dougalfish

Please, can I have some more (work)?

2010-09-03T20:47:00.004+01:00

Oh I miss editing! I've still been doing my voluntary work whilst being on maternity leave but I really miss getting my teeth into a large project. So once my baby hit 5 months I thought 'the next one I'm offered I'm taking', but I didn't get offered anything. Then on returning from holiday almost a month ago I decided to officially come off maternity leave.

The email took some writing as some of my clients weren't aware that I'd actually stopped working for a while - just that I was too busy to help them earlier this year. The message was eventually sent 2 weeks ago - please, can I have some work?

Several email addresses bounced back, not a good sign. A couple of clients replied to congratulate me and say they would think of me if anything came in but they hadn't got anything at the moment. The others have remained silent. My OH has come home form a hard day's work every day this week and asked if I've got any work, have I sent another email? I can never judge when it is best to send a 'begging for work' email - as I don't really want to appear as if I'm 'begging for work' I want to appear as though 'I have plenty to get on with but as you're nice I'll just squeeze your project in as long as you pay me on time' which I've been able to carry off quite well for the last few years.

Just looked at my bank account - £16.32 - best get that email written then ....

Maternity Allowance

2010-02-23T12:02:00.005Z

So I officially started my maternity leave 12 days ago. I found out all about maternity allowance and finally filled in all the forms and sent them off. It is one of the things about being self-employed that you need to claim maternity pay (or sick pay, etc) through the job centre. It can be done online or by filling out reams of paper and posting them off.

I recently discovered that my father-in-law is baffled by this. He can't see how I should be paid for not working. Even though my husband has explained that it is the same as the maternity pay I received when I was employed in an office with my first child.

It turns out that his bafflement goes a lot deeper than that - he doesn't really 'get' that I work. He thinks that because I don't go to an office every day that what I do doesn't qualify as 'work'. The fact that I pay more tax and National Insurance than he probably does doesn't compute - I'm 'sponging' by claiming maternity allowance. Perhaps if it had been my husband who was self-employed his view would be different - there's no paternity pay for the self-employed.

Baby Brain?

2009-12-22T13:45:00.004Z

I'm slowly getting myself sorted out for the impending new arrival. Planning to stop work at the end of January and have finally sent off all of my paperwork to apply for Maternity Allowance.

Work has been pretty steady but I've been worried about the effect of pregnancy on my work. Within a week I had two complaints. This was a shock as I very rarely get complaints - in fact the last complaint I had was from a rather dodgy character who basically didn't want to pay me for the work I'd done and accused me of shoddy work in an attempt to get away with it.

However I admit - pregnant women get what is fondly termed as 'baby brain' that is, there is so much going on in your head with the prospect of a new arrival and all that implies that you forget things. I've taken to carrying my diary with me everywhere to avoid double booking things and, of course, taking extra care with my work so as not to miss anything.

The first complaint was that I had put everything in the present tense for a 200 page document rather than the past tense - which seemed rather odd. Lo and behold I was able to point them to the instructions that I had been sent which said to please use PRESENT tense (they were very apologetic).

Unfortunately the second complaint has been going on for a long time - I edited a book on screen by a non-native English speaker, returned it to the client after clearing up some queries with the author who remarked that it was odd that I hadn't sent him a list of where his grammar and spelling was incorrect. It isn't my usual practice to do that as it often opens up a can of worms where I spend hours explaining English language usage and defending each change - I'm employed to sort the text out not to teach him English grammar. Plus the job was for a set rate so all those extra hours would have been unpaid.

A few weeks later he sent me a curt email saying that he'd received the proofs and none of the changes that he had identified had been made and could I send him a list of exactly what I had changed as as far as he could see I hadn't touched it. Understandably I referred this back to the client in case the wrong version had been sent to the typesetter (it happens!). He hadn't previously sent this list of changes to myself or the client so I hadn't included them because I hadn't been aware of them. I left it with the client who was going to get it looked at again in-house and get back to me. Today the client has come back with a pdf of all the changes - granted I missed a few but the majority of which I wouldn't have changed because as far as I was concerned the text made sense or because I didn't want to change the author's meaning - in short it has been extensively rewritten in places, which wasn't my brief. I am not sure what the client wants me to do about the problem - I offered to go through it again with his comments in mind but they opted to do this in-house - they paid my bill before his complaints came to light (and I feel that the work I put into the book warranted the charge). But all they can see is the huge number of changes on the proofs rather than the amount of editing that was done before it got to proof stage. Plus as there were a few that I admit I should, perhaps, have spotted I feel that 'baby brain' and the numerous viruses I've caught over the past few months may have meant my editing performance was less than perfect.

In the meantime I have worked for several other clients who have all praised my work - so I'm going to try not to dwell on this, concentrate on finishing my workload for January and then return to it all after my maternity leave. I've apologised to the client and offered to do another project at a discounted rate once I return to work in the Summer and keep looking at those emails/letters of thanks.

Help, My Mum's on Facebook!

2009-11-11T13:43:00.005Z

The cry of many a teenager I know but I'm in my late 30s and my mum turned 63 today and celebrated by opening a Facebook account. I know people in thier 60s (and over) are very tech savvy but my mum can't programme the DVD without a support group of at least two of us. I should have been warned - a few weeks ago personal calls were banned at her office and suddenly she kept popping up on YahooChat. This coincided with her friend - the 'Joneses' in our family's 'keeping up with the Joneses' scenario - also joining YahooChat, shortly after she appeared on Facebook. I felt a bit left out actually as she didn't mention her intention to me and the first I knew about it was when she sent a friend request to my husband - I had to search for my own mother! Unlike most teenagers I have nothing to hide - I'm actually looking forward to introducing her to Facebook's many delights - just don't mention Twitter to her ...

On another note I helped out in my son's class at school today and the 5 year olds were learning about the Internet - just last week I signed him up for Lego Magazine (for 4-6 year olds) and was asked for the child's email address! So how old should children be before they are introduced to email and social networking sites (thankfully Facebook is limited to over 16s, though I know a 10 year old relative is on there 'to play games')?

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-10-12T09:34:00.005+01:00

If you follow me on twitter you may have caught glimpses of my current state of mind and jam packed life!

Yes there are plans to revamp the room I 'use' as an office that I talked about in my last blog post but unfortunately not for me but for a new addition to our family expected in February. The 'office' will move to a corner of the spare room until said infant is old enough for school and I can up the freelance work again to warrant converting the garage! This news has, of course, opened up lots of questions for my working life.

I went freelance after my son was born so I've had to find out what happens financially. I can claim maternity allowance but will, in effect, have to close my business for the period that I am claiming. You can have up to 10 keep in touch (KIT) days but those are more geared towards attending meetings, training and conferences rather than editing the odd manuscript I should think. This has left me with a dilemma of how to deal with my clients. At present I haven't told any of them of the expected arrival, I'm not sure how long I will want/need to take off work (my OH predicts a week at most) and I'm still smarting from the 3 month work drought after telling them all I would be in Australia for 3 week's holiday back in 2008. Though it feels slightly dishonest I'm inclined not to say anything until the baby is here (and maybe not until I'm ready to start work again) as I have a good network of contacts who I can recommend to clients whilst I am 'too busy'.

I've been quite pleased that work has been trickling in regularly and I've managed to retain some new (non-publishing) clients though the big client of early in the year that occupied most of my time from January to May has now disappeared off the face of the earth (thankfully I did get the final payment from them - eventually). I even managed to juggle my first experience of the 6 week school holidays with relatives visiting, morning sickness and work (plans are definitely in motion to cope better with it next year). A quick look at my accounts show that I'm slightly ahead of this time last year but then scared me as I could also see that I've really only got 3 working months left until baby takes over - not to mention how close Christmas is (oops I said the C word).

I also took on a regional role, rather than just a local one, for the charity that I volunteer for shortly before I found out that I was pregnant. In theory it is a small job but we don't have a full regional team so I feel I should be more involved than I initially signed up for. I like to keep busy ...

My Office

2009-05-11T13:42:00.002+01:00

Inspired by a friend's facebook photos I thought I'd share with you - my office. I warn you, it's not for the faint hearted. I'm not a great fan of housework - comes from having a mother who got up at 4am to scrub the house clean before she left for work, and a father who wouldn't let anything touch the surfaces (seriously you daren't put a coffee cup down in their house - I've always thought that they were well suited to the hospitality trade).

So, anyway, back to my office. I have to stress now that this isn't where I work. I did once have a lovely cabin bed/desk set up that had plenty of space to lay out proofs, plenty of storage and the benefit of a bed (2 with the sofa part) for guests. But we were short of money and they were going for £200 on ebay so I had to say goodbye to my desk and settle for an old dressing table.

Clockwise from top left: the desk - containing the (as of last night now broken) PC, screen and keyboard - not much space for proofs; an odd piece of furniture - a seat in the shape of a hand, carved from a tree trunk and part of a set of two that we are 'storing' for my sister-in-law who emigrated to Australia in 2006 - with our old printer balancing precariously on it; my Winnie the Pooh motto 'my spelling is wobbly. It's good spelling but it wobbles and the letters get in the wrong places'; my computer chair - not the z-bed in the background (next scheduled to be occupied at the end of July - eek); essential software; my 'library' - not sure why DIY is with the baby books - perhaps that's why we only have one child; filing and an old TV - I think there is a theme here.

So my 'office' has turned into a dumping ground for unwanted furniture - two hand chairs (very heavy and it hurts when you stub your toe on them), a chest of drawers, a dressing table and a cabinet once used in the bathroom.

Methinks I need to rethink this a bit .....

One of those days

2009-05-01T14:12:00.004+01:00

Do you ever have one of those days? Well I seem to be having one of those years! Take today for example:

Son woke us several times in the night with various requests for juice and biscuits. Then I completely missed my OH getting up at 5am and leaving the house, accidentally setting the burglar alarm off, at 6. The burglar alarm woke my son who was then prodding me every 15 mins to get up and make him breakfast. All of a sudden we were running late. He decided he didn't want to go to school and it seemed to take forever to crowbar him into his uniform, do his reading book and think of something constructive to write in the notes for the teacher (yesterday it was 'we've had this book before, he's bored!' but as I helped out yesterday and now know the teachers have been off sick I wanted to be a bit less caustic - I settled for 'read easily, well done (son)!' Then I discovered that we couldn't get out of the house. Because of our son's nighttime sleepwalking we have to keep the front door locked and when my OH leaves in the morning he locks us in (fire hazard I know). Yesterday a policeman knocked on our door to ask if we'd seen anything the previous night when our neighbour had been burgled. So my OH panics - his parents were burgled when he was about 12 - so now all keys are hidden. I have a memory like a sieve so put in a request that if they had to be hidden could they be somewhere that I might be able to find them - no, the burglars - having smashed a window to get in - would then be able to easily find the keys and get out with the tv. Personally I say let them take the TV rather than wake me up to ask me where my husband has hidden the bloody keys. I eventually remembered where I'd put my own set - where I'd be bound to see them ;-) - and we could leave the house.

As we hurtled down the drive at light speed I realised that the bin hadn't been put out for collection (usually my OH's job so I suspect he overslept too). I quickly computed that we didn't have time to stop and do it, the kitchen bin was still full, and I'd have to come home after school drop off and put it out instead of heading straight to the gym as the bin lorry usually arrives at about 10am.

