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Author: lwidmer

Links and Fun Stuff

Posted on June 11, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Yes I’m Cold by Chris Bathgate If you get a chance, head over to About Freelance Writing for my latest blog post. Today is my seventh consecutive Friday off (with, I confess, a few hours of work stolen here and there). Because summer months are usually slower, I’ve pre-planned my workloads…

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Ouch

Posted on June 10, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Good Arms vs. Bad Arms by Frightened Rabbit Yesterday was an abbreviated day, and thankfully I thought ahead and made sure I didn’t have a ton of work to come home to. I had a biopsy of a thyroid. The actual needle part didn’t hurt – it was the lump-in-the-throat feeling…

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Worthy Tip: Time for a Promotion

Posted on June 9, 2010 by lwidmer

On the iPod: Down with the Ship by Enter the Haggis I don’t know if anyone else noticed, but there’s been an ongoing discussion/debate on a former post here. It started when I opened my clam trap about Demand Studios yet again (will I never learn?). What ensued was a great conversation and maybe even…

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Setting Work Boundaries

Posted on June 8, 2010 by lwidmer

On the iPod: Right in Time by Lucinda Williams When I was a wee bairn first starting out in this writing profession, I’d take on any and all projects that happened my way. That seemed like the smart thing to do in order to get established. In reality, it was a hot mess stirred and…

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When the Questions Come

Posted on June 7, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Magnificent by U2What I’m reading: Spartina by John Casey Finally – a detox day that worked! The husband arranged for us to see the horseshoe crab breeding/red knot migration in Delaware Bay. It was a magnificent sight. I’ve never seen a live horseshoe crab, and certainly never saw one swimming. It’s…

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Friday Ponderings

Posted on June 4, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: I Feel Lucky by Mary Chapin CarpenterWhat I’m browsing through: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott It’s been a week of detoxing from all the May-related crud, so bear with me as I separate from work for a few posts. My reasons why books are better than Kindles:– One more hour…

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Totally Random Thoughts

Posted on June 3, 2010 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: The End of the Alphabet by C. S. Richardson (fantastic)What’s on the iPod: Girls Lie Too by Terri Clark Sometimes when I come to writing these posts, I have lots swirling around in the gray matter and can’t land on one idea. Sometimes, yea, nothing. Today it’s a swirling day. Demand StudiosPer…

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Creating Your Market

Posted on June 2, 2010 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: Spartina by John Casey (it’s getting good now)What’s on the iPod: Take it to the Limit by The Eagles Talking with a writer chum yesterday was great. In a short conversation, we were both able to brainstorm some new ideas to recoup what we’d considered losses. In his case, there was a…

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The Confident You

Posted on June 1, 2010 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: Spartina by John Casey (still not sold on this one)What’s on the iPod: Summertime by Kenny Chesney Ashley, this is for you. Last week you said this: “I think I’m just scared to fail. Maybe that’s a good topic for another post — how did you build confidence in yourself?” You’re right…

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Monthly Assessment – May 2010

Posted on May 31, 2010 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: Spartina by John Casey (it’s slow going)What’s on the iPod: Moondance by Van Morrison I hope you’re not in front of your computers right now. I hope you’re taking a nice holiday weekend to remember the sacrifices others made so we could have independence enough to define our careers and enjoy our…

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  1. Stacey Abler Avatar
    Stacey Abler
    May 31, 2010

    I'm so sorry you dealt with so many negatives in May. I hope June is a much better month for you all around. I think it is perfectly acceptable and expected that you would be off your game a bit dealing with all of that.

    May was full of promise for me and I'm hoping it is a sign of more good things to come. Here is to a great summer for all of us! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Kimberly Ben Avatar
    Kimberly Ben
    May 31, 2010

    Hope you're taking time to relax a bit today, Lori. And thanks for sharing your monthly assessment. I haven't totaled my numbers yet, but I
    I'm pretty sure that May has been my most profitable year so far in 2010. Constantly marketing is the reason. I've ventured into a new market and the only way I'll get work is to put myself out there. Now, to keep the momentum going…

    Reply
  3. Paula Avatar
    Paula
    May 31, 2010

    May I borrow your word, Lori? May's been pretty sucky for me, too. Of course, I took a day off to help with the neighbor's garage sale…which mean four days of constant phone calls from her interrupting my would-be work flow. How I got two articles done a full day before deadline is beyond me.

    Job Ads – Didn't reply to any, but spotted a promising one today.

    Queries – Sent a batch of ideas to one of my regular editors, and sent a timely idea off to a magazine I've yet to write for.

    New Clients – None.

