Archive for March, 2007
Hey, east siders (of the greater Seattle area): Just a little reminder that I’ll be reading from The Anti 9-to-5 Guide and answering questions on career change, self-employment, flex time, the freelance life, and anything else you want to talk about this Thursday evening (as in, tonight). The scoop:
Thursday, March 29, 7:00 p.m.
Parkplace Books
348 Parkplace Center (at Third Street South)
Kirkland, WA
(425) 828-6546
If you can make it, don’t be shy. Belly up to the booksigning table and say hello.
March 28th, 2007
Beth writes: “You gave me one of the promo postcards you had printed up for the book. I was wondering who you had them printed by? I’ll be looking for a printer in the next couple of weeks and I don’t have a vendor yet…”
I am a huge fan of the infinitely cheap (without looking like it) VistaPrint. While I’ve never had them print postcards for me (the book postcards came from my publisher), they’ve done a great job on my business cards year after year. But here are a couple of other options, courtesy of Rachel Kramer Bussel, who recently researched the lowest postcard-printing rates for her own purposes and blogged about her findings:
And after doing some more research for other printing prices, Beth sent me another messaging letting me know, “FYI, the best [U.S.] vendor for regular 8.5 x 11 color copies I’ve found is National Color Copy in Florida. Even with shipping it ends up a lot cheaper than Kinko’s if you are printing in bulk.”
Thanks, Beth. Good to know. And I have to agree — Kinko’s is anything but cheap. For example, I wanted to print out my book manuscript to proofread it this summer and my printer was on the fritz. Kinko’s couldn’t give me anything better than a $1/page. At 250 pages, that was way too steep for this girl.
If you have a question you want the Cubicle Expat to answer, send it my way. Let me know if you want me to use your name and link to your site.
March 28th, 2007
This was lovely to wake up to: Elliott Bay Book Company’s current bestsellers. (Scroll down, look right, join me in my goofy little happy dance.) Thank you, Seattle! xoxo
March 26th, 2007
Since we’ve all got tax returns on the brain, I figured it was time for another tax-related post. Earlier this month, a friend of a friend of a friend told me she had a freelance web designer pal who deducts the time he spends tricking out his website as a tax write-off — after all, it’s advertising and marketing for his business, right? Basically the web designer pal of this friend of a friend of a friend would multiply his hourly rate (let’s say it’s $75 US) by the amount of hours spent spiffing up his site or blog (let’s say it’s 10 hours a month), thereby claiming $750 in business expenses for the month on his annual tax return.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m not a tax professional. But my gut told me this guy’s “marketing” write-off was a big fat no-go. (If not, I would have tried that tactic myself long ago.) My Friend the CPA confirmed as much, as did my friend of a friend of a friend’s Bookkeeper Pal. So we are not taking a cue from my friend of a friend of a friend’s web designer pal, who sounds like he needs to sit down with H&R Block — and quick.
In other words, we self-employed types can’t claim as business expenses the non-billable hours we spend marketing ourselves, sending out invoices, researching new clients, and the like. However, we can deduct some or all of the printing costs we incur for said marketing materials, money spent hiring a web designer, printer paper used to print our invoices on, dinners splurged on in an effort to woo new clients, magazine subscriptions purchased to stay abreast of industry trends, Internet connection used to research new clients, and so on.
But I’m not here to single out one freelancer’s ill-informed move. In fact, I’d now like to share with you some of the boneheaded tax write-offs yours truly has attempted to claim on income tax returns past (only to have her accountant laugh in her face):
- Gas used to drive to a year-long, onsite temp gig — aka contract job, or permatemp assignment. (That’s like trying to claim the gas you use to get to your employee job, a big no-no.)
- Groceries. (Since I’m not a chef or caterer, the IRS doesn’t care what I whip up for lunch each day.)
- Drycleaning. (This only works if you’re a model or an actress or perhaps a magician’s assistant.)
Resources you can use:
- If you’re not sure what constitutes a legitimate write-off, check out the IRS page on business expenses.
- For some fantastic freelance tax FAQs, check out these tips and resources compiled by Debbie Ridpath Ohi of Will Write for Chocolate. (Full disclosure: Debbie includes this page from my blog.)
- Do talk to an accounting professional. Really. Because you don’t want to mess with the IRS. And you shouldn’t take my word as gospel because — repeat after me, class — I’m not an accredited tax professional.