Once at school son has a minor incident in the playground (which is all his fault) ans clamps himself, limpet like, to my leg. It takes 15 mins - and endless promises of treats at home time - to untangle him and eventually leave the building. Back home, whizz round the house, put bin out.

Got to the gym and discovered that although I had an 'assessment' on Monday my fitness coach hadn't written our my programme card and was now 'off'. I did actually discover this fact on Wed but I hoped that it would appear today. Could I remember what I was supposed to do? So I spent an hour tentatively flailing weights around in the hope that I was working the right bits in between 'hard pushes' on the cardiovascular machine. I think I looked a bit deranged as I left an hour later (if not during the entire workout).

When I checked my phone there were more messages that work has been delayed - as has most of my March work. When I got home there was a haughty message from my mum as I've not been in touch all week and we've not arranged anything for the weekend.

After a long chat with my mum to smooth things over there was a call from a client. Suddenly realised in horror that the project that I have to do for them is due back on Tuesday and I've missed the deadline for the courier as I forgot all about the bank holiday. Luckily they were fine and were actually ringing to offer me more work.

and now suddenly it is time to pick up my son from school and I haven't um got those treats that I promised so willingly this morning so I'll have to head for the shops.

And that pile of work, well it's still sitting there, looking at me ....

Hope you have a good May Day holiday - don't work too hard (be it gardening, decorating, relaxing or proofing).

Four years of being free(lance)

2009-04-11T22:01:00.002+01:00

just over a year ago I write this post. The last year has been tumultuous at best and I'm not going to repeat the process here. Thankfully I have just about managed to recover the loss of work last year with the work I secured in the first two months of 2009.
I feel slightly less secure. For every freelancer declaring that they are rushed off their feet - with more companies not replacing staff (even making some redundant) and outsourcing instead - there are many more in desperate search for new clients as theirs outsource overseas. With redundancies increasing there are also more and more people entering the freelance market - lets hope we can all weather the storm.

Technical Problems?

2009-03-15T19:24:00.001Z

phew! How many weeks since I last wrote a post? Yes I've been busy but there have been 'technical problems'. Two years ago if you'd said that I'd be lost without my laptop I'd have laughed but that's exactly what has happened over the past few months.

The PC upstairs - in the almost smallest room in the house piled high with stuff that's not made it to the loft yet - is terribly slow due to the amount that is saved on it and the programmes it runs (plus it is 5 years old now - a lifetime in the world of computers).

I did have part ownership of a laptop whilst mine was on it's many travels back to the menders but there were several marital rows over which was more important - my need to finish an on-screen edit at 10pm in the evening or his need to play poker on facebook!

Finally my laptop was deemed to have gone wrong WITH THE SAME PROBLEM 3 times in less than 6 weeks. So, yes I could have a replacement or a voucher for a new laptop - which will arrive 2 weeks after they've finally taken the old one away.

We got excited - we could choose a new laptop! I got hints and tips from others and I made up my wishlist - wide screen (one you've tried it you'll never go back), large memory, usb ports, wireless, etc. etc. Except when the voucher came it was for a particular model number of Toshiba - sob! My OH visited the store and found that particular model isn't made anymore - result! But he then went ahead and chose a replacement without me! I can't moan though as he also managed to get a wireless printer!

Whilst researching my choices I was often told to get a Mac - what about this one?

Erm, where did January go?

2009-01-29T22:42:00.004Z

I know it's not quite over yet but I feel like I've missed it!

It is probably because January 09 has been an important date in our household for several months as it marked the grand occasion of my son starting full-time school.

There has been a lot of thought and discussion (mainly by my OH) about my possible return to the 'work place' during the sudden influx of hours that I would now have to watch daytime tv, twitter, Facebook oh and blog. I applied for several, even went to interviews, but as I blogged about here people didn't quite know what to do with my almost 4 years self-employed status.

If you follow me on Twitter and Facebook and look at this blog regularly than you will know that I haven't been spending my time there - and there hasn't been any daytime TV either. In fact, I have a theory, once those school gates are closed time moves triple fast and before you know it the clock's at 2.45pm again! Mum friends call me up and ask me how I'm coping now the house is so quiet and to check if I'm lonely - I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I'm not.

Thankfully my son is, just about, settled at school and, I don't want to jinx it, I've been lucky enough to have some regular work over the last couple of months (I did take Christmas day and Boxing Day off). I now have something else to worry about - it's half term in 2 weeks time!

Today I had an email from a colleague who said 'take a break (write a blog entry!)' - so here it is ... now must get back to my in box ...

When is a gift card not a gift card?

2009-01-17T17:40:00.003Z

A few years ago shops stopped selling gift tokens - the ones that you could keep in the 'Notes' part of your wallet or purse until the time came to spend it.

Now you get little plastic cards - the same size as bank cards. Even handier - right? Except that you have to keep the little 'gift receipt' in order to use them. At least that's what it says on the back.

My OH's birthday is very soon after Christmas and as a result no one knows what to buy him - including me. This year he had a stack of gift cards which he was eager to spend.

So we were in the queue at M&S and he handed over his gift card.

'sorry, this hasn't been authorised'

'I beg your pardon?'

'S'not authorised, you can't use it'

'But I have the gift receipt here - it says it has £X on it'

'We've 'ad a few of those. 'ed Office sent an email saying there wor 4 days b'for Christmas where the computer's didn't work'

'so what are you going to do about it?'

'you need the receipt'

'I've got the receipt, here'

'no the sales receipt'

'but it was a gift, I don't have that'

'Can't do anything without the receipt ...'

When I contacted my sister (who'd given my OH the gift card) she'd actually bought 4 different gift cards in that transaction, didn't have the receipt anymore and was more than a little stressed that M&S had over £100 of her money and weren't honoring it.

Needless to say it is in the hands of customer services but there are probably many more who bought gift cards over those 4 days and what are those gift receipts for?

Unfortunately the gift card problem doesn't start there. He also had an itunes card except they come in two pieces and the wrong one was put in his card. I think we should nominate a different day to celebrate his birthday ...

Happy Bloggerversary

2009-01-01T22:49:00.005Z

I started this blog exactly a year ago today. Back then I didn't really know what this blog was about (and, truth be told, I still don't). My posts have been a bit haphazard and uncoordinated but I think I'm going to stick to posting my ramblings here in the hope that they become something more coherent.

A few things that I've learnt over the past year:

Include a note at the bottom of your invoices asserting your right to claim interest for late payment - it has helped me several times to get paid (and I've even managed to claim interest, once) without having to resort to the small claims court.
Not all 'colleagues' on forums are actually there to share information and help others and sometimes the best thing to do is remove yourself from the 'conversation' for a while.
Breaks are important - whether it's going for a walk, meeting friends for lunch, a holiday or even just doing something else instead - a short break will leave you feeling refreshed and will help you to look at your work with fresh eyes.
There are some great blogs out there but if you have too many to keep up with in your blog reader then it is time to unsubscribe from some (I've still not done this as i think all the blogs that I follow are great).
Social networking is great - I've made so many friends in the blogosphere - some have become 'in the flesh friends' too. I've also received work, kept in contact with family in far flung places and rediscovered old friends who I'd lost contact with during my many moves over the last 20 years (England, Scotland, England, Wales, down south, up north - but not Ireland, yet).
Be careful what you do say whilst blogging and networking - sometimes things can be taken totally out of context and used to ridicule yourself and others. (Actually, again, this is a do as I say not as I do as although this has happened to me I haven't really sanitised what I write at all).
Don't rely on your main client - for the first 2 years of my freelance business the majority of my business came from my ex employer, then in June this year the work suddenly dried up. All my contacts have moved on within the business or elsewhere and their replacements have their own freelancers - plus they aren't using many freelancers in a bid to save money.
Save up throughout the year to pay your tax bill - mine's due at the end of the month and it's double last year's bill (I suppose I must have had a good 2007/08, not that I noticed).
Try to get some up to date training - another new year's resolution! If the courses I want to do ever take place outside of London I really want to try and get on them this year.
Some employers view a period of self employment more suspiciously than they do a period of unemployment.

I'm sure there are plenty more that I'll think of later.

Here's wishing you a happy, productive and prosperous 2009

Nerves and References

2008-12-17T20:21:00.004Z

I blogged back in October about my decision to apply for some part-time work. Since then I've filled out reams of application forms and, for the most part, heard nothing. Last week I had a surprise phone call - I had an interview at part of the technical college next to the school where my son will be in January. Great!

Then came the stressful bits. The next day was filled with calls from someone in the recruitment office - I hadn't put my maiden name on the application form: there was no space or request for it BUT I had submitted my CV in the initial round (before the recruitment company would send out the application form). Then they left a garbled message for one of my referees and I had to get them to contact her again. Then, what really shocked me, BECAUSE I WAS CURRENTLY SELF-EMPLOYED I had to supply a character reference - not just any character reference, this had to be from a 'professional' who had known me for more than 5 years. (I have since upset many friends and relatives when recounting this - because I didn't ask them!) Of course this was needed immediately so I wasted a day trying to get them to agree to various 'professionals' who knew me - some hadn't known me for long enough, others weren't 'professional enough', then I had to get hold of the potential referee to check they could do it, now!

Today I had the interview - they were running 10 minutes late and then I was left with 3 of the panel whilst the remaining panel member stepped out to talk to the previous applicant again. I didn't get the job.

Throughout the whole process I was struck with how things have changed. My last interview was over 10 years ago and then you were advised to keep your CV to a single page and expand on it in the interview. The applications I have made over the last couple of months require a lot of work and crafting - personal statements and examples in answer to specific points in the person specification. In the interest of fairness all candidates that were interviewed were asked the same 6 questions and there was little room for expansion on that.

So in all I felt a little disadvantaged that I was self-employed - my experience of running my own business wasn't really touched on and in the need for a character reference gave the impression that it was disregarded in my career history. The nerves didn't help either.

At least, if I apply for another, I won't be as nervous about my first interview in 10 years.

They've done it again

2008-11-06T13:00:00.004Z

Those people at Penguin have created a 'must have' classic again. It may not look like much but I'm putting it on my Christmas list:

So Santa forget the sable but I have been an awfully good girl ....

This Freelance Life

2008-10-15T14:37:00.004+01:00

I started writing this over a week ago but got interrupted and never completed it:

I've been pondering a lot over what being freelance means to me lately.

I think it came to a head when, over the weekend, my husband and my mother were going through the job 'page' in our local paper and reading out advertisements for me. I came up with many, many excuses for not applying.

A lot of them were based in schools - examinations coordinators, admin managers and similar. Although these had the plus of being term-time they were all 30 mins drive from home and the hours were 8.30am till 3.30pm.

1. This would mean that I wouldn't be able to take OR collect my son from school - the school gate isn't opened until 8.30am and children should be collected at 3pm.
2. My mother's assertion that she would retire from work and do the drop of and collection duty sounds great but it's a big commitment - she'd have to be at our house for 7.30am every morning and her day would be tied up with the need to be back at school for 3pm. Plus we sometimes have a volatile relationship and I'd hate for my son to be left stranded because she's suddenly decided I'm ungrateful.
3. Quite frankly I don't want to return to a full time office job.

I love being freelance. I love doing what I do.

