Today it begins.
I have always known I was a freelancer. The phrase my family uses to describe me is "not a nine-to-five-er." That said, nine-to-five does carry some not-so-romantic but comforting benefits. Health insurance. Travel reimbursement. Gas mileage. A regular paycheck.
But alas, I'm the daughter and granddaughter of entrepreneurs, and I'm also of the "ownership society."
I love to write. No such thing as retirement--writing is who I am. But with that ideal and that passion comes every writer's downfall. Running a business. Getting paid.
We right-brained people with our horrendous filing cabinets and hard drives/Zip drives full of e-mails have to spend time organizing, like any businessperson. I had a conversation with a fellow writer/content provider in which we both confessed neither of us knew how to charge for our services. Although University of Southern California master of Professional Writing Program does give great training in the business side, most writing programs in my experience don't teach marketing, recordkeeping, fee-charging, and work-for-hire contracts, let alone publishing contracts.
Today while tracking two possible freelance jobs (I'd like to give a plug to David Copeland's Freelance Daily, http://freelancewriters.blogspot.com/, a terrific daily newsgroup with tons of freelance leads, also PayingWriterJobs, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PayingWriterJobs/, AbsoluteWriter, http://www.absolutewrite.com, Writers Weekly, http://www.writersweekly.com, and of course, my local paper, http://www.thedesertsun.com/), I found my e-mail inbox inundated with back and forth e-mails. While I admit my e-mail organization system resembles my filing system at times, I finally wised up.
On my computer, in Windows, I have a folder with subfolders for e-mail. I created a separate directory, "freelance". Then I assigned every potential or actual freelance job its own folder with a client identifier number where appropriate and otherwise the name of the client/publication.
I also created a Work For Hire agreement today. My own--usually when I work with a publication I'm required to submit an invoice. However, a publication you have a relationship with is different from a client that doesn't know you and vice versa. This is new ground for me. I've signed three book contracts, entered into three royalty agreements and two bona fide collaboration agreements, signed screenplay, magazine, fiction, and poetry release forms, sent more contest applications than I can count...but my own Work For Hire agreement...now I feel I've passed the "novice" mark and can proudly call myself a full-time freelancer. Freelance entrepreneur.
No.
Writer always works. To quote Harlan Ellison's business card, "I write."
But will I stay organized?
Continued next week...
Kristin Johnson is co-author of the "highly recommended" Midwest Book Review pick, Christmas Cookies Are For Giving: Stories, Recipes and Tips for Making Heartwarming Gifts (ISBN: 0-9723473-9-9). A downloadable media kit is available at our Web site, http://www.christmascookiesareforgiving.com, or e-mail the publisher (info@tyrpublishing.com) to receive a printed media kit and sample copy of the book. More articles available at http://www.christmascookiesareforgiving.com
shuttle from O'Hare Brocton .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareAs a professional copywriter, not only do I do a... Read More
Real Estate has "Location, location, location," and writing has "Clips,... Read More
Poems. Just the mention of them makes me smile. Why?... Read More
One of the nice things about being an author is... Read More
Written communication is often the first impression you make on... Read More
"You should write a book." For years, I had been... Read More
You have a new website, or a new business, or... Read More
You can turn your $200 fee to write a press... Read More
Names are important. Names give clues about us, where we... Read More
Beginning writers often tend to think of a book as... Read More
Since the headline is the first contact your readers have... Read More
The Blogfest 2005 Writing Contest has only been running for... Read More
So many clients come to me as a book or... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?You are plotting the story. You write... Read More
I recently set up a website to promote a new... Read More
Sit back, and imagine what it feels like to be... Read More
Business etiquette is fundamentally concerned with building relationships founded upon... Read More
My dad was wrong. I just discovered that I am... Read More
One Saturday afternoon, I sat in a packed conference room... Read More
Do you suffer from writer's block? Is there a pending... Read More
Reading through a writer's notebook or journal is like discovering... Read More
It's important to have a space set aside in your... Read More
If you're getting rejections from your submissions, please don't quit... Read More
Without denigrating the work and contribution of Syd Field to... Read More
Back in the mid to late 1980s I was a... Read More
Chicago charter limousine service Hickory Hills ..Many writers write for the experience. Others dream of having... Read More
Technology vendors often contribute bylined articles to trade journals. The... Read More
Word processors are so widely used now that I tend... Read More
Prolific authors write; they don't just dream about it. A... Read More
1. No one else will do it for you.2. No... Read More
There are many ways you can generate ideas you can... Read More
Originality emerges from structure. Once you have a story idea,... Read More
Creating incredible characters can be easy if you know of... Read More
What is this annoying, insidious angst that permeates my psyche?... Read More
If you are a serious writer who wants to publish... Read More
In the 7th grade I wanted to be an architect... Read More
Let's Discuss Publisher Ethics:If you are an ezine publisher or... Read More
What does one do as a writer who loves writing... Read More
So you've got your plot outlined, a title lined up... Read More
How do you choose a name? Do you put down... Read More
If you think proofreading equals editing, then you're wrong! Editing... Read More
When we think of writing it triggers many thoughts and... Read More
Beyond three and four act story structure, lies the Hero's... Read More
1. PLAY A GAME LIKE SOLITAIRE....for half an hour or... Read More
During the years that I've been teaching writing and participating... Read More
Story Structure Templates are the fastest way to write screenplays.... Read More
Today I took the dog for a walk and realized... Read More
Part 1 of this article discussed the experience you need... Read More
Simply put, it is the art of writing scripts for... Read More
Mixing and mingling with industry professionals is an opportunity that... Read More
Writing |