over Louisville," Southwest Review, Issue 100 Vol. 3 (September 2015)
"Tennessee Waltzing," Black Heart Magazine, April 2015
“St. Anthony's Meatloaf,” The Adroit Journal, Issue 11 (Spring 2015)
“Home, Shopping,” Gravel Magazine, December 2014
“A Deep Plane Facelift,” Potluck Magazine, June 2014
“Everything Blooms,” Bartleby Snopes, April 2014
“Shall We Gather,” A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, Volume 4 (Spring 2013)
Poetry:
"The Bull Moose Bluff Charges," The South Carolina Review, Volume 56.2 (Spring 2024)
"Impressions Before Leaving" & Instructions for Leaving," Still: the Journal, Volume 42 (Summer 2023)
"It's Generational" and "You'd Never Know All That Lies There, Underneath," SLANT: A Journal of Poetry 36:2 (Spring 2022)
"Diagnosis," "Arithmetic," and "Diaspora," Still: the Journal, Volume 33 (Summer 2020)
"When Something Tears It Down," Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts, Volume 25 (Summer 2020)
"Eviction Notice" & "When They Ask Me..." Chattahoochee Review, Volume 39.2-3 (Fall/Winter 2020)
"Birds are Vanishing..." and "Taxonomy," Biscuit Root Drive, Dec 2019
"Frightening," Bayou Magazine, Issue 70 (Spring 2019)
"Appalachian Kaddish 3," Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, Volume 21 (Winter 2019)
"Watch Me Kick the Devil," SHANTIH Journal, Issue 3.1 (Summer 2018)
"Love Poem While Driving Down Kentucky Highway 52," storySouth, Issue 45 (Spring 2018)
'I Love the Ground,' 'Ode to Two Margies,' & 'Sometimes I Think They Would Be Glad,' New Madrid Journal, Winter 2018: The Eclipse Issue (March 2018)
"To Make Lasting Impressions," Rogue Agent, Issue 20 (November 2016)
Flash Non-Fiction:
"A Form of Public Assistance," Barely South Review, Vol. 10.2 (Spring 2019)
"Another Grocery List," Beecher's Magazine (now, Landlocked Magazine), Issue 8 (Fall 2019)
“Shopping Habits,” Signal Mountain Review, Volume 1 Issue 1, (May 2018) + (interview)
"Grocery Stories," Hippocampus Magazine, March 2017
"Shopping List," CHEAP POP, March 2015
"I Am Grocery Shopping,” Hobart, October 2014
"Zion,” Aurora Literary Arts Journal, Spring 2012
Awards & Contests:
2018 Denny C. Plattner Award in Fiction, Appalachian Heritage
2018-2019 Kentucky Emerging Artist Award, Kentucky Arts Council
"You Know By Instinct," Finalist, Best Small Fictions 2018
"Strange Things Happening," Finalist, Heavy Feather Review Chapbook Contest (Spring 2015)
"A Deep-Plane Facelift," Winner, WVU Russell MacDonald Graduate Creative Writing Contest in Fiction (2014)
“Zion,” Winner, Aurora Literary Arts Journal Award in Prose (2012)
Reviews of:
Natalie Sypolt's collection of short stories "The Sound of Holding Your Breath" (West Virginia University Press) in the Journal of Appalachian Studies 25.1, Spring 2019
Rebecca Gayle Howell's poetry collection "American Purgatory" (Eyewear Press) in Green Briar Review (March 2019) (online)
Tasha Cotter's chapbook of poems "Girl in the Cave" (Tree Light Books) in Heavy Feather Review (December 2016) (online)
Karen Craigo's poetry collection "No More Milk' (Sundress Publications) in Cleaver Magazine (online)
Lee Passarella's poetry collection "Redemption" in Southern Literary Review (online)
Editorial Experience
2017-Now: Fiction Editor, Stirring: A Literary Collection
2016-2019: Co-Editor, Fire Poetry Journal
2013-2017: Editorial Staff, Cheat River Review
Readings
Conferences & Workshops
SEO and content strategist by day, writer and editor by night—I help brands tell compelling and informative stories (read both by humans and Google’s ever-mysterious algorithms). With a background in academia, customer service, freelancing, and grassroots arts advocacy, I bridge creative storytelling and data-driven marketing.
Key Skills
- SEO & Content Strategy
- Email Marketing: Crafting personal campaigns that don’t vanish into the "Promotions" void.
- Analytics
- Team Leadership: Mentoring writers without summoning the ghost of their high school English teacher.
- Editing
Professional Experience
Creekmore Marketing | Nicholasville, KY
Senior Content & SEO Specialist | Nov 2023 – Present
Content & SEO Specialist | Jan 2022 – Nov 2023
- Served 200+ clients with SEO strategies that boosted organic traffic
- Co-piloted Creekmore’s email marketing launch, designing workflows that even the most tech-wary small-business owner could navigate.