One of my Twitter followers tweeted the other day 'Are there any other freelancers out there and what do you do?' a few hours later she tweeted again 'I know at least 3 other freelancers follow me on here but no reply - what if I was looking to place some work?'. She was quite right of course and had it not been for the time difference (about 9 hours) I would usually have answered pretty promptly - except I didn't have much work on and it was Sunday.

Sunday?! Well as most freelancers will tell you - I do often work Sundays. I have been known to work late into the night as well. It's a small price to pay for the freedom to be able to look after my son during the week and get all those little jobs that running a house and volunteering for charity entail. Family and friends help out with childcare at the weekend (and in the week) so I can do this.

So I'm digging my heels in over the job front as long as I can ...

Well it hasn't turned out to be so long as this weeks' paper had the perfect job for me - working with books, term-time, school hours - keep your fingers crossed for me!

I won't be giving up the freelancing though - as long as the work is out there!

Storytelling Competition

2008-10-10T12:13:00.003+01:00

Munch Bunch are holding a 'storytelling'* competition - great, I thought, I do all of the funny voices and I used to tape myself telling stories when I was a kid (I'm not sure why either).

On closer inspection they actually want you to write the story and they'll get a celebrity to 'tell' the story if you win. I might just give it a go - if you're interested the link is here.

The closing date is 30th November.

* Storytelling - taking the printed words in a book and giving them life (World Book Encyclopedia, 1976).

The Sorted Books Project

2008-10-02T14:56:00.005+01:00

I first saw this on the Snow Books blog but now they are cropping up here and here - maybe it is in response to the challenge from Juliet at Musings.

So here's my contribution:

Oh and in case you didn't feel the earthquake (which was me jumping for joy) my OH is still employed - though at the rate my clients are disappearing I will be looking for a full-time 9-5 job in the very near future.

Waves and concerns

2008-09-25T21:44:00.004+01:00

I seem to be blogging in waves at the moment. There's lots of ideas zooming around my head but sitting down at the computer screen and typing seems to only happen in short sharp bursts.

I'm also fretting a bit. I've had some health issues which have temporally abated but my medication runs out tomorrow and the GP warned it could all start again. I've had two appointments at the hospital for the 'abnormality' the optician spotted and now have to be referred to another consultant who's at a hospital 40 minutes drive away (the usual time spent at the hospital is 2 hours to see the Dr for 10 mins - and you can't take a book to read because they put scary drops in your eyes).

My OH has been working some awful shift patterns so has been absent from childcare duties and then when he did get a few days of the decided he needed a break and went fishing (though I still refuse to take it up as a hobby so that I can have a break). We should finally find out about the redundancy decision on Tuesday but in the meantime things are a little tense.

Plus I feel a little bit of a failure - after nearly 4 years freelancing I've let my OH persuade me to apply for a part-time job. Though I have a lot of work to do in the next 10 days I have nothing in the pipeline and no money coming in for at least a month. My usual clients have gone silent and after prodding some have admitted that they 'aren't currently sending anything out of house'.

I'm not completely disappearing from the freelance scene - and I don't know if I have the job yet - but I am looking for a bit more security. There are only so many things you can sell on eBay and my son needs a school uniform for January.

Hmm after that moan perhaps I should have kept the blog silence a little longer ....

Social Networking

2008-09-17T12:16:00.001+01:00

I love these cartoons that appear on FreelanceSwitch - if you need me I'll be on facebook ....

3rd Annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers Contest

2008-09-15T11:55:00.004+01:00

the shortlist for the top 10 blogs for writers contest is up and 2 blogs I regularly read are up there!

Freelance Parent and Diary of a Wordsmith

There are 37 finalists and these will be whittled down to 10 by judging on the following:

Quality of posts: A qualitative analysis of the content of posts will be examined. Educational and discussion-spurring posts are more valuable than self-promotional posts. (55% of decision)
Frequency of posts: Blogs that write multiple posts per week will score higher. This is a sign of the blog’s commitment to blogging. (15%)

Reader involvement: Blogs that have regular comments from readers are another sign of a healthy blog. In addition, the numbers of nominations for a specific blog play a part in this. (15%)
Technorati.com Ranking: The number of other blogs that link to the blog shows the value of the content. (15%)

it's worth having a look through the links on the list - and if you like what you see link and comment to give your favourites a chance.

Feast or Famine?

2008-09-11T22:45:00.006+01:00

I'm lucky as I'm just about staving off hunger - the project I was waiting for that was going to take the whole of August has arrived and one of my clients who doesn't pay very much but who pays quickly answered my last plea for work. But some colleagues are not so lucky and I seem to be hearing daily of publishing houses making their staff (my contacts) redundant and others tell me they're 'not sending any work out at the moment'.

Then I hear of more Internet sites starting up where editors bid for work, which works for some but I'm not sure it's for me, and some where they project manage the production of a book for a percentage of the royalties (eek!).

Others are reporting that they are too busy and are having trouble deciding between projects to take on - naturally I'm taking account of the areas they work in ;-) I'm also looking at the part-time jobs section in the local paper, keeping my secretarial skills honed and returning to my crafty side.

As many freelancers know - it is usually feast or famine and I'm still hoping for the 'Back to School' rush to kick in.

Need a pep-talk?

2008-08-29T22:24:00.004+01:00

Just a quick post - I came across this yesterday and have vowed that when I can get back into our back bedroom (aka the office) again I will print it out and put it on the wall. Failing that I will try to read it at least once a week, or whenever I need a pep-talk. Pay particular attention to point 7.

Unethical me

2008-08-27T20:12:00.004+01:00

Lovely Louise has tagged me in a meme, first started by Dom at PR-otagonism. The idea is to admit publicly to the products you use that normally you would be too ashamed to admit to in polite company.

One of the things I have tried to do in recent years is boycott Nestle and when you look at the list of Nestle products you will see that this is very difficult to do - with a 4 year old (and a 34 year old) it has proved impossible to do without those Smart*** chocolates and chocolate covered ****pops (my OH doesn't do the boycott). Because of this I don't buy Nescafe or from the Body Shop and when I suffered yet another cellulitis infection in my face last year I checked the product list before opting for Clarins face care (I've managed to get mine to last almost a year Louise).

Cleaning products - I know wonders can be done with white vinegar and a touch of lemon juice but by the time I am persuaded to don the rubber gloves (well I actually don't as I'm allergic - to the gloves not cleaning, though it has been voiced) only industrial strength stuff will do. With washing powder there is only one brand that one or other of us isn't allergic to and I'm afraid it isn't Ecover.

Cat food - we go for the foil (unrecyclable) pouches over the (recyclable) tins kept in the fridge. This stems from a stint the in-laws had in feeding our cats (about 5 years ago now) where they didn't keep the tin in the fridge and 'forgot' they'd already opened a can - yep we returned to a cupboard full of maggots.

Pre-prepared ready meals - I know they are bad for you, I DID watch all those undercover programmes, I know you can't recycle all the plastic they come in. But sometimes you just need to reach into the freezer for a meal for one. We now have a fussy eater in the family who will only eat one particular supermarket's children's version of macaroni cheese (I've tried hand making it) - and now they've put broccoli in it which hasn't detracted from his love as he picks the green bits out. My OH also works for said supermarket so is always bringing home the latest ready meal to try. Must try harder.

My laptop - I already have a PC upstairs in it's own 'room' for work. The trouble is I feel so confined in there and I like to be able to Tweet, Facebook and blog (maybe even edit) from the comfort of my sofa/kitchen table/bed and can do so in the presence of my son without having to lock myself away (we've told him computer games only work on the PC - I know we're cruel).

My brand of diet fizzy pop - I grew up on Panda Pop (delivered by the milkman), then I moved South and met a girl from Atlanta who introduced me to her hometown's brew. I've been lectured on the evils of 'the corporation' and I know it's fairly hypocritical given my stance on Nestle - in my defence I buy their biggest rival most often and I wouldn't have converted if it hadn't been for the demise of this. I have limited my habit though and do buy own brand lemonade and dandelion and burdock.

Nappies - we don't need them anymore but for 3 1/2 years we used them and they were DISPOSABLE. Why should anyone in their right mind still use disposable nappies? Well I still have vivid memories of 'the bucket' from my childhood and the stench that emanated from that place (my younger sister is 4 years younger than me and her arrival was so shocking that I have rather vivid memories). In my late teens I had a Saturday job in a well known pharmacy on the High Street and I worked on the baby department. One of the first tasks I was given was a nappy test - taking several brands, cutting them up and pouring water on them (much like the ads) to check absorbency. I got some of the gel from the inside on my hands and that caused a severe allergic reaction - so I vowed that I would use terry nappies if I ever had a child. However, when push came to shove (pun intended) I was kind of in a wilderness when my child was born - none of my friends had children, our parents hadn't had children for 25 years, we got free samples of disposables, I had been warned that some local nurseries only used disposables, etc., etc. So disposables it was. I seemed to be validated in my decision several times over: when I saw someone stripping their child to be weighed I noted with interest the 'real' nappy - with all its layers and linings it was too much for my 'baby brain' to take; my aqauintances in the 'yummy mummy club' who used real nappies complained of chapped hands and bad eczema - with my skin complaints it didn't seem worth it; the babies who wore real nappies seemed to have horrendous nappy rash; it is expensive and time consuming to find clothes to fit 'nappy bottoms'; and well - they leak. Still I am concerned about the landfill factor and am determined to 'do better' next time - if there is one.

My car - ethics didn't come into buying my car I'm afraid. I needed a 5 door (after injuring my back lifting DS out of the back of my 3 door) that wasn't to expensive to buy or to run. Being a larger engine size than my 106 it is becoming increasingly more expensive to run. Working from home I shouldn't need a car - however I already pay for my son to go to 'breakfast club' at nursery school to cover us for being at least 1/2 an hour late in the morning - not because we aren't awake but because HE WON'T GET DRESSED or IN THE CAR - adding a 20 minute walk (and that's 20 minutes adult walking without dragging a preschooler) into the equation would cause me to meltdown slightly earlier in the day than my usual 4pm (hence the ready meals for tea). Public transport is either not available or prohibitively expensive in our area (it's the same 20 minute walk to the nearest bus stop) and if I did get the bus into our market town I wouldn't be able to buy anything I need as the market consists of someone selling motor spares and a fish van and the town only has travel agents, estate agents and £1 shops. My pledge for the new school term is to do the collection run by foot - particularly as 'we' move up to proper school in January. Again - must try harder.

On the plus side since we moved to the Midlands 3 years ago we have a recycling wheelie bin (in Surrey we didn't even have a wheelie bin as some think-tank had decreed that it made it easier for criminals to wheel your possessions away after they'd burgled you) and this is always fuller than the general waste bin. We also grow a small amount of veg in our back garden and have a share in an allotment. I've taken up knitting again so handcrafting presents for loved ones (and hopefully saving us all some money on heating bills).

I've enjoyed writing this - though it shows how I've totally failed on the ethical states - I tag Ms. Well Words, Reluctant Blogger (Summer's nearly over RB) and Stuff -em-up the Hill Backwards (because I've always wanted to type that).

A Christmas Present to myself

2008-08-27T15:43:00.004+01:00

I will probably forget (by next week but I've just ordered myself a Christmas present. The book in question is being released in hardback to raise funds for the charity OneinFour - the organisation run for and by people who have experienced sexual abuse.

