self-employment

A collection of 27 posts

freelancing

How I Crammed My Life Full of Books ... in Nine Steps

The professor who supervised me in my college days of working at the university writing center recently wrote me with feedback on Rumpled. She said that she wasn’t sure how I managed to find time to do so much reading and writing. I wanted to laugh, because what I

freelancing

Some Thoughts on Money and Writing

In November, I clipped this piece of writing advice from Writer’s Digest (my apologies that I didn’t also clip the issue date — if anyone recognizes it, I’m happy to attribute.) I listened to my mom. She once told me to always live a little outside of my

blogging

Are You a Success? By Whose Standards?

I’m still a little bleary-eyed and disjointed from odd train schedules and driving throughout the night — I just got back from the annual Call To Action conference, where I came up with ideas for at least two blog posts for Young Adult Catholics, so overall, I think it was

article writing

It's Here: The Nov/Dec Issue of Verily Magazine

I’ve been waiting to write this post for a long time. The November/December issue of Verily Magazine is finally for sale, and it features my article, “Natural Wonder: Understand Your Cycle to Regain Your Sanity and Appreciate Your Body,” on page 87. In case the title doesn’t

authors

Writing and the Immeasurable Payout

Recently, I subscribed to Holly Lisle’s e-newsletter on a recommendation from Publishing E-books for Dummies, which I’m reading as part of my Rumpled ebook project. Although my inbox is full with newsletters and updates that I often don’t have time to read, I’m glad I took

business communication

Free Writing Ebook from Scribendi

Since early 2009, Scribendi, an online editorial services company, has been one of my most steady freelance clients. The experience of working for them has only improved over the years, as they’ve raised wages and begun offering other juicy incentives for helping out during especially busy times or receiving

freelancing

Overwhelmed, or Just Lucky?

I thought about blogging today about how the upheaval in my personal life has once again been detrimental to my creative life. I’ve mentioned it here before, how hard it is for me to write in transition. For me, transition is the enemy of The Writing Life, whereas routine

editing

Oh, Internet, How I (Haven't Really) Missed You

In the wee hours of Monday, September 20, my wireless router died quietly in its sleep. Monday morning, I was in denial. It will come back, I told myself. All morning, I did laundry and washed dishes. By noon, my Internet still wasn’t up. I gathered my courage, packed

freelancing

Finish What You Start

On the Belbin Team Inventory, I score as the Finisher. This may be why I haven’t often fallen into the trap that snags many writers, of starting multiple projects but finishing none of them. That is, I haven’t fallen into that trap until … lately, when I’m in

editing

Freelance Editors Wanted

I got word last week that one of my main freelance clients, Scribendi, is hiring more remote editors. Scribendi is an online editorial services company. I’ve been working for Scribendi for two years, and I think it’s a great gig. Here’s why: * The work is steady. This

freelancing

New Life to Freelancing

I admit that in the past year or so, I’ve fallen into a bit of a routine (rut?) when it comes to my freelance work. I get half of my income, steadily, through my job at the library — which is wonderful, by the way. I definitely recommend part-time work

editing

Up to My Eyeballs

My status over at gmail, which is where I keep my “freelance/writing” account, claims that I’m “up to my eyeballs in writing projects.” And the end of the year certainly is a busy time for writers, but now that we’re on the last day of November, I’

freelancing

Finding Freelance Writing Jobs

My friend Jenny recently posted this video in her blog, and I think it’s worth sharing here. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JASsdI4_gAE] This video brought about an “Ah yes, of course!” moment for me. The tips are really commonsense, yet I’d never used them

freelancing

Myths and Realities of Freelancing

Elance recently ran this article on “debunking the myths of freelancing.” I didn’t subscribe to most of these ideas before I started freelancing, and I don’t think most people do–which is why most people fight to keep their 9 – 5 at all costs. Myth #4: “You’ll

article writing

Lacey, expert on . . . everything

A bunch of my articles just went up on Ehow. Is there anything I can help you with? * Perhaps you have nasty acne, but don’t want to use nasty drugs? * Worried your kitty might have had a stroke? (Don’t worry, kitty strokes are rare.) But scabies and Feline

freelancing

Freelance Job Portal: Elance.com

The ultimate questions for freelancers, of course, is how to find the people who want your expertise. You know they’re out there, and you want THEM to know that you’re out there, too. Last week, I registered with Elance.com, and now I have yet another home on

freelancing

You win some, you lose some

I’ve always had a good work ethic, which I credit to growing up on a farm, where there are real consequences for shirking your work: living plants and creatures within your care will die. Freelancing kind of puts me back into that “dire consequences” mode again. In most jobs,

article writing

Content Writing Made My Dreams Come True

OK, the subject line might exaggerate — but just a little. Although I’ve been an approved writer since January, I just recently started writing for Demand Studios. Before this, I’d always been so busy with my other clients that I only had the chance to give Demand Studios a

freelance writing

Beginning Freelancing 101, Courtesy of Jenny

So I’ve been meaning to write a post that reviews all those content-hungry sites out there that pay freelance writers: Associated Content, Suite101, Ehow, and a bunch of others I either don’t know about or that will be covered by Jenny shortly.  I’ve often heard the question,

beginnings

Freelance Milestone

I hit a freelance milestone this month. For the first time, I didn’t have to pay myself. It’s not that I haven’t been making money; I never would have made the transition to freelance work if I didn’t think I could make enough money to support

freelancing

Working is good; not working is better

I knew when I switched to freelance work full-time that motivating myself to work wouldn’t be a problem; I don’t feel relaxed until things are “done,” so I don’t have a tendency to procrastinate. I didn’t foresee the opposite problem: that I’d have trouble stopping.

freelancing

Confession is good for the soul

So, after confessing my lack of progress on my short story a couple nights ago, the words have started flowing again. It helps that, as a freelancer, writing is one way to procrastinate working ;). (Don’t worry, I always make my deadlines). Although, speaking of procrastinating, I did feel bad

freelancing

The best-laid plans

Before I began freelancing full-time, I had a precise plan for scheduling my time. From 8 – 10 am I would work on my writing; from 10 – 2 work for one of my primary clients; and from 2 – 6 for another primaryclient. On Fridays I’d seek out new opportunities and

freelancing

Happy Science Fiction Day!

January 2 is Science Fiction Day in honor of Isaac Asimov’s birthday. Confession: I’ve never read anything by Isaac Asimov. But I still couldn’t let this day pass without at least a brief mention of it on my blog. I wrote a short piece about it for

feedback

On Writing Groups

I just got a call from my mom informing me that another winter storm will be rolling through their neck of the woods precisely when I was planning to be driving home for the holidays. I wanted to wait till Friday to leave because tomorrow night I have my writers’