- Partnered with major brands (Hunter Douglas, Benjamin Moore) to refine vendor content—because even paint companies deserve poetry (or at least coherent meta descriptions).
- Wrote informative e-books and marketing content in-house..
- Built training guides and style docs to keep freelancers from reinventing the comma wheel.
- Featured Contributor, Window Fashions VISION Magazine: Co-authored marketing articles with Head of SEO Marissa Massey.
Stirring: A Literary Collection
Fiction Editor | 2017 – Present
Curating stories from general submissions for one of the internet’s first literary journals—where "no" is delivered kindly
Eastern Kentucky University
Part-Time Faculty | 2017 – 2021
- Designed and taught writing/composition courses for 200+ students; revamped curriculum to improve student engagement scores each semester.
- Served on committees to select textbooks and shape departmental policies for the First-Year Writing Program.
- Taught writing to students, armed only with humor, scaffolding, and a deep love of the Oxford comma.
Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen
Director’s Assistant | 2018 – 2019
- Wrote grants that got funded, including a $50K USDA win to support rural artists.
- Designed marketing materials with the fervor of someone who’s argued with Canva’s alignment tool for hours.
- Worked with local artisans to promote and sell their artwork in a gallery and retail store setting.
Additional Roles
- Contract Administrator (2012–2021): Office management, grant writing, web design and writing/editing for retail, healthcare, legal, and nonprofit clients.
- Instructor-on-Record, WVU (2013–2016): Taught writing courses and co-edited Cheat River Review.
- Other customer service experience that makes for good stories now.
Education & Certifications
- M.F.A., Fiction | West Virginia University(Thesis: A short story collection!)
- B.A., English | Eastern Kentucky University
Certifications: Google Analytics 4, SEMrush, HubSpot Email Marketing, others
Professional Publications
- Featured Digital Marketing Contributor, Window Fashions VISION Magazine (link)
Creative Publications
Chapbook
"Trying Not to Write Roadkill: Poems," Ghost City Press, August 2019
"The Lawless River: Stories," Red Bird Chapbooks, January 2016
Flash Fiction:
"Trav'lin' Light," museum of americana, Americana Stories, June 2023
"Memaw's Story," Looking at Appalachia, September 2018
"Pigeonblood," The Fourth River: Tributaries, April 2018
“The World that Thinks the Worst,” New South Journal, January 2018
"Planting by Design," "A Naming Story," & "After A Couple Years, You Can Distinguish All the Sirens," FRiGG Magazine, Issue 49, Spring/Summer 2017
"You Know by Instinct," Reservoir Literary, Issue 3 (January 2017)
"These Are The Things That They Know," SHARK REEF, Issue 29, (January 2017)
“Bowlcuts,” Devil’s Lake, Fall 2016 (January 2017)
"No Hiding Place," Stirring: A Literary Collection, October 2016
"The Wraytown Incident," Helen: A Literary Magazine, Issue 5 (October 2016)
"Heartland Sermon" & "A Fixed Idea," Connotation Press, (May 2016)
"An Evening Appointment," Bear Review, Issue 4 (March 2016)
"The Men's League," HARK Magazine, Issue 5, January 2016
"The Greek Tragedy," REVOLUTION JOHN, May 2015
"Crime Spree," Tin House: Flash Fridays, January 2015
"On His Journey to the Pacific Ocean," Night Train, January 2015
"The Woman From Brazil," The Legendary, Issue 46/47 (November 2014)
"This Is What He Knows," Literary Orphans, Issue 14 (July 2014)
“How I Learned to Fish,” Crack the Spine, Issue 118 (July 2014) + (print anthology)
“Kentucky Snakes,” Cleaver Magazine, Issue 6 (June 2014)
“Dissolution of Care,” Blue Lyra Review, Issue 3.3 (April 2014) + (print anthology)
“God Bless the Child,” Word Riot, December 2013
Short Fiction:
"Carry Me Back to the Mountainbirds," Entropy Magazine, (September 2018)
“Something Special,” 1888 Center’s The Cost of Paper, Vol. 5, (March 2018)
"The Funeral March," Appalachian Heritage, Winter 2018: Vol. 46, Issue 1 (February 2018)
"The Blue Heron," Still: The Journal, Issue 22 (October 2016)
"Ice Storm, Gray Smoke, and You," Permafrost Magazine, Volume 38.1 (Winter 2016)
"The Vine Dynamic," Flyleaf Journal, Issue 19 (October 2015)
"Darkness Will Settle Over Louisville," Southwest Review, Issue 100 Vol. 3 (September 2015)
"Tennessee Waltzing," Black Heart Magazine, April 2015
“St. Anthony's Meatloaf,” The Adroit Journal, Issue 11 (Spring 2015)
“Home, Shopping,” Gravel Magazine, December 2014
“A Deep Plane Facelift,” Potluck Magazine, June 2014
