Yes, it’s time once again for us to look at the month and see what went right, what went wrong. Ready? Oh, what a month. No, not work-wise. Just oh, what a month. Too much weirdness, too many failed attempts to find work, too much idle time spent dealing with unnecessary, well, crap. Here’s how…
The Price is Right
Ruthibelle asked last week how to find what other writers are charging. Great question. Anne Wayman wrote a post about this a few years ago, and it holds true today. She includes a link to Eldon Sarte’s Profit Goal formula, which I think is brilliant for determining how much you need to make to pay…
Just Call Me Disappointment
I knew when I was crafting the proposal last week that it wasn’t going to fly. While the potential client had all the earmarkings of someone who understood paying fairly for services rendered, there was that underlying current of not understanding exactly what constitutes fairness. I can’t blame him for not having the knowledge of…
When to be Unreliable
There are a few people from my past who keep showing up occasionally wanting favors. They don’t ask how I am, nor do they care. They want help. Free help. And they want it yesterday. They’re life suckers – they roll into my life and suck up any and all free time, help, money, etc….
Murphy’s Law and Putting Your Foot Down
It never fails – the minute I’m facing a slow day and I think maybe I’ll take the laptop and disappear into the local cafe, the work comes flying at me like those monkeys in the Wizard of Oz. That was my yesterday. Two small projects that I could have finished by 11 am were…
No You Didn’t
I was reading a fun post by Maria Schneider the other day about the stupid things people say to writers. Go read the “You Get Paid For That?” post. I’ll wait…. So what was the stupidest/rudest thing someone said to you upon learning you were a writer? We’ve all heard the “Oh wow! I’ve always…
Is Time Off a Deal Breaker?
Good news on the work front – a call came in yesterday from what turned out to be a potential client. Honestly, the client identified his company, but having at least 12 calls a day from telemarketers, it wasn’t until I hung up I realized he was calling about work. He’d asked if I had…
Even Cheerleaders Need Prozac
I didn’t want to admit it, and I tried keeping my chin up and my cheerleader game face on, but it’s no use. Work, right now, is mighty tough to come by. Maybe it’s not fair to compare one year over another, but last year at this time I couldn’t keep up with the projects….
Can We Charge for It?
On Twitter the other day a fellow writer was lamenting how she’d spent quality time putting together a proposal for a client she suspected had no money. Turns out she was right. She wondered out loud (in Twitter Land) if there was something to be done so that she could stop spinning her wheels and…
And the Winner Is….
…Stacy Quarty! You are the winner of the Amazon e-gift card. Send me a note with your preferred email (just click on the link to the left there) and I’ll send your Amazon card today! Here’s how we decided – I went to Random.org and typed in numbers 1 through 10 as values (I’d posted…