March 25th, 2007
Lynne, a devoted reader, has been asking me to try doing an open thread on the blog. You know, someone sends me a question to ask of y’all and everyone chimes in with their two cents, everyone plays nice, and everyone goes away feeling all warm and fuzzy. So as an experiment, we’re going to try it. Here goes nothing…
Lynne writes: I’d like to hear about how people survive that “in between” period when you’ve decided to make the leap from day job to dream job, but you’re stuck in the day job for at least another few months. How do you keep your soul from drying out if you hate the day job?
Fab question. I write about surviving as a short timer throughout the book, especially in Chapter 3 and the Temp Survival Guide. Some things I did at my last onerous, year-long temp gig (which I took for the resume and bank account boost) to help me make it through each week when, believe me, I thought about jumping off a bridge on more than one occasion:
1. Made a chart to denote my financial goal (save up enough money for a down payment on a Seattle-area shack) and checked my progress daily to remind myself why the frack I was commuting two miserable hours a day. This silly little ritual stopped me from quitting no less than eleven dozen times. Eyes on the prize, baby!
In your case, Lynne, you might make a timeline to indicate when you’ll reach each milestone on the road to career change (i.e., save enough money to jump ship, finish that project management class, land your first three freelance clients, whatever). See the anti 9-to-5 action plans in le book for help and inspiration.
2. Cozied up to other non-drones so I had people to commiserate with, but more importantly, so I had down-to-earth “real” folks to share laughs, walks outside, CD recommendations, American Idol critiques, and anything else even remotely life-affirming with. It’s the little things in office life that help you hang on…
3. Always had a writing project going on the side (usually an article or essay due for some book, website, or magazine) so I had something to look forward to after work. This also gave me something that fed my soul to work on during the onerous bus ride to work and/or lunchtime. Writing for even 30 minutes before or during the workday (at lunch) meant the difference between a really shitty mood and a really sunny outlook for me, mainly because it meant that I was doing something for moi (and not just for my megacorp employer) during the hours of the day when I was at my freshest and most creative.
In Lynne’s case, this might mean researching people whose brain she’d like to pick during her lunch hour, reading about her hopeful new career path on the ride in to work (or over her morning coffee), or attending a lecture or class or brainstorming group after work once in a while — all energy-boosting, all quick light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel fixes to get her through the workweek.
Allrightythen. Now it’s your turn. Additional advice for Lynne? Personal tales of triumphing over Short Timer’s Soul Suck that you’d like to share? Comment away.
March 22nd, 2007
Attention single moms (or people trying to get into the pants of single moms): My friend Rachel Sarah, author of Single Mom Seeking: Playdates. Blind Dates and Other Dispatches from the Dating World, is reading in Seattle tonight and tomorrow night.
Here are the details:
Wednesday, March 21, 7 p.m.
University Book Store
4326 University Way NE
Seattle, WA
Thursday, March 22, 7 p.m.
Third Place Books
17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park (North Seattle),WA
I’ll be at the Third Place Books event. After all, I do have a four-legged child. See you there?
March 21st, 2007
Any Bellingham, Washington, residents (or neighbors) browsing here? If so, we could be talking in person — tomorrow! — at my Village Books reading and author Q&A. The details:
Tuesday, March 20, 7:30 p.m.
Village Books
1200 Eleventh Street, Bellingham, WA
(360) 671-2626
If you and/or your friends attend, be sure to say hello. As always, you can play “Where’s Michelle-o” here.
March 19th, 2007
Did I mention that sometimes I really do think I left my heart in San Francisco? I lived there for almost a decade and am wondering if I’m ever going to stop missing it. That’s why I just had to sign on for a second reading down there. This one’s in Marin County, where I lived for a few years. Sighhhhhhh.
Tuesday, April 3, 7 p.m.
Habitat Books
205 Second Street, Sausalito
(415) 331-3344
Co-sponsored by Media Alliance
For the entire world domination tour, see my Events page.
March 19th, 2007
…When it comes to romantic commitment, you’re not the only game in town.
That’s the opening paragraph to the cover story I wrote for “Gender F”, a Seattle Times section that came out today. The story isn’t anti-marriage; it’s pro-alternatives-to-marriage-if-you-so-choose and pro-marriage reform (as in, let’s stop treating lesbians and gays like shit, and let’s think about giving singles — say, the widowed midlifer taking care of her mom with Alzheimer’s — the same tax breaks and workplace perks as the married twentysomethings she lives next door to or works side by side with). I’ve already written how I feel about this here, so I won’t rehash it now.