“Everything Blooms,” Bartleby Snopes, April 2014
“Shall We Gather,” A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, Volume 4 (Spring 2013)
Poetry:
"The Bull Moose Bluff Charges," The South Carolina Review, Volume 56.2 (Spring 2024)
"Impressions Before Leaving" & Instructions for Leaving," Still: the Journal, Volume 42 (Summer 2023)
"It's Generational" and "You'd Never Know All That Lies There, Underneath," SLANT: A Journal of Poetry 36:2 (Spring 2022)
"Diagnosis," "Arithmetic," and "Diaspora," Still: the Journal, Volume 33 (Summer 2020)
"When Something Tears It Down," Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts, Volume 25 (Summer 2020)
"Eviction Notice" & "When They Ask Me..." Chattahoochee Review, Volume 39.2-3 (Fall/Winter 2020)
"Birds are Vanishing..." and "Taxonomy," Biscuit Root Drive, Dec 2019
"Frightening," Bayou Magazine, Issue 70 (Spring 2019)
"Appalachian Kaddish 3," Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, Volume 21 (Winter 2019)
"Watch Me Kick the Devil," SHANTIH Journal, Issue 3.1 (Summer 2018)
"Love Poem While Driving Down Kentucky Highway 52," storySouth, Issue 45 (Spring 2018)
'I Love the Ground,' 'Ode to Two Margies,' & 'Sometimes I Think They Would Be Glad,' New Madrid Journal, Winter 2018: The Eclipse Issue (March 2018)
"To Make Lasting Impressions," Rogue Agent, Issue 20 (November 2016)
Flash Non-Fiction:
"A Form of Public Assistance," Barely South Review, Vol. 10.2 (Spring 2019)
"Another Grocery List," Beecher's Magazine (now, Landlocked Magazine), Issue 8 (Fall 2019)
“Shopping Habits,” Signal Mountain Review, Volume 1 Issue 1, (May 2018) + (interview)
"Grocery Stories," Hippocampus Magazine, March 2017
"Shopping List," CHEAP POP, March 2015
"I Am Grocery Shopping,” Hobart, October 2014
"Zion,” Aurora Literary Arts Journal, Spring 2012
Awards & Contests:
2018 Denny C. Plattner Award in Fiction, Appalachian Heritage
2018-2019 Kentucky Emerging Artist Award, Kentucky Arts Council
"You Know By Instinct," Finalist, Best Small Fictions 2018
"Strange Things Happening," Finalist, Heavy Feather Review Chapbook Contest (Spring 2015)
"A Deep-Plane Facelift," Winner, WVU Russell MacDonald Graduate Creative Writing Contest in Fiction (2014)
“Zion,” Winner, Aurora Literary Arts Journal Award in Prose (2012)
Reviews of:
Natalie Sypolt's collection of short stories "The Sound of Holding Your Breath" (West Virginia University Press) in the Journal of Appalachian Studies 25.1, Spring 2019
Rebecca Gayle Howell's poetry collection "American Purgatory" (Eyewear Press) in Green Briar Review (March 2019) (online)
Tasha Cotter's chapbook of poems "Girl in the Cave" (Tree Light Books) in Heavy Feather Review (December 2016) (online)
Karen Craigo's poetry collection "No More Milk' (Sundress Publications) in Cleaver Magazine (online)
Lee Passarella's poetry collection "Redemption" in Southern Literary Review (online)
Editorial Experience
2017-Now: Fiction Editor, Stirring: A Literary Collection
2016-2019: Co-Editor, Fire Poetry Journal
2013-2017: Editorial Staff, Cheat River Review
Readings
- Featured Reader, Hill Writers Workshop, January 2025
- Featured Reader, Bluegrass Writer's Studio Summer Series, June 2018
- Reader, West Virginia University MFA Hooding Ceremony, May 2016
Conferences & Workshops
- Workshop Leader, Hill Writers Workshop, January 2025
- Flash Prose Workshop @ Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen, October 2018
- Flash Memoir Workshop @ Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning, September 2018
- Flash Prose Workshop @ Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen, July 2018
- Panelist @ Kentucky Book Festival, 2017
- Panelist @ West Virginia University English Graduate Organization Colloquium, Spring 2016
- Panelist @ 9th Annual Western Maryland Independent Lit Festival in Frostburg, Maryland, October 2015
- Graduate Participant and Staff @ West Virginia Writer's Workshop, Summer 2015
- Panelist @ West Virginia University English Graduate Organization Colloquium, Spring 2015
- Panelist in “Ask the Editors” and “On Writing Dialogue” @ 8th Annual Western Maryland Independent Lit Festival in Frostburg, Maryland, October 2014
- Graduate Participant, Staff, and High-School Fiction Mentor @ West Virginia Writer's Workshop, Summer 2014
- Middle-School Poetry Workshop @ Preston County Middle School, Spring 2014
- Panelist in Fiction and Nonfiction Discussions @ West Virginia University English Graduate Organization Colloquium, Spring 2014