That back to school feeling

2008-08-22T16:38:00.006+01:00

It's a good job that my work for August has been delayed as I would now be panicking about getting everything done after a few days off sick. So everything happens for a reason - doesn't it?

There is something about the end of August. That almost back to school feeling. My son's not yet in school - though he'll be heading back to nursery school - but already we have the feeling that the holidays have been long enough - still a week and a half to go!

However without my son's preparations I still have that 'back to school' feeling on the work front I've bought new pens and pencils and a pack of sticky notes, I've finished my accounts and got some work lined up.

I'm ignoring the fact that I won't get much done in the first week of September due to a family wedding (though I may be able to fit a couple of client visits in whilst we're 'south of Watford') and the fact that both my parents and my OH are away on holiday AT THE SAME TIME at the end of September - don't ask why my OH gets a 'holiday' (his 3rd fishing trip this year but I'm not counting). I'm banking on all those academics sending their manuscripts into the publisher and demanding completed books by the end of the year!

Right I'm off to unfurl my new academic year planner and stick on lots of coloured strips .... well it always pays to LOOK organised.

The Silly Season

2008-08-10T16:16:00.005+01:00

It's the silly season again - not only the school holidays but holidays for many others too. Now I've returned back to my roots in the Midlands I've been reminded that many industries shut down for the whole month of August for 'Work's holiday'. With most of my work being in the academic area of publishing the same can be said for my clients too - they have no deliveries, or the ones that are promised are delayed until September and if you are lucky enough to obtain work then you can't get hold of the author to answer queries as they are in some remote corner of the South of France for the entire month. This is the first year I've had to cope with a child 'off school' (though only nursery school in this case I'm acutely aware that I need to have some arrangement in place next summer when he's in full time school).

However with our fairly unplanned and unscheduled visit to my sister-in-law in Australia (who was only going to be there for a year and we'd never get the opportunity again etc., etc.) in February, and the rise in cost of absolutely everything, I can't afford to take the month off and was pretty pleased with myself in that I'd managed to secure some work for the whole of August - guess what, the author hasn't delivered yet as he's decided to extend his stay in the South of France. grrr

British Big Read

2008-07-22T21:32:00.006+01:00

Dougalfish still has the blues so I've refrained from posting for a bit. After my post on the Big Read Wordsmith has found the UK version.

The rules:

1) Bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) [Bracket] the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list on your own blog.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolki
2. [Pride and Prejudice], Jane Austen
3. [His Dark Materials], Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. [Winnie the Pooh], AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. [The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe], CS Lewis
10. [Jane Eyre], Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. [Wuthering Heights], Emily Brontë
13. [Birdsong], Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. [Little Women], Louisa May Alcott
19. [Captain Corelli's Mandolin], Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. [Alice's Adventures In Wonderland], Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. [Charlie And The Chocolate Factory], Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. [Anne Of Green Gables], LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. [Animal Farm], George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. [The Secret Garden], Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. [The BFG], Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. [Memoirs Of A Geisha], Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. [Bridget Jones's Diary], Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

47/100 hmm not so good (I'd read 53 of the US version) but I've never read Terry Pratchett (which is 4 on the list!).

And my favourite ... ta da da da ta da taaa.........

(I know, how predictable ...)

Reason why I'm glad I'm self-employed #246

2008-07-16T23:40:00.003+01:00

In short I can't make myself redundant.

I can still remember when I was an employee and redundancies happened. They crept up on you, suddenly a colleague would be called into an office in another part of the building and return blotchy faced with a personnel security guard.

Before child we also experienced the corporate way of culling staff from my husband's employer. The trend seems to be to decide a certain job description or level of employee as no longer existing (though a similar job title or level is about to be launched and he's still working 60+ hours a week). He has survived this cull twice with little stress on our part. Three weeks ago we discovered this is happening again. It is still 6 weeks until we finally know and even if redundancy is his fate he is employed until after Christmas - did I mention he works for a large supermarket chain?

The difference this time is 1. we have a child and 2. I don't have a secure income. At the moment we are assuming that everything will be okay whilst also thinking about his options next year if the worst happens. He has been with the same company for 17 years - all his working life so there could be some interesting things put forward over the next few weeks. I've already discounted professional amateur golf player, professional fisherman and online poker supremo - any ideas/offers most welcome.

The M word :-@

2008-07-09T22:58:00.004+01:00

The Berry/Brewer girls over at Freelance Parent want us to talk about that dirty word - Money. As in how much do freelancers really earn.

I touched on this here back in May but it's time to spill the beans - bearing in mind I am currently very, very, part time the figure that I expect my accountant to come up with at our meeting next week is around £10,000 - which works out to £833 a month (and seeing as I recently worked out I need £800 a month to pay my share of the bills that's just about right).

Since May I have been making positive efforts to increase my work load and my pay rate so I'm hoping for an increase next year - especially as I will be less part-time in 2009.

So, no, I won't earn my fortune freelancing (at least not in publishing) but being my own boss is priceless ...

Chocolate and strange places to get work

2008-07-07T22:16:00.006+01:00

I took the advice left in the comments after this post and discovered this new chocolate in the supermarket from Bloomsbury & Co - I like the 50/50 bar!

Whilst watching my son at his swimming lesson today I got chatting to one of the grandma's (mums are outnumbered by grandparents 2-1 at our pool) who said she hadn't seen me in the gym much recently. I explained I'd had a lot of work on, so we got onto what my work is and it turns out she writes text books - we've been saying 'hello' to each other for nearly a year - so I finally had a reason for the business cards in my swim bag!

NEA's Big Read Top 100 books

2008-07-03T21:44:00.004+01:00

I got this from Amy over at FyreflyJar.

Who says: The National Endowment for the Arts has an initiative you may have heard of called the Big Read. According to the Web site, its purpose is to "restore reading to the center of American culture." They estimate that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. For fun, let's see how many of the top 100 books we've actually read. My list is below.

How well did you do?

Have you read more than 6?

Here's what you do:
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) [Bracket] the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list on your own blog.

1 [Pride and Prejudice] - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (though I have read A LOT of them)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 [Memoirs of a Geisha] - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie-the-Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 [The Da Vinci Code] - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 [Atonement] - Ian McEwan
MISSING 51
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby-Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - A. S. Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 [The Color Purple] - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom (Seriously? this book is on here?)
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (Why include this if complete works is above? Not sure)
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

My score: 53/99

Are there any books that you think should be added to an ultimate top 100 - I wonder what number 51 was ...

A knock in confidence

2008-06-29T22:13:00.003+01:00

I've been a bit quiet of late (for those who know me personally that is very rare!).

I've been very busy with quite a lot of work coming in - great.

However a couple of weeks ago I had to make a difficult decision with a job I'd agreed to take on - I sent it back, unfinished. I've never done that before - I've always ensured that I've done a complete and satisfactory job, though it may have been a little late. Unfortunately it had got the the stage that I'd worked double the hours I'd allocated to it, it was already a week late but I was less than halfway through the final edit. I was staying up all hours to make progress on it and had other clients work backing up. The final decision was to risk losing this one client to save losing up to 3 others. A difficult decision but it was the right one at the time.

I've already had repeat business from the other clients but I must say it has knocked my confidence a bit - mainly because it was taking me so long to complete the project and I like to take pride in my work.

How do you deal with it when your confidence is knocked?

Know your Market

2008-06-13T12:23:00.004+01:00

Just about to pack up for a weekend at the in-laws when an odd message popped up in my inbox.

The subject had 'Hello Dear Dougalfish from XXXX Press'

I vaguely remembered sending out a lot of CVs to different publishing companys not so long ago and wondered if one had found my CV on a to-do pile and fallen instantly in love :-)

Then I noted the email was addressed to the email I use on my directory entries - so concluded that it was probably work and ignored my initial worry that it might be luncheon meat.

Dear Dougalfish,

Hope you are doing fine.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sxxxxxx and I am responsible for business development at _____________ (www.______________.com ) . I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our company ........

It turns out that THEY are a company based in India that want to sell ME editing services!

..... In order to help you assess our capabilities, we would be happy to doing a sample of 10 – 15 pages for you as per your specifications. I have attached PDF of our brochure for your kind perusal.

We would request for a convenient time sometime this week or any time convenient to you for a teleconference so that we can explain our services and take our discussion to next level.

Look forward to your response.

I looks like they've trawled the Directory of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders for email addresses - what a waste of their time! Perhaps I should reply with my fees.

Very quick update

2008-06-12T15:49:00.003+01:00

Quick update on my last post - payment will arrive in my bank account tonight (3 weeks late) which will include the interest but not the compensation fee. (I've amended my invoices to actually state an amount in the text I put at the bottom - for an invoice of under £1,000 this will be £40, more for over £1,000.)

I haven't lost business as a result as they've been in touch twice this week about upcoming projects - one I can't do as I'm too busy to even blog at the moment.

Right, back to the grindstone (laptop) ...

Late Payment Charges

2008-06-05T15:52:00.005+01:00

(Image from freeimages.co.uk)

The time has come to get serious with one of my clients. For the second week running I've received an email asking me to be understanding as they can't pay my invoice due to 'insufficient funds' (a phrase I'm about to hear from my bank).

The invoice isn't for a great deal but 6 weeks ago when I completed the job and raised the invoice I'd been working long hours to get the project finished within a tight time frame (I had to turn it around in 5 days).

At a colleague's advice I added the following to the bottom of my invoices about 18 months ago:

Payment within 30 days please.
I reserve the right to claim statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England Base Rate from the date the debt becomes overdue in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 and to claim an additional sum for pursuing the debt as provided for by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002.

Usually referring to this is enough to ensure that timely payment is made but not in this case so I'm having to follow through for the first time.

There are detailed instructions on how to calculate the interest bit here. At the moment it is 13% of the amount owed, divided by 365 days, multiplied by the number of days overdue - which doesn't look like much really.

But I can also claim compensation arising out of late payment £40 (more is due if the original invoice is over £1000). Which should just about cover any charges by my bank due to insufficient funds.

I will let you know how I get on with this client - they are usually quite good and at least they have let me know the situation rather than hoping I don't notice.

I'm assuming there is similar legislation in other parts of the world - do you find that small businesses or sole proprietors tend to be taken advantage of by larger companies in this way?

Deadlines

2008-05-30T12:00:00.002+01:00

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

It's an old joke - 'I love the sound of deadlines as they whoosh by ...'

I've got one project that has been doomed before it started.

Tuesday - message from client: I've got a copy edit, usual rate, deadline 3-4 weeks.

My reply: I'm a bit busy for the next couple of weeks so 4 weeks would be better, say 23rd June?

Client: great, I'll get it into the post.

Wednesday: message from client: just heard that the typesetter will be going away on 23rd June for 5 weeks. Could you forward the chapters as and when you complete them?

My reply: I don't like doing things in bits like this but I will have a look when I get the project. I expect that if he is going away for 5 weeks he will be very busy and it might be best to wait rather than to rush it and make mistakes. I won't be able to look at this closely for a few days anyway as I am quite busy at the moment.

Thursday: message from client: I appreciate what you are saying but please do try if you can. By the way I am going away on 9th June for 2 weeks so I won't be able to forward anything to him after that date.

Me (to the cat, obviously): huh? so my 4 week deadline has been reduced to 2 without having even received the project.

What she really should have said: I'm going on holiday (ha, lucky me) so I'd really appreciate it if you could magically have all of this done in a week (approx. 60 hours) so I can get it to the typesetter and it will be finished when I get back. Cheers.