As anyone could have predicted, a couple of “concerned readers” have already graced my inbox to say that they will “pray for me” or to compliment me on being “a modern whore,” whatever that means. (”You, go, you modern whore!”) If they really want to save my soul, though, I would kindly request they immediately proceed to this web page and open their wallets. That would be the quickest route to salvation for this girl.
But I digress… My point is, I’m don’t think I’m a bitter old crone or whatever the fashionable insult to hurl at single thirtysomething feminists is these days. I’m just not sure marriage is the only way to go. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. But since you can read the facts in the aforementioned article, let’s personalize this here and now:
Maybe I would feel differently if I wanted to have children — after all, two incomes/caregivers are infinitely easier than one — but I’m pretty sure I don’t, and if I wait too much longer, biology will make that a moot point. And maybe I would feel differently if I wasn’t able to support myself, but I am and I do. (Ah, the ‘ole career tie-in.) And, as people say, maybe I would feel differently if I met the right guy. Only thing is, I have met the right guy, and we’ve been together three years, happily living apart. Maybe that will change someday, but neither one of us is in any sort of rush. (I write about that in Diane Mapes‘ fabulous new book, Single State of the Union, which you will hear lots more about this spring.)
From a romantic perspective, not needing a partner for financial reasons has been incredibly liberating. Without the biological clock ruling my every dating move and with a warm roof already over my head, I’m free — as countless modern women are — to date and fall in love for booty and companionship alone, not because I’m trolling for a meal ticket, real estate, or a sperm donor. Basically this translates into not freaking out if I’m alone on a Saturday night or my calendar is blank for a week straight. (In fact, right now, if my calendar actually was blank for a week straight, I would do the biggest fattest happy dance you’ve ever seen.)
What do you ladies think? Do you think today’s courtship is incredibly different than it was for our moms, now that we, too, can bring home the bacon like nobody’s business and buy our own homes? In other words, is marriage even necessary today? Or do you think that regardless of increasingly equal career opportunities/salaries, marriage is here to stay? I’d love to hear your comments, but kindly I request that you play nice.
March 18th, 2007
It’s been quite the week for big press. First the interview I did with journalist Lynn Thorne for the Washington Post (from the airport! on a payphone because my cell died!) came out. In it, I talk about why I wrote this book specifically for women, what I wished I had known as a budding young freelancer, how disgruntled wage slaves can make their workweek a bit less onerous, and more.
The Post was also lovely enough to call my book “a witty-yet-practical look at what to do if you hit the snooze button repeatedly every workday morning or want to dump a boss who acts like ‘The Office’s’ big kahuna.” (You can read the entire Q&A here.)
Then the Seattle Times ran a review by Kimberly Marlowe Hartnett of three “chick-lit self-help” books (their words) written by local authors, including yours truly and Deborah Reber, author of a kickass-sounding career book for girls, In Their Shoes: Extraordinary Women Describe Their Amazing Careers.
If you don’t want to read the whole review, here are the juicy bits about my book from the article:
Michelle Goodman’s “The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube” is a must-read for anyone who daydreams about smashing the time clock and feeding her soul. Goodman, who escaped her own cubicle hell 15 years ago, knows of what she speaks:
“My first year as a newbie freelancer, I spent half the day freelancing, the other half doing God knows what, and many an evening canceling social plans so I could cram to make the next morning’s deadline.”
When her procrastinating forced her to proofread an 800-page self-help book over two sleepless days in order to make a deadline, Goodman wised up.
“Honestly, it doesn’t take long to realize the more soap-opera marathons and three-hour lunches with unemployed friends you indulge in, the less rent money you have.”
Goodman interviews other women who have found satisfaction outside the cubicle, and the end result is a realistic, yet still inspiring handbook.
Whee! Thank you, Seattle Times. And finally, if you can’t get enough of The Anti 9-to-5 Guide promo-fest, Seattle’s AM 1090 “Progressive Talk” will be running a radio interview with me (taped in February) this Sunday morning at 7 a.m. PST. Interviewer Tami Kosch was so great, she even asked about my office manager on the air. If, like me, you’ll be sleeping at that time, you can listen to the podcast later in the week. I’ll letcha know when it’s online.
One more thing: I finally updated my Media page, so if you want to see who else has been buzzing about the book, have a look-see.
March 17th, 2007
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