So you wanna be a freelancer...
Let's see...
I only have a few minutes to check in, but I wanted to pop up out of the bunny hole and say HI to the peeps. I'm in the middle of baking (it's the next to the last round of that particular circle of kitchen hell... kidding, I actually love to bake, but I am burning out on it and am sick to death of sweets) and have to leave to get a haircut in about 45 minutes. Yay!! One issue with short hair: it grows out really, really quickly, and I end up looking like a circa '64 Beatle.
Let me go on record and say that I love freelancing. The thought of ever returning to a cubicle makes me break out in a cold sweat. However... being a freelancer is not for the faint of heart, or those who need constant reassurance that what they're doing is right or good, or who need regular, scheduled time off, or who hate to work weekends or until the wee hours when there's a deadline. I went three months earlier this year with NO work. None. Nada. Zilch. It sounds great, right? But it's hard to get into the freedom of time off when you spend most of that time waiting for something to start. It's a weird no-man's-land of no work but obsession with work. And lately the publishing industry has been imploding, meaning less work for more people. You have to be good--and clients have to know that you're good and fast--to get jobs.
Now it's nearly Christmas and suddenly everyone needs something done ASAP. I've worked nonstop for the past few weeks and another project is about to drop... I can feel it up there, like a bird sitting on the tree over my car. I tend to run to the car door very quickly some days, otherwise it's splat! And, although I've been busy, I won't get paid for this particular project from this particular client until 60 (yes, six-zero) days until after I invoice. So I haven't invoiced because, when we're talking two months, what's another week? The invoice process for this particular project will take me a couple of hours, and I've been waiting for a free morning to sit and concentrate.
But you'll have time to work on that novel or those short stories, right? Um.... let me say that after working all day explaining metaphysical poetry to a bunch of high school seniors, according to some very strict client guidelines--and with a lack of free space on whatever page you happen to be building--the last thing you feel like doing is thinking. I haven't written "for fun" in weeks.
So if you're thinking of quitting that day job to go freelance, think hard about it. I only got to do this because I had spent three years as an in-house editor; I learned about the academic-materials development game from the inside, built a network, and knew where to find clients. I've only published one magazine article, I spend a lot of time proofreading ads, editing medical texts, and writing textbooks. NOT glamorous. But also NOT a cubicle.
Oven beeped. And something has gone wrong with this recipe. Damn. I think it was the butter. Oh well, the cookies should taste ok, but they're not gonna win any beauty contests.
I only have a few minutes to check in, but I wanted to pop up out of the bunny hole and say HI to the peeps. I'm in the middle of baking (it's the next to the last round of that particular circle of kitchen hell... kidding, I actually love to bake, but I am burning out on it and am sick to death of sweets) and have to leave to get a haircut in about 45 minutes. Yay!! One issue with short hair: it grows out really, really quickly, and I end up looking like a circa '64 Beatle.
Let me go on record and say that I love freelancing. The thought of ever returning to a cubicle makes me break out in a cold sweat. However... being a freelancer is not for the faint of heart, or those who need constant reassurance that what they're doing is right or good, or who need regular, scheduled time off, or who hate to work weekends or until the wee hours when there's a deadline. I went three months earlier this year with NO work. None. Nada. Zilch. It sounds great, right? But it's hard to get into the freedom of time off when you spend most of that time waiting for something to start. It's a weird no-man's-land of no work but obsession with work. And lately the publishing industry has been imploding, meaning less work for more people. You have to be good--and clients have to know that you're good and fast--to get jobs.
Now it's nearly Christmas and suddenly everyone needs something done ASAP. I've worked nonstop for the past few weeks and another project is about to drop... I can feel it up there, like a bird sitting on the tree over my car. I tend to run to the car door very quickly some days, otherwise it's splat! And, although I've been busy, I won't get paid for this particular project from this particular client until 60 (yes, six-zero) days until after I invoice. So I haven't invoiced because, when we're talking two months, what's another week? The invoice process for this particular project will take me a couple of hours, and I've been waiting for a free morning to sit and concentrate.
But you'll have time to work on that novel or those short stories, right? Um.... let me say that after working all day explaining metaphysical poetry to a bunch of high school seniors, according to some very strict client guidelines--and with a lack of free space on whatever page you happen to be building--the last thing you feel like doing is thinking. I haven't written "for fun" in weeks.
So if you're thinking of quitting that day job to go freelance, think hard about it. I only got to do this because I had spent three years as an in-house editor; I learned about the academic-materials development game from the inside, built a network, and knew where to find clients. I've only published one magazine article, I spend a lot of time proofreading ads, editing medical texts, and writing textbooks. NOT glamorous. But also NOT a cubicle.
Oven beeped. And something has gone wrong with this recipe. Damn. I think it was the butter. Oh well, the cookies should taste ok, but they're not gonna win any beauty contests.