Ten tips for freelancers to stay motivated, sane and productive

2008-05-28T16:25:00.003+01:00

The Freelance Switch blog has another one of their top tips up this week. All very sound advice.

I'm not very good at number 4 - I have a guilt complex and 'faking' feels akin to lying in my book.

I should definitely do number 5 - though I have trouble saying 'no'.

I thought long and hard about number 6 at the 2006 SfEP conference. I've used my 'elevator pitch' numerous times to some success - though strangers at dinner parties tend to switch off when they learn that I don't edit fiction.

I definitely fail on number 10 - my receipts for 2007/2008 are still in the highly (not) organised file in the study (behind all the furniture we've just moved out of the spare room).

I like these little 'top tips' - they serve as great reminders of what to do (and what not to do) and you can often learn from others mistakes and successes.

Working hours

2008-05-21T13:51:00.005+01:00

I enjoy being freelance - being my own boss, keeping my own hours, being able to take time off if needed (well that's the theory). What I don't enjoy is the view by some clients that as a freelance you are available to work for them 24/7 (even hang around for 10 months just waiting for them to call) and the view of my nearest and dearest that I'm at their disposal 24/7 too.

I always describe myself as being a part-time freelancer. Mainly because my son is under 5 and though I do have childcare for him on some days it is not all day everyday (the cost of childcare was one of the deciding factors for my not going back to work in-house in the first place). Some of my childcare arrangements are quite fluid - grandparents have him for the odd afternoon and nursery is only open term time. Therefore I am always open and honest about my situation in dealing with clients and let them know my main work days. I try to check my email throughout the day and have my mobile on hand if I am out of the house. I have missed jobs in the past simply because I haven't answered a general email shout out in time.

I've taken steps in the past to ensure that I also manage some family time and get to talk to my husband once in a while but all this has become increasingly difficult at the moment.

There are several factors to this - relatives who think they can drop by for a visit at a moment's notice (and even stay for a few days); friends who think I can babysit their kids at a moment's notice (as I'm at home anyway); my OH thinking I can sort out that lengthily phone call with our gas/electric/tv provider or pop into the bank for a lengthily discussion about the mortgage - whilst still keeping up with the washing, drying, cleaning etc; my OH thinking that because he has a day off we can spend half the day in Ikea (twice in the last few weeks); being on watering plants/feeding cats duty for those off on holiday; the leader of the mum's group I belong to thinking I can take over from her because SHE is GOING BACK TO WORK; and clients who are a bit economical with the truth about how much work is involved in a project.

I am considering having a sign printed with my various 'functions' and times available to wear around my nearest and dearest to guilt them into giving me space

5-7am alarm clock (at set intervals - normally involves physical violence and paired with 'will you switch that b***** thing off?' or 'If you are only going to get up with the LAST alarm bell why do you have so many?'
7-8am wardrobe assistant (to 3 yr old)
8-8.30 taxi to nursery
9-11 Work (Mondays and Thursdays this is extended to 1pm)
11.30-1 Taxi to Grandad's (Tuesdays) (Thursdays - at 1pm)
1pm -5pm Work (Tuesdays and Thursdays)
1pm-5pm entertainments officer (for 3 year old)
6pm dinner followed by 7pm bath time
8-12pm Work (when OH is absent - 2-3 times a week- work starts when 3 year old asleep - latest 10.30pm)

I average about 20 hours work a week but when you throw in other 'responsibilities' that have been put on me of late you can see why I struggle. I think there is a secret conspiracy to get me back to 'going out to work' - though I'm not convinced that less would be expected from me if I left the home to work maybe I would be less inclined to do it).

Maybe installing a soundproof glass box and screening my calls would help. How much are conservatories going for nowadays? ... scrap that - I'd have to go and 'discuss' the mortgage again to fund it.

I've seen lots of similar moans on forums and Facebook really so I know I'm not alone. So should freelancers work the same hours as their clients? Personally I'm not giving up my current arrangement (though OH has been given a serious talking to) and will be reviewing it again next year when my son will be at school full-time.

Human Rights Day May 15th

2008-05-15T08:47:00.001+01:00

Today is Bloggers Unite for Human Rights Day I looked at all the sites concerned with human rights such as this and the Committee to Protect Bloggers struck a chord. Not because I thought that it was a more serious issue than refugees or violence against women or even poverty.

What struck a chord with me is that whilst I sit here typing my random thoughts into my blogs, bloggers in other parts of the world are in fear of their lives. Whilst the worst that can happen to me is a nasty comment in the comments box (that I can delete) they are in fear of being imprisoned or worse.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: everyone has a right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.

There were many badges to mark this day but I chose the one above as freedom of speech is important to me - though perhaps it would have been more fitting if her fingers had been taped as well.

Ditching Clients

2008-05-14T16:33:00.006+01:00

I've been debating about whether to ditch a client or not. It's the one I've talked about here and here (and the last project was just to awful for the blog). It isn't the work that bothers me but the lack of communication and unprofessionalism of the company I do the work for (they are a prepress company). A couple of weeks ago it was the last straw and I wasn't going to work for them again but then I got a heartfelt apology (my messages had been sitting in their spam folder) and I got paid within 2 weeks rather than the usual 6. So I'm undecided again - they pay well if I can just suffer the headache...

... also this week a client who I thought had dumped me got back in touch (after a year) and gave me enough work to keep me busy for the next few weeks and a slightly better rate (after some negotiation).

All this comes after really messing up a job for a friend last week. Rushing through to get it done, as other factors had impinged on my time, rather than taking the time to triple check that I had done it properly. Even after a second chance I'd got myself so worked up that I missed the wood for the trees - she deserves a large drink the next time I see her and will probably never ask for a favour again! The OH got a serious talking to but really the blame was all mine.

So a new, improved, more focused Dougalfish is born who is prepared to negotiate for what she wants, will strive for excellence in her work and will say 'no' to clients she can do without ... well that's the theory ;-)

100 Words

2008-05-11T22:38:00.002+01:00

A big thank you to Amy for pointing me towards 100 words. It's a real challenge to limit my entries but a worthwhile exercise! The idea is to write 100 words every day for a month - about anything, in any style - but no more and no less.

SAHM or Freelance Editor?

2008-05-08T14:32:00.003+01:00

Working from home often means that people don't understand that you are 'working'. You get telephone calls trying to sell you something (rather than buy your services), even worse your mum/sister/MIL/best friend thinks she can call for a 'chat' at any time. My OH also thinks nothing of expecting me to do the cleaning, washing, shopping, nipping to the post office to collect parcels, etc, etc. (okay he expected me to do that when I worked 9-5 too - he was bitterly disappointed back then as well).

Then of course there is trying to work when children are there - as clients believe that you are on the end of the phone, waiting for their call, at their convenience, when ever they decide they need to talk to you. My son's regular refrain is 'can I talk mummy?' repeated at the top of his voice as I move desperately around the house to avoid him AND concentrate on the call. Afterwards I always berate myself for not offering to call back. I was reassured on reading this however I don't think I'll be resorting to this.

Alternative link

2008-04-29T11:00:00.002+01:00

It seems my ex-employers website has been redesigned and the link I gave doesn't work. I've searched in vain to find a site with a picture so here's a link to a copy of one of the books on Amazon - unfortunately not one of the facsimile volumes but along the same vein (and I was in charge of this part too).

BGS and the Gutenburg Press

2008-04-28T21:15:00.004+01:00

Last Thursday I took part in our local SfEP group's trip to the British Geological Survey in Nottinghamshire. I was busy with work but had promised to go along (my attendance is sketchy at best) and I needed a break so I dragged myself away from the laptop (and the phone - more about that later) for a tedious queue along the M1 and an argument with the SatNav on the Nottingham ring road to a strange university campus type building that houses BGS.

I am so glad I did as the trip included two of my favourite things - fossils and books. In fact more than a couple of us were commenting about how libraries, particularly old libraries, make the little hairs on the back of our arms stand on end. Pre-children we made a trip to Dublin with some friends and while the rest of our party were happy to sit around in bars, sampling the Guinness, the highlight of my trip was the Book of Kells - in fact my 80 year old grandmother went recently on a bus trip and as I enthused that she must go and see it she looked at me rather strangely (she never made it but her trip was more tea shops than pubs). I get as excited as Stephen Fry did at the prospect of seeing a Gutenberg bible on his recent program about it (which was repeated on Friday so will still be available on iPlayer if you didn't catch it). I used to be able to indulge in this excitement in my in-house job as I was the editor in charge of producing this series (amongst others) which, at times involved handling originals to make up the facsimile texts - it made all the problems of dealing with the volume and series editors and the libraries worthwhile to hold history in my hands.

Looking at blogs (such as here and here) and sites by other freelance editors and writers a love of books seems to be a recurring theme. I think most of us would say we do the job because we care about the written (typed) word rather than the author or publisher of the final result!

Facebook and LinkedIn

2008-04-20T10:29:00.004+01:00

I'm up to my eyes at the moment (great after the recent dry spell). The reason - because I've had some work from unexpected sources, namely Facebook and LinkedIn.

I've been a fan of Facebook for a while - but a lot of people aren't. There's a lot of discussion out there about whether it is a distraction from work rather than a source of work (and even support). As a freelancer it has been a lifeline as I hook up with other freelancers and we post (talk) about anything and everything but it has also put me in touch with prospective and past work contacts. Equally if I ever need to pass work on it is highly likely I will recommend one of my Facebook contacts because I know more about them.

I've recently signed up to LinkedIn and pop in every now and again to answer some of the questions that people post up. This has led to me linking with more people and some exciting work opportunities. Though there isn't really the social side of Facebook it is a useful tool.

So from my point of view it is worth a try!

Death by Blog

2008-04-07T16:33:00.003+01:00

I just came across this and had to share it. Yes it is sad that these prolific bloggers have died but I found the article very tongue in cheek - look at the quotes! - I even checked the date to see if it was posted April 1st :-)

Spring cleaning

2008-04-07T12:23:00.004+01:00

I've been suffering from blogger's block.

Mainly because I've not had much on. I've moaned a lot about the lack of work about over many of my posts in the past so I'm not going to harp on about the fact that the only pings in my inbox are from Facebook and Freecycle (but if you do have any work going spare please send it my way - OH is starting to read out night shift jobs in the local paper!).

As I've had a bit of time on my hands I've been doing some Spring cleaning. Last week I updated my CV - always a good thing to do every 6 months or so - and I felt a lot better after adding all the 'great job' comments I've had over the last few months. I then trawled the Internet for publishing companies who stated on their websites that they were looking for freelancers and sent them my newly honed CV. In this search I was surprised by how many websites there are out there that profess to advertise freelancers to those looking for freelancers and at how high the fee was - I think at that price I'd rather start my own website (one of those things I really must do but keep running out of time and finances to get around to it!).

Then came the physical cleaning as, for reasons known only to ourselves, the OH and I have decided to move our bedrooms around which involved completely emptying the study and getting rid of my desk. I think I need to take Heather Boerner's advice and scan and shred!

Thanks to Wordsmith for the link to 'What punctuation are you?' I'm a semi-colon - which just about sums me up really.

Three Year Anniversary

2008-03-28T20:57:00.004Z

The end of this week marks my third anniversary of being a freelancer. Woo hoo!

