Archive for August, 2008
Seems like only yesterday I was writing the epilogue of this puppy. And now it’s almost ready to head out into the world. My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire, published by Seal Press, is due in stores at the beginning of October. (!) But if you don’t want to wait that long to get 220 pages of freelancing tips by yours truly, you can pre-order your copy now.
If you’d like to help me celebrate, ask me a question in the flesh, or just say hello, here are some Seattle dates to add to your calendar (more events TBD):
Book launch party - October 16
When: 6 to 10 pm on a Thursday
What: Reading and Q&A at 7 pm; schmoozing/boozing before and after
Where: Office Nomads, 1617 Boylston Ave, Second Floor, Seattle [map]
Co-sponsors: Office Nomads and University Book Store
Reading and book signing - October 25
When: 2 pm on a Saturday
What: Me, you, podium, chairs, questions, answers, handshakes, hugs, signed copies of the book
Where: Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 South Main Street, Seattle
Write on the Sound Conference - October 4
When: 9:15 am on a Saturday
What: “Pitching Nonfiction Articles that Sell,” 75-minute workshop at weekend writers’ conference
Where: 700 Main Street, Edmonds, WA
Registration: Write on the Sound; $69 Sat or Sun, $109 both days
If you join me at any of these events, don’t be shy — be sure to say hello! And if you’d like me to talk to your creative, freelance, or professional group, send me an email. If I can’t come in person, maybe we can arrange a group phone or web chat.
August 29th, 2008
Amy writes: I have a small boarding facility on my property. I board eight horses and I also live on the premises. I am trying to decide if I need to become an LLC. My concerns: If something does happen to a horse on my property due to my negligence, I don’t want to lose my house/land. What is the best way for me to go about this? I have spoken to my insurance agent and I am working on getting a policy in place to cover the liability, including an umbrella.
I answer: I’m no lawyer, but I would think an LLC would be a good idea since you’re dealing with people’s animals. As a I understand it, an LLC offers more protection than simply purchasing liability insurance. Here’s an earlier post I wrote on LLCs. And here’s a whole page on LLCs on Nolo.com that can tell you more. I suggest talking to other boarders to see what legal structure they’ve set up — as well as a qualified legal professional to get their recommendations.
Good for you for getting the liability insurance though. Hopefully you got business liability insurance and not a personal liability plan. (More on that here.)
August 27th, 2008
Trina Sargalski writes: I’ve been blogging regularly about local and seasonal food in Miami. I just went part time at my school so I could devote more time to my freelance career. I’m wondering how you decide as a freelancer what to blog and what to save to pitch to publications and websites. Should I be worried about other journalists pilfering my ideas to use for their own pitches? I’m really confused on this one and would appreciate any advice either by email or on the blog!
I answer: This is such a fabulous question. Let’s start backwards: There are rarely unique ideas in the world of pitching, just unique spins on old tales (like, a new study comes out, or there’s a pop culture tie-in). To see what I mean, subscribe to Peter Shankman’s If I Can Help a Reporter Out, and marvel at how familiar all the story ideas sound (Greening Your Office, Losing Your Home, How Greening Your Office While Losing Your Home Affects Your Love Life, and so on). Or just go to the newsstand and read a few magazine covers or tables of contents. Then note how the headlines are virtually the same as they were last year, only with a few more “belt-tightening” and “tough economy” tips thrown in.
That said, if you have a stellar story idea, do not put it on your blog before you pitch it. Why tempt fate? And why waste it on an unpaid blog when you might be able to get paid cash dollar bills for it?
Here’s how I decide between blogging and pitching (for the sake of argument, let’s pretend I’ve been blogging a bit more regularly than I have been):
Could this idea make an entire article (rather than just a one-paragraph blip on my blog)? Are there viable media outlets where I could sell this article (or, do I know editors that might like this idea, or could I use it in my paid columns)? If so, then I pitch first. If I sell the article, I can always mention an interesting aspect of it on my blog later, once its been published.
I had your dilemma — to blog or save my ideas for paid work — when I was writing my new book earlier this year, which, like this blog, is on freelancing. Because I wanted the book to be fresh, I shied away from blogging about the topics in my book outline. I, of couse, had about 50 little sections or sidebars that I didn’t have room to include in the book. Some will likely turn into articles (some already have), or blog posts, or possibly even another book.
Once you start selling articles, you’ll get a better sense of what you don’t mind “giving up for free” and what you’d prefer to sell (said the gal who’s been having a hard time keeping up with her unpaid blog of late). But as always, I’d love to hear what others think on pitching vs. blogging. If you have a completely different MO than me (make money from my writing, get more national bylines), you may have a different take.
August 23rd, 2008
Unless you’ve downshifted even more than I have this summer, you probably saw the U.S. Census Bureau report that more dames are having kids later — or not at all — than ever before. Maybe now your Aunt Rudy will stop asking when you’re going to get knocked up.
As for having kids sooner or later (if you choose to have ‘em at all) and how that affects the ole career, thanks, everyone, who shared your tales with me. I crammed as many as I could into an ABCNews.com column called Career Choice: Motherhood Now or Later. Here’s the top of it:
Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes it feels as if researchers are popping out press releases on motherhood and careers faster than women are actually birthing babies.
In July, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, told us that Harvard grads who went on to get their MBAs became stay-at-home moms at a higher rate than grads who went on to become doctors or lawyers.
Earlier this month, Cornell University let us know that mothers were 90 percent more likely to ditch their careers if their husbands worked at least 60 hours a week but that, if the roles were reversed, the husbands would likely keep on working.
And just last week, Cambridge University informed us that in the U.S., the percentage of people in favor of moms working full time dropped to 38 percent in 2002, down from 51 percent in 1994. In other words, if you believe that “family life would not suffer” if a mom has a career, you’re in the minority.
Others — like “Why It’s Best to Marry in Your Twenties” and “Parents: Tell Your Adult Children, ‘Don’t Delay Childbearing!’” — are so hideous that you just want to throw a baby blanket over their heads.
It’s hardly a news flash that, on average, women who choose to have kids do so later in life than their own mothers did. Nor is it news that more often than not, today’s moms are balancing a career in the process.
So rather than judge the breeding and breadwinning decisions of others — or dwell on the fact that no one’s scrutinizing every move men make with anywhere near the intensity — let’s look at the factors real-life moms consider when they weigh how and when to blend motherhood with their careers.
You can read the rest of this article here.
August 23rd, 2008
Hello. Happy August. Blogging will be back. Eventually. When I stop feeling burned out. Which I hope will be any day now. Especially since it’s my birthday Saturday.
In the meantime, if anyone would like to discuss the topic mentioned in the subject line, I’d love to hear from you. No, I’m not having a baby. But I am looking to write an article by the weekend on whether having kids sooner vs. later affects a woman’s career more — and how. There will be experts and stats, but I’m asking because I’d love to hear from “real” women who’ve pondered the question, regardless of whether you have kids now. If anyone cares to share their thoughts/experiences on or off the record (let me know which), email me here. The article is for a national news site. Thanks and have a lovely day.
August 5th, 2008
