I've seen the same thing –2015 is definitely busier.

I'm happy to report that 2015 has been a complete turnaround. I've already picked up two educational projects and have been in contact about a few more. Better still is that I met my earnings goal in both January and February. And the best news of all? My deadbeats claim the final installment of my one-YEAR-old invoice is in the mail. I'll believe it when I see it. In the meantime, fingers crossed my current trend continues!

How are things going with the postcards in general, Cathy? Sounds like you're buried in work — AMEN!

Existing Clients: I start with the positive. I have never been so buried in projects. That's the good news. The bad news is they all keep shifting around and seem to forget I have other projects I'm working on. But if that's the worst that happens, I'm a happy camper.

Currently, I have an ongoing monthly ghostblogging gig, a ghostwritten article for a trade pub, 3 new resource documents, and 4 updates of old white papers.

New clients: Spoke with two prospects and sent proposals. Speaking for the 2nd time with one today and the other has been traveling and assured me she has not blown off my proposal.

Industry stuff: Existing client is hosting a Wellness Symposium (like they did last year). I will be attending to cover on their behalf but it also a great networking opportunity.

Marketing: I sent out 10 postcard mailings that I will be following up on this week. Emails sent as well but without having it in front of me I don't remember how many.

Earnings: The delayed checks from January helped. Second highest earnings month since I started freelancing.

Bottom line…very busy. 🙂

At this point, if they give me any grief or start making demands about to column I'll tell them to pay up or I'll take it elsewhere. Since starting it I've developed a working relationship with a larger local paper that's part of a small syndication group, so perhaps there's a chance to earn more per column…but the parent company seems more interested in profits over quality, so it could be trading a less-than-ideal situation for a worse one.

Paula, wow. Sounds like publishing is going through some pretty awful growing pains. Truth is they probably don't pay enough to keep good people.

And yes, invoices count. 🙂

I had a couple odd issues arise, so this will be long.

Queries: Sent five ideas to two editors. One was assigned. Another was perfectly timed since the editorial staff had just discussed the need to cover what I'd pitched.

LOIs: Sent one LOI on Monday so I haven't had a reply yet. Followed up on two others.

Job Postings: Replied to three that felt like good fits.

Existing Clients: Finished two articles for Favorite Editor, am working on a third; sent in ~34 entries for a huge list; wrote an education article. Checked in with two editors I hadn't heard from in a while; one asked for some pitches.

Bad news about my column: I sent my editor a time-sensitive column. No reply. It didn't run in print. I emailed to see if it would run online, reminding him that it needed to run by a certain day. No reply. A week later someone replied saying my (associate) editor no longer there and he was the replacement. He said readers love the column and they want to keep it.

I had the prior editor's contact info, so I checked in. Seems the executive editor cleaned house and brought in all new people. The executive editor has a reputation of being impossible to work for, so the new people probably won't last long.

A few days later the new guy sent me a press release about a film screening at SXSW this month, saying the editor wanted me to cover it because the filmmaker ias from our area. Um…#1 my column is about TV, not movies; #2 they have staffers for things like that; #3 they pay next to nothing so I only write about things requiring minimal research and interviews, are things I really want to write about, or let me use material and quotes leftover from my real work. Worse yet? They misspelled my name in my byline and removed my bio blurb.

New Clients: My first assignment for a new market fell through when the key source bailed. It was a single-source story about an HR initiative the guy started. The publicist said the exec wanted to do the interview but he'll be traveling around the world (he runs a major hotel chain) for several weeks ahead of some big summer push. So they were hoping we could postpone it to Q3. I let the editor know – and he asked for more ideas.

Something promising balanced the scales. In December I applied to write a series of short articles. The editor assigned it and he said he needed copy by January 2. I contacted him to explain that deadline was impossible, especially since it would require celebrity interviews. No response. In January I replied to two more pitches, only to realize they were for the same editor. I thought I'd blown any chance of working there. In late January I was told the pieces from December had been reassigned. A couple weeks later another message said they'd been reassigned yet again, then another said the project had been canceled. A few days later I had an email from a different editor there saying the first guy had left, but he'd keep me in mind for future assignments.

Earnings: Pathetic, if you could tanglible income. But if you count invoices (whether paid yet or not), then I'm $300 above my monthly goal.

Bottom Line: I need to get those pitches out!