I remember, back when I first started out, reading a post on a forum detailing some guy's hours worked, money earned and percentage increase on last year. Why would someone want to read all that (he also regularly posts his marketing strategies as in 'today I sent out 500 letters advertising my services - I'll let you know if I get any work from it' - he didn't ... get any work that is, he did in fact tell us all about it)? What's the point of noting it all down? Isn't it a pointless exercise?

But I must have taken something from it as I did start to note down my hours and the page count of projects - which has proved invaluable in quoting for new projects.

So why am I about to do to you now what he did back then (and I'm expecting him to do again in a couple of weeks time)? Because it IS a worthwhile exercise - I'll try not to do it in an 'hey look at me aren't I great' way. It has helped me to judge where my priorities are, where my weaknesses are and what to improve on in the future. Most importantly it helps me to prove to the OH that this freelancing lark is better than minimum wage down the supermarket - just.

In short this year I have worked 90 hours less than last year - understandable as I've had a week in hospital, a week cut off by flooding AND 3 weeks holiday. But still 150 hours more than I worked in the first year - with a newish baby and a house move.

My income has increased 12% on last year - so despite working less hours I have taken more money, this is due to rising to advanced membership of the SfEP and working for more varied clients. Overall it is a 23% increase on the first year.

I have yet to work out my outgoings but expect that my increased advertising and society membership costs will even out against the conference and courses I attended last year.

My hourly rate dropped by £2 last year but has increased by £3 this year - again this is due to clients - last year I did a lot of 'test' work for new clients who then turned out to have a really poor rate after the test was over. It's still not in the realms of where I would like to be but I've had better paying clients this year and now know what I CAN achieve.

My average number of hours a week is 20 - which as a part-timer is just about right - but bearing in mind the amount of time I've had off this year and the dry spells I've had this has meant several weeks have been closer to full time hours (a few weeks saw me log over 40 hours). This year I have also made more of an effort to work during the day in my child free hours and spend family time in the evenings - though some days I work right through.

For me this is a worthwhile exercise as although I know I just about scrape to pay the bills each month it is nice to know that my little fledgling business is going in the right direction.

This year is the first time I've logged my hours week by week and this has led to a surprising outcome - it has become very clear that traditional 'holidays' are very busy for me - my busiest months were August, November and January (with December coming a close second) my leanest months were April and June. It will be interesting to see if this is a trend in the following years - I always suspected that it was the case that desk editors ship everything out before they go away so that it will be 'miraculously' finished for them by the time they get back (I used to be one so I know that it is true ;-)).

If you are still with me - well done for hanging on in there! I promise I wont bore you with my tax return ... much.

A Black Wednesday

2008-03-26T20:39:00.005Z

Ever have one of those days? Today has been one I wish I'd slept through to be honest.

It was never going to be good when my OH returned last night from 'a quick pint' as late in the day as he possibly could (aka close to midnight). I left him drunkenly boxing the Wii and crawled into bed (my excuse being that once I am 'working' I rarely stop unless I am interrupted - so if he'd gone onto a club I'd have happily worked into the early hours).

The toddler decided that 3am was a good time to get up and strongly proclaim that he was 'NOT tired' whilst walking into furniture. He got to the point that he was SO TIRED he couldn't sleep and made visits to our room at 10 minute intervals until about 6am when DH lost his temper and stormed out to work (in truth he should have left at 5.30am - so after only 2 hours sleep he was already late).

After this outburst peace was restored and I managed to get an hour of shut eye before we suffered a power cut which caused our house alarm to sound - the alarm which just happens to be situated on the other side of the wall from my pillow. This was then accompanied by the toddler screaming at me to stop the noise. Easier said than done as in the 2 years we've been in the house we've set the alarm only once (whereby we discovered that we couldn't turn rooms off so the cats would set it off) and have looked on smugly during other power cuts (there have been several) as other houses suffered the inconvenience of an incessant alarm. After explaining for the 100th time that, no, the TV wouldn't come on 'because we have no power' the tv did spring into life but the alarm kept on ringing. I frantically typed in all the codes I could find. All telephone calls to my OH were thwarted -forgot to charge the battery in my phone yesterday and the house phone is connected to the mains so was still 'resetting' then remembered that OH had changed locations and I didn't have the new number. Eventually got enough power in my mobile to text him to call home urgently as he isn't allowed to carry his phone with him but would have a break at some point and might just check his phone. Then suddenly the noise stopped.

As it was now 9.30am and I expected some emails from I client I powered up the computer - not connected to the Internet. This involved an expedition to the study/box room/general dumping ground - to find the BT hub. Very proud of myself as I managed to navigate it and press the reset button then fire up the ancient (circa 2003) PC to find out why it wasn't connecting. 'Please type in your user name and password' ermm - after trying every possible combination of our names and relevant dates, and anything else I could think of that the OH might have used, I was sitting with my head in my hands when OH rang. He directed me to a box in the 'dumping area' which had the codes in. It turned out that the only codes were the ones for the wireless connection so took the bull by the horns and reset it from scratch. I am now in BIG TROUBLE for messing with the equipment. Even so it still took me till nearly lunch time to get my laptop to agree with the home hub and check my emails.

This was all undertaken with constant demands to play the Thomas the Tank Engine game and supply a never ending stream of toast, juice and chocolate chip weetabix (my son is like a Hobbit - always has at least 3 breakfasts). PLUS endless enquiries as to when daddy would be home as one of the promises made at 4am was that daddy would play with the train set if HE WENT TO SLEEP!

Then to top it all once I did get the laptop to work one of my colleagues had pointed out that I can't retire until I'm 67! I didn't even have the stomach to ring my mother today (to take off the heat of the constant demands of her 'adorable grandchild') as she takes great delight in reminding me that as she is now over 60 she could retire 'at any moment' she just chooses to work until she's 65 and can change her mind 'whenever'. ggrrrr!

I've a headache from the many battles we've had with the naughty step - no treats were allowed due to our sleep deprivation over the last week (that included Easter eggs which seem to be breeding in our house). I'm in trouble for messing with the hub and, to top it all in my list of crimes, the alarm (WHICH WE NEVER USE) is no longer working.

Thank goodness the toddler is booked into nursery tomorrow and OH is at work so that I can enjoy some peace and quiet and, more importantly, get some work done.

Handy tips on motivation and the long weekend

2008-03-22T13:09:00.006Z

In my search for motivation - you may have guessed I've spent a bit of time 'playing around' on the Internet (basically avoiding the work I need to get motivated about).

I've discovered that I'm not the only one out there: Lorna and Tamara from Freelance Parent have recently blogged about it too.

Bootstrapper has '50 ways to create a motivational workspace' and Cheryl Wright has detailed instructions on how to motivate yourself to achieve your goals.

It seems there are a few others out there with motivational problems!

My distractions this week have been: searching the web for posts on motivation :-), adding blogs to my bloglines account, Facebook, knitting a jumper for my god daughter, making an Easter hat for the toddler, playing on our new Wii and finally cleaning the house for my in-laws visit this weekend! However there has been some work done and I'm sure (I hope) that my motivation will return with a vengeance once I wave them off on Monday night.

Happy long (very, very, long) weekend - whether you are working, playing or biting your tongue over the amount of chocolate being shovelled into your kids.

I've found my motivation!

2008-03-16T21:29:00.001Z

Having a little look on YouTube I found my motivation for doing my job!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjhOBiSk8Gg

Now, must get back to work.

Motivation's what I need

2008-03-14T12:36:00.004Z

I've definitely left the holiday feeling behind with an urgent and taxing job during my first week back at my desk.

Since then though, well lets say I need a good swift kick up the proverbial. It may be that there was three weeks worth of Sky+ to watch (and that the box kept breaking down as it doesn't seem to be able to cope with being more than 40% full) or just the first signs of Spring but I just keep finding that the day has passed and I've done virtually nothing on the work front). I can't even say I've been doing much on the home front either - the dust that we left at the end of January is still evident (though if the in-laws decide that they are coming for Easter after all I'll have to get myself into gear on that too).

My usual motivation is money or lack of it and that should be the case here - bills to pay at the end of the month and insufficient funds to clear them. So what could it be? - wanting to be back on holiday? no. More pressing social and family matters? no. Boredom? hmm, maybe.

As much as I moaned about my client from another planet their project was the last one I worked on before I went away and another from them was the first one when I came back. It was all high pressure and confusion, frustration and talking at cross purposes - in short a bit like my old in-house job.

But the time has come to give myself a serious talking to. If work was always like that I'd have a serious burn out (been there, done that and got the t-shirt) or I'd blow my client relations by actually saying the things I'm thinking and blogging about. The 'boring' stuff is my bread and butter and something interesting is always waiting in the wings :-) Obviously my timing is as wrong as ever - as the preschooler is now out of nursery for the Easter holidays!

I'd be interested to know how everyone else pulls themselves out of a work rut.

Bullying in the workplace

2008-03-08T12:11:00.005Z

Does it happen? Of course it does, I've even experienced it in my voluntary work, and it is unacceptable in every case.

One of the key factors about turning freelance when my son was born was that I knew that I didn't have the energy to play the political games needed for a quiet life at work - I knew that I was quite likely to speak my mind and walk out (a reason for limiting my consumption of alcohol over recent years as I seem to spend a lot of time in my personal life biting my tongue!).

So being freelance seemed ideal. I could work my own hours, have the radio on if I wanted to and not worry about who I would meet in the kitchen when it was my turn to do the tea run.

But being freelance can be a bit lonely and, lets face it, we all need a little bit of reassurance from time to time - no matter how experienced we are (and it is nice to pass on our experienced wisdom too). So I joined a few forums which were set up for this reason. But it seems there is no escape from the bullies even when you are working from home.

One forum in particular has become a bit like a soap opera and I skim through the daily digest to see the same names are arguing over the same points just for the sake of arguing and proving they are better than everyone else. As I press delete I sadly reflect that if I did have a problem I would be reluctant to ask about it. The last time I did I was pointedly told to 'search the archive' when it was obvious from my original message that I already had ... Well it was to me, but I suppose that is part of the problem - so much can be read into an email or forum post that wasn't intended. Unfortunately I have heard from colleagues that what appears on the forum is only half of it and that they have had horrendous messages offline. The result is that what was once a useful resource is now failing miserably as members decide enough is enough and leave.

So am I just an oversensitive soul (as an HR manager once labelled me) or are others finding the same thing? How do/did you deal with the bullies in your life?

A Day in my Life ...

2008-02-29T12:05:00.004Z

This will be a familiar scenario to many of my fellow freelancers but I'm often asked 'How do you do what you do?' or 'What's it like working from home?'. I thought I'd put it down on paper (or in this case blog). So a typical day for dougalfish:

5am kick other half to switch his alarm off.

5.15am kick other half to switch his second alarm off.

5.30am kick other half to switch his mobile phone alarm off.

6-6.30am pretend to sleep whilst other half runs around getting showered and dressed for work and ignore his expletives (he has to be at work for 7am and it's a 45 minute drive away).

6.35am allow the toddler into the space vacated by his father and politely explain that it's too early for cBeebies.

6.40am give in and switch the tv on, hand toddler the remote and go back to sleep.

7am woken by my least favourite song in the world - that's why it's in the cd alarm.

7.20am drag myself out of bed and into the shower.

