“Mentioning it.” What a nice way to say whining, griping, venting, and complaining!

Paula, I remember you mentioning that case. So in essence, your editor sat on those revisions until the last minute, then put it on you to get it done on time when she essentially dragged her feet. Yet you’re unprofessional. I agree with you — riiiight.

Cathy, you and I share that similar propensity, I see. 🙂 When it comes out of left field, it’s often tough to prepare for. And I’m not one to always assume the client is about to hit me with emotional outbursts — rather the opposite. I assume clients are professionals who know how to conduct business appropriately.

You’re right — it’s way too easy to stumble into those old habits. Harder to stand your ground and take the heat based on facts, not emotions.

She gave me three weeks to complete my revision (I’d turned in the copy around Labor Day and she waited until a day or two before Christmas to ask for the revision, and I’d taken the last two weeks of the year off). Try finding three new sources the first week of January! A few days into the new year, she cut a week off my deadline, saying they needed the copy immediately. When I said I’d do my best, she actually questioned my professionalism. (“You led me to believe you were a professional!”) I needed a self-imposed time out after that.

Somehow I got all the changes in (all of her additions made the piece swell well beyond the assigned word count, but it was a flat fee deal, argh.) All she said was “Got it.” That was January. In May I learned through someone else thatshe sat on the article until April, which was about the time a new owner took over the company. My piece was axed and she didn’t have the guts—or professionalism—to tell me. The person who did tell me was surprised I didn’t know about it, and must have mentioned it to the editor because she then emailed saying. “Sorry. I thought someone told you.”

Someone.

And I’m the unprofessional one? Riiiiight.

I think a big factor that makes us less likely to speak up when these things happen is that we don’t want to be branded as unprofessional.

As we know, this is not an easy process, and it’s easy to stumble into old habits. Wishing you many Zen moments, Lori. 😉

I like that, Anne. It’s a good visual, too. If I can see it, I can see where it went wrong.

And if I can identify what deep seated something got triggered, that makes it, sometimes, easier to let go.