I've been out at the end of each of the last two months, so I haven't been reciprocating on my monthly assessments. Sorry about that. Your openness shouldn't be one-sided!

Anyway, June was adequate though not great, yet July was gangbusters. However, because I'm currently on vacay for a week, August will be back to meh.

The big thing, however, is that I simply am not doing enough marketing. So far, it hasn't hurt me, but one of these days it's gonna bite me in the butt! Thanks for your constant reminders about marketing.

Gotta go. Vacation calls!

Our property taxes are also the cost of an average used car. The problem? Our property values are incredibly low, but our taxes are among the highest (percentage wise) in the nation. For a while, they were the highest. A few years ago, my sister – who owns a slightly larger home in Chicago proper, where her "fair market value" was roughly 5-times that of mine – told me how high her property taxes were. I laughed – they were only a few hundred dollars a year more than mine.

Eileen, I've usually had the same July experience. Glad things are better this year for both of us.

Kathy, that's hard when the long-time, trusted client decides to stop paying. Do what you have to for the business. They'd not wait if it were the other way around, would they?

Don't blame you on the "sample" part, either. I don't give freebies at all. They can see any of over 150 articles I've already written. If they can't tell from that, they don't know how to choose a writer.

Paula, our property taxes are the price of a decent used car, so yes, you're probably better off!

I'm used to summers that are fairly busy, so my super slow June and July have really thrown me for a loop. Especially with property taxes looming again. (That said, my property taxes are probably less than some people pay for rent for an entire year, so I shouldn't whine too much.)

To end on a good note, I've got two potential new clients biting. Just have to decide whether I want to bite back after a trial assignment. One of them is asking for a free sample. That will only happen if I get assurance the work will not be used without subsequent payment. Even then, if it's too long of a sample, I may pass. I'm busy enough not to have to join in the song and dance.

Queries:
I sent out seven separate queries, four of which contained multiple ideas for my long-time editors. (I probably sent out 40 separate article ideas in those seven queries.) One quick-paying editor should be assigning soon, fingers crossed. Another said he'd have a lot to assign this summer, so after completing the single article he assigned I asked if he had anything else. Nope. They were done. I usually get a lot of work from them in July, and this year one article and two tiny "capsules."

LOIs:
Sent five more LOIs. One editor replied immediately and asked me to pitch ideas. Another one or two responded quickly saying they aren't using freelancers much right now, but will keep me in mind. Last week a former editor of mine asked if I might be interested in writing for a place she's doing some freelance editing for. She passed my info along to her editors there, and I followed through by contacting them independently.

Follow-ups:
The follow-ups I sent last week to June's unanswered LOIs resulted in one "I missed, it, please re-send," one "not using freelancers at this time, but we'll keep you in mind if anything comes up," and several non-responses.

Job Postings:I could have sworn I replied to one or two, but I guess I was too busy sending queries and LOIs to note it in my log.

Existing Clients: Finished four blog posts, four columns, and four articles. The pays-on-pub magazine that pushed my article back said the issue will be mailed tomorrow, and my check will be written as soon as their accountant is back from vacation on August 16. (Saw a proof of the piece, and it will make an amazing clip.)

New Client: A friend of my sister asked me to do a couple little things for her company. Problem is I did my part and she went on vacation for several weeks, so what should have been completed and invoiced in a day or two is still not finished and ready for invoice.

Earnings: Dismal. Slightly better than last month's pathetic, but with property taxes and my September quarterly taxes coming up, I'm starting to get stressed.

It feels like everyone else has been on vacation and left me holding the bag. A big, heavy, bulky bag. Yet I somehow start each day full of optimism that some assignments will come in, or that today's correspondence will lead to new gigs.