7.45am shake toddler awake (conveniently fell to sleep as I went into the shower).

7.59am leave the house.

8.02am deposit toddler at nursery.

8.20am extricate myself from toddler's iron clad grip, back out slowly and head to the car (this varies, other times he bounces in without a backward glance - leaving me feeling bereft).

8.25am open kitchen door in need of coffee, discover OH didn't clear up the dinner plates whilst I was putting toddler to bed and then finishing a project before crawling into bed myself in the wee small hours. Ignore dirty plates, make coffee and feed the cats who are now clinging to my leg in demand of food. Put in load of washing 1.

8.30am log onto computer - slightly disheartened that my inbox is empty but then remember that in the 'real word' people don't start work until 9am or even 9.30am. Have last glance through project and notes before raising an invoice and emailing to client. Update my records.

8.45am log onto facebook and see if anything interesting has been said in the discussion groups overnight, move my cars in the Parking Wars application (give OH a ticket - hah hah!).

9am answer telephone call from author with answers to queries on my next project. Open up the file to make the amendments and check there aren't any outstanding queries.

9.30am email from client to ask if I can fit in a 'quick' proofreading job in the next few days - I can't so I point them in the direction of the SfEP.

10.45am finish checking the project and email the few remaining queries back to the author as I know she is now giving a lecture.

10.50 check on bloglines whether any of my favourite bloggers have made a post: wordsmith always serves as a great professional example, reluctant blogger makes me think and Lemon Drizzle makes me laugh out loud. Put on load of washing 2.

11.20 leave to pick up toddler from nursery and then drive to my parents as my lovely dad has taken 2 afternoons off a week to look after his grandson. Like many working mums I wouldn't be able to manage without the help of my parents. We have the usual 'I don't like Grandad' conversation on the way there - but he loves him really. Decide to stay for a sandwich as all we have at home is some mouldy bread and a lump of cheese - really must fit a shopping trip in.

12.30pm arrive home and decide the smell from the kitchen is really bad so spent 20 minutes emptying and refilling the dishwasher and wiping surfaces - it's amazing how far a child can throw food. Reload tumble dryer as too wet outside to hang it out.

1pm back to work - check emails. Someone has found me on the SfEP directory and would I edit his PhD thesis for a credit in the acknowledgements? - sorry, no, I need to pay my bills. A regular client has an on-screen edit for me - the pay isn't great but they pay promptly and it has a 4 week deadline so I accept.

1.15pm the post finally arrives and contains some proofs for a project I completed about 6 weeks ago. I contact the client who asks for them to be turned around in 2 days - would have been nice to have warning!

1.30pm doorbell rings - would I be interested in a new conservatory?

2.00pm phone rings - could they speak to Mr. Dougalfish? No they couldn't leave a message when would he be home from work? 'Well he leaves the house at 6.30am and we're lucky if we see him before 7pm but if you ring then your call won't be answered as we'll be putting the toddler to bed' - Oh. (9 times out of 10 when they do get hold of him, after twice daily phone conversations with me where they refuse to give a message, the are a sales company and he lets them say their piece and then gives them short shrift for wasting our time).

2.30pm author comes back with answers to the queries so can make my last checks and put the finishing touches to the project.

5pm Power down my laptop, nip to the corner shop for a tin of beans and pick the toddler up from dad's.

5.30pm - give the toddler the beans.

6pm call from OH to say he will be late - instruct him to bring 'something for dinner'.

6.30pm suggest to toddler that perhaps a bath is in order (not an unreasonable request as he's been 'helping' grandad on the allotment).

7pm bribe toddler to get into the bath.

7.30pm drag toddler out of bath, kicking and screaming. Cajole him into PJ's and read several stories.

8pm turn on toddler's favourite bedtime CD - to a specific track (number 32), set the light 'just so' and pretend to fall asleep in his bedroom chair.

8.20pm wake with a start (the CD has finished) to find toddler asleep. Creep out of the room - avoiding the squeaky floorboard - and trip over the cat.

8.25pm feed cat. Welcome OH home who looks at the devastation and asks what I have been doing all day. Predictably he's bought Chinese takeaway (again) - must make time for a shopping trip soon.

8.45pm after wolfing down my egg fried rice settle down to the urgent proofread in the study - muted sound of the TV downstairs. To avoid distractions put my headphones on an listen to a CD.

1.00am finally decide to call it a night. Crawl into portion of bed left vacant by OH (who is inexplicably lying diagonally across it and cannot be roused) as I drift off to sleep I wonder if he's cleared up the dinner plates ... or even brought the clean washing upstairs?

So that's how I do it, not perfect I know!

Disclaimer

2008-02-28T20:51:00.002Z

I'd like to point out that my coming back to Earth with a bump was not the cause of the Earthquake on Tuesday night - honest! Oh and I'm still waiting for the information for the project - don't you just love the sound of deadlines as the whizz by?

Back to Earth with a bump!

2008-02-26T10:48:00.003Z

I'm back from my trip - slightly less laden with souvenirs than I would have been if my pay cheques had come through but never mind they are winging their way to my bank account now so can pay all the bills that arrived in our absence!

So it's back to Earth with a bump! My answering machine had a message from a company about collecting my laptop - strange I left it at PC World just before we left to be fixed (it started emitting a high pitched noise when I switched it on and the screen was blank). I duly rang the number believing that they were ringing for me to arrange to pick up my fixed machine. No such luck. I was rather shirtily told that they had left several messages and written to me to arrange to pick up my laptop to fix it (one message and no letter). When I pointed out that I'd left it at PC World they checked the computer again and assured me that yes PC World had been in touch on Friday and it was being picked up that day - so it has been sitting in PC World for 3 and a half weeks. Ggrrr! I feel bereft without my laptop even though it has now broken down twice within a year.

On the plus side I have come back to some work - always nice - though the info I need hasn't arrived yet and the deadline is Friday .... back to normal then.

Late payments, a worrying trend

2008-02-10T21:35:00.000Z

I am supposed to be on holiday - but it seems I can still get frustrated by what is happening at home from the other side of the World.

It seems that every single client I've had over the last 6 months has messed me about over payment. EVERY SINGLE ONE. My reserves have been eaten up in overdraft fees and I often wonder if stacking shelves in a supermarket would be a better option - I've done it before and it was mind numbing but at least I had a regular pay check.

A couple of days ago I found out that a new client I'd worked for on a massive project over Christmas - getting in extra childcare and working right over the Christmas break - has not only failed to pay me on time but, on querying when the payment would arrive, I was told that it wouldn't be until the beginning of March. In what other profession than those who are freelance would this delay be acceptable? Because I can only work part-time at the moment this amounted to a months work - so my mortgage and other payments are all affected. Am I just unlucky with clients or is this a general trend that us freelancers should be aware of?

The client I've been ranting about for several posts is still emailing me over 'where I am' with the project that I finished 3 weeks ago. As I've actually spoken to the person I know he has been getting my emails so I am now regarding them as humorous rather than irritating - but really if they can't be professional with their freelancers how are they with their clients?

Now to workout a months interest for my late payer ....

Extended break and Carbon footprints

2008-02-04T09:47:00.000Z

I haven't had much to say recently with the extended break I've been having due to being honest about my holiday.

My recent client - yes that one - did send some proofs on Friday but unfortunately wasn't prepared to wait until the end of February for their return. I am still expecting them to try to send the rest and email queries to me whilst I am away - despite my having kept all 5 people involved informed and being very clear when I took the project on.

I came across this from a Canadian freelance writer courtesy of Fyrefly - which makes me feel a little less guilty about my carbon footprint. Unfortunately my OH has an hours drive to work and back in a gas guzzling car so perhaps he cancels my efforts out!

Well no work for the next 3 weeks but lots and lots of reading (I hope).

Get Organised?

2008-01-30T13:55:00.000Z

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

I found this little gem of a site whilst reading through back posts on Julie Doyles' blog and it reminded me of what I should be doing - as opposed to reading back through people's blog lists.

At the moment my office is in the smallest bedroom and is the desk bit of a cabin bed contraption that only just fits into the room. The bed part is currently filled with various items that were moved from the 'spare' room for visitors in December as well as a box of stuff I've been meaning to put on eBay for about a year. The 'spare' room is now full of 'things to pack' for our holiday - which I really, really should be doing RIGHT NOW. It also contains various large items from the loft (including a coffee table and TV unit) that were left there by our predecessors 30 months ago and which my OH retrieved 3 weeks before Christmas with a view to selling them on eBay BEFORE Christmas - unfortunately they wont fit into the eBay box. It also contains various bits of furniture that we haven't found a home for yet even though we've been living here for over 2 years.

My 'workspace' consists of a laptop and the coffee table - or for a really big project the dining table or even the living room floor. My OH recently bought his own laptop so he can join me of an evening rather than having to venture into the 'study' and resort to using a webcam to talk to me! We do venture in there on occasion - when we need to use the printer.

I'm afraid that I was no better when I was working in-house - it was a common belief that the office desk moves that happened at least once a year were purely to get me to chuck out half of the stuff hoarded on my desk. Though I've been gone for nearly 4 years and they are still desk hopping regularly!

My excuse is that what ever I am working on gets my full attention and nothing impinges on that - Facebook, household chores, organisation. That way I know I've done a good job AND my OH doesn't think that my being freelance means we don't need a cleaner (we haven't got one but I can dream).

So with a few days 'free' to do all those nagging things that are building up - this years accounts, reorganising the study so I can actually use it, listing that stuff on eBay, giving the house a good clean, packing for our trip - what am I doing? ... catching up on EastEnders and knitting a jumper!

Are clients on the same planet? ... I'm beginning to think not

2008-01-28T18:48:00.000Z

I couldn't believe my eyes this morning when I opened my in box. The client from another planet had sent me yet another a message.

Now this wasn't the same as the one I'd had a few days ago asking me why I had made certain changes to the MS (because that was what was specifically requested in the brief), or to tell me they'd received my invoice and were paying by return (I can wish), or that they were offering me more work (well it was a really good rate of pay so I'd be tempted).

No, it was a message from the editorial manager asking me to report on the status of the project and when I would be likely to return it

... erm I returned it 8 days ago.

I know they received it as I've had a 'huge thank you' message from the client (and queries from the EM). I did notice that the message was sent to several people so maybe EM forgot to take me off the list, but even so.

I did notice on a forum recently that the client was advertising for a new editorial manager, I wonder ...

Exit Strategy Planning

2008-01-26T17:19:00.000Z

As a freelancer you aren't supposed to take holidays or be off sick - you should be there day and night at the clients beck and call (and of course only work for them even if they only call on you once in a blue moon for an urgent project) - right?

In my first year of freelancing I didn't understand these rules ...

I booked a holiday.

(Well actually it was booked before I even thought about going freelance but the fact remains that I didn't think it would be a problem.) On top of the holiday we moved house 3 days before we were supposed to fly (obviously this wasn't the plan but that's how it ended up happening). As this was a move of 190 miles, with my OH at one end and myself and the three year old (then 1 year old) at the other, my work was somewhat disrupted but I made sure I got everything done and sent back before my 'break'. The result was that I ended up not working for about 6 weeks because I took a week to move and another 2 for a holiday and therefore wasn't available when needed.