    Existing Clients – Assignments dropped off sharply from a newish client. This was after some high praise of my work, so I wasn't sure what was going on. I checked in with her, and she said summer is a traditionally slow period for them, but it should pick back up in a couple of months.

    I also checked in with another client that was supposed to be ramping things up in May. She replied saying their site was under new ownership, and they *might* be looking for story ideas "later in the year."

    I e-mailed a couple of my regular editors to see if they needed ideas for some upcoming issues. Neither did, but one of them said he was waiting for a "capsule" from me (basically three to six sentences on the pros and cons of top TV shows' seasons). Problem is he hadn't assigned it, as a quick glance at our previous e-mail exchanges proved. I was able to knock that out in less than an hour, and he immediately assigned a second one, which he had in hand within about 20 minutes. Had I not e-mailed to see if he needed anything, I would have missed those assignments (worse yet, he might have thought I'd blown a deadline for something he'd never assigned!). Those capsules earned me enough to splurge on a few gorgeous flowers for my front porch and window boxes, plus a couple of herbs for my new mini kitchen garden.

    I was about to e-mail a third editor when she called me. She said the magazine is trying a new format for the front-of-the-book – more super short pieces "like all the other magazines are doing now." She liked the ones I did for the previous issue, so she assigned three. They're 200-words or less, single-interview pieces, she said e-mail interviews were fine. She also assigned a slightly longer article for the same issue. Quick turn-around, minimal research/transcribing, and maximum pay. I can handle that! I especially love that she took the time to compliment me on my knack for writing pithy pieces.

    Output: Turned in two articles and the two quick capsules. Wrote three blogposts and four columns.

    Marketing plans: Spent a couple hours this weekend revamping my resume (so much harder than doing someone else's resume!), and will include it with my reply to the job ad I spotted today. While updating my resume, I wanted to include blogging experience, but didn't think three posts per month was enough. So I began kicking around ideas for my own blog. After I start and manage a blog, I'll be more comfortable listing "blogging experience" on my resume.

    Earnings: Paltry. Almost $900 under my target, but it really hurt since I paid the first installment of my property taxes this week.

    I took it pretty easy Saturday. Sunday I bought and planted all those flowers (90 degrees? I was having so much fun planting flowers to care! Okay, so most of the time I was in the shade, and there was a nice breeze). After the sucky-sucky month of May, I was tempted to work all weekend, but limited myself to revamping the resume and writing one blog post. This afternoon I might actually read. For me, that's a big deal.

    Reply
  4. Eileen Avatar
    Eileen
    May 31, 2010

    Lori, I'm sorry you had such a difficult month. Would it help any if I mentioned that "sucky" is a legitimate word in computer Scrabble? I scored 36 points with it this morning.

    Reply
  5. Kimberly Ben Avatar
    Kimberly Ben
    May 31, 2010

    Um, I meant to say "May has been my most profitable month" so far in 2010.

    Reply
  6. Lori Avatar
    Lori
    June 1, 2010

    Eileen, I'm glad SOMEONE is getting mileage out of sucky! 🙂

    Thanks, Stacey. I think once I look beyond the emotional garbage, my May was a lot like yours – things are now set up for June and July.

    Kim, I'm very glad your May was so awesome! And I knew what you meant. 🙂

    Paula, ouch! Taxes. I'd forgotten. Aren't the federals due this month instead of July? I hate that we pay them April then two months later. Really hate that.

    Reply
  7. Irreverent Freelancer Avatar
    Irreverent Freelancer
    June 1, 2010

    Lori, after all you've been through, you're allowed an off month. I took the entire holiday weekend off for a change, so I'm just finishing up May invoicing. I actually had a surprisingly good month, with total billing at the upper end of my monthly goal range. I had one new client in May, who *should* turn into a lucrative one, but the subsequent work is on hold until the week of June 21, and I never count an ongoing client until he actually comes back with the promised work. He found me, not the other way around. I'm sticking to my goal of marketing about three times per week, but none of my applications have panned out of late. I came close with one, being one of two in the final running, but lost out because I said I couldn't start for two days instead of immediately. When I found that out, I was actually kind of glad I lost the job. I didn't become a freelancer so clients could dictate my schedule.

    Reply
  8. Lori Avatar
    Lori
    June 1, 2010

    Thanks, Kathy. Off it was, but it still didn't reflect much in the invoices, thank God.

    I agree – if they dictate your time, it's a deal-breaker.

    Reply
  9. Anne Wayman Avatar
    Anne Wayman
    June 21, 2010

    What impressed me here was your pipeline… you've got stuff coming in even though you didn't get much marketing done … that's professionalism.

    Reply
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