I Help Teachers Teach and Students Learn
We need well-educated people who understand the world and can solve problems. That’s why, as a freelance writer, I’m passionate about creating the highest quality supplements and ancillaries for college textbooks and courses.
Why You Want to Hire Me to Create College Textbook Supplements
* I do high-quality work.
* I meet or beat all deadlines.
* I’m a full-time freelance writer with the ability to take on many projects.
* I’m professional and courteous.
* I’ve created over 300 supplements and other curriculum components since 1992 in a wide variety of academic areas for some of the largest textbook publishing companies, including Pearson Education, Cengage Learning, and McGraw-Hill. I’ve also worked with universities, nonprofit organizations, and private companies.
“We had a massive challenge. We were in the process of writing a full semester course on the topic of research and needed assistance in developing extensive ancillary materials. We first approached John Soares to help develop assessment questions. The results were so good, the course’s author had minimal edits. Next, we brought him in on the writing of glossary definitions. Again, minimal edits. Then we asked for his assistance with the instructor manual, where he helped us conceptualize exercises and activities for students to strengthen learning. John did an exceptional job on all fronts. He’s an outstanding writer, is completely deadline-oriented, and is a joy to work with. I would recommend him to anyone who needs help with educational materials.”
— Cathy Bruss
My Academic Fields
Political Science: American government, international relations, comparative politics
History: American history, western civilization, world history
Geography: physical geography, human geography, environmental geography, regional geography
Earth Sciences: geology, astronomy, meteorology, oceanography
Biology: general biology, ecology, human physiology
Environmental Science
I’ve also written test questions for sociology, education, and business courses.
See my CV for an extensive list of projects I’ve done in these areas.
Types of Supplements and Ancillaries I’ve Created
I’ve done many things, but primarily:
- Test and Quiz Questions
- Lecture Outlines
- Instructor’s Manuals
- Student Study Guides and Companion Sites
- Internet Exercises
- Article Exercises
- Media and Art Work
“John did an excellent job for us in composing an extensive test bank for our fourth edition of The Elusive Eden: A New History of California. We had never had a test bank, so it was a fairly daunting task. John was up to the challenge: he wrote smart questions for each of the thirty chapters, a total of 489 multiple choice, 160 short answer, and 149 essay questions. John was very easy to work with, although we asked him to do the work under trying conditions, as we authors were still revising the book and rushing to meet our own publication deadlines. Again, John was up to the challenge. He downloaded each chapter as we finished it, one chapter at a time, from the publisher’s website. Although it is a 600+ page text, John never missed a deadline. Indeed, he was usually early. I can’t wait for the 5th edition of Elusive Eden so that we can hire John again to write a test bank of practice questions for students!”
–Mary Ann Irwin, co-author, The Elusive Eden: A New History of California
Education
Master of Arts, Political Science, University of California, Davis. UC Regents Fellowship. Fields: U.S. Government, International Relations, Comparative Politics, European History. 3.91 GPA.
Bachelor of Science, Biochemistry, University of California, Davis. Highest Honors. 3.81 GPA.
Associate of Arts, Engineering, Shasta College, Redding, CA. 3.62 GPA.
Teaching Experience
College Instructor: U.S. Government, International Relations, Third World Politics. Butte College, Chico, CA, and Shasta College, Redding, CA, four years. Average evaluation from students: 3.6 out of 4.0.
College Tutor: chemistry, physics, astronomy, calculus, algebra. Shasta College and UC Davis, three years.
Contact Me About Projects
JohnSoares88@gmail.com
And please include as much of the following information as possible:
1. Book title, author, and edition number
2. Type of supplement/ancillary you need created, along with pertinent details about what it includes
3. Number of chapters in the book
4. Amount you can offer for the work
5. When you need the work completed
6. Your contact information
I’ll get back to you quickly, and I’ll include my phone number so we can discuss the project further.
“I routinely contracted with John from 1999-2007 for freelance writing, editing and media consultation at Prentice Hall/Pearson Education. He was always a pleasure to work with and delivered products on time and in a professional manner. Over the years my group benefited greatly, not only from his timely work, but from his insight and suggestions on how to better our processes and thus the end product.”
— Amanda Brown
Partial List of Completed Projects
A small sample of the over 300 supplements I’ve created.
Political Science
Test Questions, Lecture Outlines, and Instructor Manual for International Relations, third edition. Eric Shiraev and Vladislav Zubok. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2019.
Test Questions, Lecture Outlines, and Instructor Manual for International Relations, second edition. Eric Shiraev and Vladislav Zubok. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, and PowerPoint Presentation to accompany American Democracy Now, fourth edition, Brigid Harrison. McGraw-Hill, 2014.
Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, and PowerPoint Presentation to accompany We The People, eleventh edition, Thomas Patterson. McGraw-Hill, 2014.
Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, and PowerPoint Presentation to accompany AmGov 2015-2016, Joseph Losco and Ralph Baker. McGraw-Hill, 2014.
Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, and PowerPoint Presentation to accompany The State of Texas: Government, Politics, and Policy, second edition, Sherry Mora et al. McGraw-Hill, 2014.
Exercises for the American Government CourseReader by Cengage Learning, 2014.
Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, and PowerPoint Presentation to accompany Comparative Politics, first edition, Joseph Klesner. McGraw-Hill, 2013.
Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, and PowerPoint Presentation to accompany Power and Choice: An Introduction to Political Science, fourteenth edition, W. Phillips Shively. McGraw-Hill, 2013.