In March last year I ended up in hospital with an infection. I was only in hospital for a week and then out of action for another week because the cocktail of drugs I was prescribed wasn't conducive to sitting in front of a screen. During that week I continued with the projects that had been due whilst I was in hospital and returned them only a few days late (obviously telling the client via my OH that I was in hospital as soon as we realised I would be staying in). I wasn't expecting flowers and both clients involved were sympathetic at the time but the upshot was that I didn't have any work from them for several months. In fact it took until October to get back into a regular level of work - so, on the plus side, it did make me market myself more.

Late last year my sister in law moved to the other side of the world and I was persuaded to book a trip to see her (which I'm taking in about 10 days time). I informed all of my clients and told them that I would have my laptop with me so could do on-screen work and could probably find room in my luggage to take one manuscript.

But I sent my last project back to a client on Wednesday and nothing else is in the pipeline either before I go or lined up for when I get back. I have been asked to collate some proofs but I think the postage cost to Australia put them off :-) I'm starting to worry that being 'unavailable' may lead to another work drought.

Would I have been better NOT to tell everyone my plans and just set up an 'out of office' reply to my email for the period (though as it is web-based that wouldn't be needed as I can access them there, though the time difference could prove a problem)?

If I had been still working in-house I'd currently be doing unpaid overtime to get everything done before I left and would be expecting to do the same once I got back. I would have still been expected to churn out the same number of books as I had in previous months - despite not actually being there and would be 'stressed to the eyeballs'.

Instead I am sitting here wondering how I can get out of doing the mountain of housework that needs doing before we leave. My excuse (probably since October when work picked up) has been too much work to do. The result is similar to the one Kate Muir describes in today's Dark Ages (Times Magazine) except probably worse as reading between the lines she 'normally' does the chores she mentions wheras I avoid them at all cost.

I suppose there is still time to send round a begging email to clients on Monday - but then again there is the packing to be done.

I'd be interested to hear how others manage it - or even if they do.

Momentary euphoria turns to nagging doubt

2008-01-21T08:58:00.000Z

I'm experiencing momentary euphoria due to the fact that the project I mentioned in my last post is finally 'in the post' to the designer. The client and the project manager stopped answering my emails last week so I'm now starting with the nagging doubt of whether I'll ever get paid by them and, if I do get paid, if they will give me any more work - and if so if I would accept it?

You see I've been in the position for the first few years of my freelance career of only having a couple of clients - one of which I worked for in a previous life as an in-house editor - and chugging along quite happily until 1) the work dried up and I realised it was true you can't put all your eggs in one basket and 2) little one went to nursery and I suddenly had more time on my hands - and I'd rather work than do the housework!

My first action when the work started to dry up was to advertise in a few places locally (so far to this date I've had no clients from this :-]), get on as many web forums for freelancers as I could and, of course Facebook.

The second was to chase up my advanced membership of the SfEP which had been sitting in the office for a year waiting for my previous employer to write a reference about my freelance work - which she simply 'didn't have time' to do. Thankfully as I could prove that in the year since I had made the application I had worked 100s and 100s of hours and had undertaken CPD (continuous professional development) the council granted me the status and I was able to add myself to the directory. The result has been several new clients and a very hectic workload but also some bad experiences - unintelligible briefs, contrary clients and late payment. There have been good points too - expanding my repertoire, building up a good client base and in some cases a bit better pay!

So I'm not in a position to pick and choose just yet - but it would be nice! Perhaps when he's at university :-)

Are clients on the same planet?

2008-01-17T13:45:00.000Z

A regular debate on one of the facebook groups I frequent is 'Do clients speak the same language as us?' with my latest one I'm beginning to wonder if we both inhabit the same planet!

Early December got a 'would you be interested in a quick job for us' email, to which I replied a hearty 'yes' with a view to working over the Christmas period when everyone else was on holiday.

Week before Christmas
Client: 'Glad you can take on the project, will be with you hopefully before Christmas but definitely before the New Year'

2nd Jan
Client: 'Here are the series editors' corrections for the text'.
Me: 'Okay, but I don't have the text to add the corrections to'.

10th Jan
Me: 'I have just received the original but there appear to be 2 versions'.

11th Jan
Client: 'There are 2 different versions of the book one with questions and the other with the answers - here's the email with the instructions that I thought I'd sent before Christmas - can you do the checklist over the weekend and get queries to the project manager early in the week?'

Sun 13th
Me (to project manager): 'Okay I've gone through and here are my initial queries and the checklist you wanted me to fill in. Can you check that I am on the right lines and get back to me?'

Mon 14th
Project manager: 'I'm very pushed at the moment will get back to you tomorrow'.

Tues 15th
Me (to PM and client): 'I've finished going through and there appears to be a lot of text missing - changes have been made to the questions but I need matching information for the answers are there any files missing?'
Project manager: 'I have your queries sent on Sunday I'll be in touch tomorrow with an answer'.
Client: 'There aren't any more files'.
Project manager: 'Can you tell me where you are with the project and how long it is going to take you to finish it?'
Me (to PM): 'Depends on when I get the missing information unless you want me to try to write it'.

Yesterday
Project manager: 'Can you tell me where you are with the project and how long it will take you to finish it?'
Client: 'You don't appear to have sent the information we requested to be with us immediately after the weekend.'
Me (to client): 'Was sent to project manager on Sunday'.
Project manager: 'The stuff sent on Sunday is fine. Can you fill in the attached form to say where you are with the project and how many hours you think it will take?'
Me (to project manager): 'All depends on the answers to the queries.'

Today
Client: 'Can you tell me where you are with the project?'
Me: 'I am waiting for answers to queries sent on Tuesday as I am missing a lot of information.'
Client: 'Please find attached information that we have - does this help?'
Me: 'Not really as it is the same as what I have. Can you confirm what you want me to do? Should I wait for answers to the queries or should I try to rewrite the answers book to match the questions myself?'
Client: 'Oh don't wait for the answers to the queries as we won't send them off until we get proofs. Please do write the answers for the book as best you can. Can you let us know when you will be finished?'
Me: argh!!!!

And, yes, this is one of the clients in my last post about asking questions and Wordsmith was quite right in her observations that there are situations where you can ask too many questions but I dread to think what would have happened with this project if I hadn't!

Payment terms are 45 days - so my hair should have started to grow back by then :-)

OK, rant over, back to work!

Should freelancers be afraid to ask questions?

2008-01-12T17:26:00.000Z

When I worked in-house we had a favourite freelancer who was initially referred to me as 'good but he needs his hand holding'. When I embarked on my freelance career I went to great lengths to avoid being called the same!

However is it always the case that if you ask too many questions you will be regarded as not up to the job? It certainly wasn't the case with the aforementioned freelancer - I'm sure he was the most used on our list, precisely because he asked questions and therefore the finished result was what we needed.

I've recently had projects from two different new clients where I have had to overcome my fear of being regarded as 'needing a hand holder'. I always worry that it isn't professional to ask lots of questions - however if I didn't ask I doubt it would have been as a professional job as the end result.

The first had lots of information to fill in and sheets of information to read before you started but it was full of jargon that was specific to the company, whom I hadn't worked for before. The end result of all my questions has ended up in a good working relationship with the editor involved who has already passed on more work.

The second was vague from the start and materials arrived haphazardly. From my initial questions I found that there was a lot of information, various checklists and instructions that I hadn't been sent and it turned out to be a much more involved job than I'd initially been led to believe. If I hadn't asked questions I dread to think what the end result might have been.

In addition lots of forums, such as the Line for SfEP members, can help out when you have a crisis of confidence about where to put a comma and they may also have other members who have worked for the same client and can shed some light on your queries.

So in conclusion, from my experience, it isn't unprofessional to ask questions - as long as you ask them in a professional way - and the end product could end up in a better working relationship, a better finished product and ultimately more work.

Take a break!

2008-01-04T16:44:00.000Z

Being freelance can sometimes be lonely. You don't have the contact with others that you would have if you were employed in an office (in some cases that can be a good thing :-) ), you sometimes don't even get outside during daylight hours and even Facebook can be lonely if none of your friends are online (although it's an indispensable and addictive lifeline when they are). I only work part time, having a 3 year old at home, but with nursery closed and lots of deadlines I've been shut off from the outside world for what seems like forever!

So yesterday I tentatively took up one of my new years resolutions and headed to the gym for an hour before starting work - and realised only visiting 3 times in 2 months has really affected my fitness levels! Feeling a little braver this morning I took the plunge and ventured to the local toddler group to reconnect with people I haven't seen for weeks and give allow my 3 year old to run around (in the hope that he sleeps through tonight - still not luck on that front). Having had that break, and a chance to talk to actual people (rather than by email and instant message), I was able to concentrate on the tasks in hand this afternoon and I was a much calmer mummy.

It's made me realise that I need to add a few new years resolutions to my list - to make a few more coffee mornings with local mums, chat when I do the nursery pick up, make my local SfEP meetings (I made one last year) as meeting up with other freelance editors and proofreaders is always beneficial and most importantly to take a break every so often (with or without the chocolate bar!).

Why can't life be like a book?

2008-01-02T12:19:00.000Z

With my 'professional' hat on as a freelance editor and proofreader I have to admit that I am a lover of books and from an early age escaped into them.

However my current project has given me great concern - not on the editing side but because of the subject matter. It's a book on childcare and with a 3 year old I should know it all - right? With each new section I hang my head in shame comments like 'Don't turn mealtimes into a battle', 'Children should be encouraged to fall asleep on their own and stay in their own room/bed all night', 'Never raise your voice to a child', 'never bribe children with treats', 'never withhold affection as punishment' etc.

So with the New Year I promised I would be a much better mum - I would not lose my temper or lock myself in the toilet for 5 minutes peace. We would play educational games and go on instructive outings which would also be fun.

So why on only the 2nd January are we under house arrest with half of his Christmas presents confiscated and a ban on pre-school TV?

Well I came to the conclusion at 4am - after constant screaming for attention from 1am - that the books are wrong! They have no section on what to do when you are dragged from sleep by a toddler who has already had 6 hours rest and is ready for breakfast and play when all you want to do is sleep! I could bullet point the emotions, the tactics and the progress from cajoling to pleading, crying and shouting. I could map out the consequences of the fact that my husband only had 40 minutes sleep before heading out for another 12 hour shift or that my patience is on a knife edge. The 'angelic one' is bemused this morning as he claims not to remember anything and can't understand why mummy is cross. Perhaps I need a new book .... or some good ear plugs.

Happy 2008!

2008-01-01T21:00:00.000Z

Started the new year watching good old Jules on BBC2. Waved our guests off to hear screaming and shouting going on down the road. Thinking it was a family argument we kept our distance until a couple involved saw our light on and knocked on our door for sanctuary. It turned out that they were in their late 60s and had become involved in an argument after the other people concerned drove into the car they were travelling and refused to stop. They'd followed to get the car reg and when the car stopped pulled over and asked for insurance details. They ended up being assaulted, having their mobile phone taken and racing to our house for sanctuary. So my start to 2008 was comforting a hysterical woman whilst my husband searched for their son who'd been told what had happened, but not that they were at our house, and was out searching for them. The police arrived an hour later - when the others concerned had stopped hammering on my door and had been collected and driven away by a friend - and the upshot was that the couple didn't want to take it further in case those concerned found out where they lived. Thankfully our 3 year old slept through all this and didn't wake until 4am (about half an hour after we'd managed to get to sleep!).