Exercises for the Comparative Politics CourseReader by Cengage Learning, 2012.
Telecourse Study Guide and Instructor’s Guide for American Government and Politics Today, 2007-2008 edition, Steffen W. Schmidt. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Cengage Learning: 2007.
PowerPoint Lecture Outlines for Web of Democracy, second edition, Michael Gizzi et al. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Thomson Learning: 2007.
Quiz Questions for Web of Democracy, second edition, Michael Gizzi et al. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Thomson Learning: 2007.
Interactive Map Exercises, Internet Exercises, and InfoTrac Exercises for World Politics: Trends and Transformation, eleventh edition, Charles Kegley. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Thomson Learning: 2006.
Internet Exercises and Article Exercises for Political Change and Development, third edition, Calvin Jillson. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Thomson Learning: 2006.
InfoTrac Readers for American Government, Comparative Politics, and International Relations. 2005. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Thomson Learning: 2005.
Map and Internet Exercises for the International Relations Interactive CD-ROM. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Thomson Learning, 2003.
Participation Activities for America at Odds, third edition, Sidlow and Henschen. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Thomson Learning, 2003.
Where on the Worldwide Web exercises for World Politics: Trends and Transformation, ninth edition, Charles Kegley. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Thomson Learning: 2003.
History
Test Bank and Lecture Slides to accompany The Elusive Eden: A New History of California, fifth edition, Richard Rice, et al. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, 2020.
Test Bank to accompany The Elusive Eden: A New History of California, fourth edition, Ricard Rice, et al. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012.
Companion website questions for The African American Odyssey, fifth edition, Darlene Clark Hine, et al. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2011.
Companion website for Western Civilization, seventh edition, Jackson Spielvogel. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Cengage Learning, 2009. I also created map captions and web exercises for the fifth edition.
Companion Website for Essential World History, third edition, William Duiker and Jackson Spielvogel. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Cengage Learning, 2008.
Historical Documents Questions for Wadsworth Publishing/Cengage Learning American History, Western Civilization, and World History Resource Centers. 2007.
Map Captions and Web Exercises for Western Civilization, fifth edition, Jackson Spielvogel. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Thomson Learning, 2003.
InfoTrac Reader readings and exercises.
Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, and Student Companion Website for A Brief History of the Western World, ninth edition, Greer and Lewis. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Thomson Learning, 2005.
Study Guide to Accompany American History, Irwin Unger. Prentice Hall/Pearson Education: Upper Saddle River, NJ: 2003.
Historical Document Exercises for We The People: A Brief American History, Peter Carroll. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing/Thomson Learning, 2002.
Geography
Test Item File to accompany Introduction to Geography: People, Places, and Environment, second edition, Bergman/Renwick. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson Education, 2002.
Classroom Response System questions in PowerPoint for The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography, ninth edition, James Rubenstein. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson Education, 2008.
Earth Sciences
PowerPoint lecture outlines for Essentials of Oceanography, 6th edition. Tom S. Garrison. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole/Cengage Learning, 2012.
PowerPoint lecture outlines for Geology and the Environment, 6th edition. Bernard Pipkin and Dee Trent. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole/Cengage Learning, 2011.
PowerPoint lecture outlines and JoinIn Questions for GEOL, 1st edition. Reed Wicander and James Monroe. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole/Cengage Learning, 2011.
PowerPoint lecture outlines for Essentials of Meteorology, third edition, Donald Ahrens. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing: 2002.
Environmental Science
PowerPoint lecture outlines for Living in the Environment, 17th edition. G. Tyler Miller and Scott Spoolman. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole/Cengage Learning, 2011.
PowerPoint lecture outlines for Sustaining the Earth, 10th edition. G. Tyler Miller and Scott Spoolman. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole/Cengage Learning, 2011.
PowerPoint lecture outlines for Environmental Science, 13th edition. G. Tyler Miller and Scott Spoolman. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole/Cengage Learning, 2011.
What Can You Do? Booklet with ideas for college students to help the environment. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole—Cengage Learning: 2009.
Web Test Questions for Essential Environment: The Science Behind the Stories, third edition, Withgott and Brennan. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson Education, 2009.
Biology
Online Student Study Questions for Fundamentals of Human Physiology, fourth edition, Lauralee Sherwood. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole/Cengage Learning, 2011.
Outdoors Publications
Urban Trails Sacramento. Seattle: Mountaineers Books, 2021.
Hike the Parks: Redwood National & State Parks. Seattle: Mountaineers Books, 2019.
100 Classic Hikes: Northern California, fourth edition. Seattle: Mountaineers Books, 2018.
Day Hiking: Mount Shasta, Lassen & Trinity Alps Regions. Seattle: Mountaineers Books, 2018.
Honors/Awards
University of California Regents Fellowship.
Distinguished Scholar Research Award, UC Davis.
Division of Biological Sciences Outstanding Achievement Award, UC Davis.
California Foundation for Biochemical Research Fellowship.
Member, Phi Beta Kappa.
Contact Me About Projects
JohnSoares88@gmail.com
And please include as much of the following information as possible:
1. Book title, author, and edition number
2. Type of supplement/ancillary you need created, along with pertinent details about what it includes
3. Number of chapters in the book
4. Amount you can offer for the work
5. When you need the work completed
6. Your contact information
I’ll get back to you quickly, and I’ll include my phone number so we can discuss the project further.