What I've Learned Recently

I'm in my annual slow period. As a freelance copy editor, working with Indie authors, that means my slow period follows the usual slow period for all of publishing: meaning, not much going on in October, November, December. The preceding months of the year are this mad rush to get books up before Thanksgiving/Christmas. This year my slow period started in September (which is never good, moneywise). But I've been getting to some of my own WIPs. And here's what I've learned about myself:

• I jump around from writing project to project. I have three nonfiction ebooks I'm trying to upload by 11.07.2015.  I got one up already on 10.31.2015. It was my fourth volume of quotations, which I worked on over the last two years and basically just had to make the cover, give it a once-over (as I try to double-check each entry as I type it in) and spell-check the ninety or so pages. Nonfiction Project #2 should be up Wednesday, 11.04.2015, another conglomeration I've created over my years as a copy editor. That leaves me with Nonfiction Project #3, something for all us authors which I'm creating from scratch (after months, years of research) and hope to have up before my self-declared deadline of 11.07.2015. I work on the one my gut leads me to. Yet when working for other authors, I'm more immersed in the copyediting projects I get, so I like to completely finish one before delving in the next. I do them in order of receipt date (and relative deadline date, even if three are all due on the same calendar date but received within hours of each other).
• I jump around with my household projects too. If I feel like working in the yard, I do. Then, after a couple hours, if I decide it's time to clean carpets, I move inside. I've also filled one box with cookbooks I can live without to take to Half-Price Books (it's more about freeing up my bookshelf space than getting any real money for these books). I've got another stash of nonworking electronics to recycle at Best Buy too. I'm motivated to get to lots of stuff during this "downtime" of mine and am pleased with my progress made to date.
• I keep food longer than I should in the freezer. The packages aren't dated either. (I blame working those 234-hour months. It's not that I've got a bad habit of not dating my freezer packages, right?) As I defrost stuff, if it has no taste, I throw it out. And anything I put in the freezer now has a date marked on it. I've also learned that I should cook less initially (so it doesn't get lost in the freezer) and/or to keep a list on the freezer of what I added and the date. It's "easier" to cook one big pot of beans using the whole package than to just cook one-fourth of the package (only 4 to 5 ounces). Or so I thought.
• And I like to stockpile foods, in the freezer and in the pantry. It means "security" to me. Plus I'm planning for this slow period every year. But ... I think I need to stop "hoarding" with such abandon. I've still got (fresh, not expired) meats in the freezer, although I'm doling them out. Plus I have canned goods in the pantry, but my shelves are getting barer than I like. I'm only buying the basics, bread and milk and eggs and such, each week.
• I've figured out a $0.72 one-serving breakfast: two scrambled eggs in some olive oil and a clementine (based on Aldi's current prices here in the DFW area and keeping in mind that lunch at some drive-throughs costs $10).
• If you add four pieces of toast and some jelly to the above to make a bigger one-serving breakfast, it costs $1.15. 
• Even if two people eat as outlined above (one the light version and one the more-food version), two people can eat breakfast for $1.87.
• I can also have a $0.36 lunch: one slice of bologna on one slice of bread (fold it over for a half sandwich) plus one dill pickle spear.
• If you need a bigger single-serving lunch, fix three half-sandwiches and have a pickle for $0.88.
• Presuming two people eat lunch, a woman eating the single half sandwich and a man eating the the three half sandwiches, each with a pickle, the total lunch fare is $1.24.
• For dinner, one quarter package of wide egg noodles with butter costs $0.35 for a pretty hefty single serving. Two could probably eat this for $0.70.
• For three light meals in one day, the total is $1.43, with the heavier meals totaling $2.38, or two people eating as described three meals a day for a total of $3.81. Granted we all need variety and probably could not (or would prefer to not) eat the same thing for thirty straight days, but, if we did, $3.81 x 31 days = $118.11. Something to shoot for when the funds and foods get really depleted.
• And I figured out my preservative-free bacon from Aldi's (with its low price) is $3.99 for 12 ounces but that equates to $5.32 a pound. Can't you buy steak for that? It has been a while since I bought one, of any cut. Needless to say, that is why I'm not buying bacon (or steak) during this slow period.
• It's easier to see what's in my fridge too, when it's not so crammed full of stuff. But that's the price I pay for being crazy busy with work (and getting paid, which is a good thing). At this rate I'll be able to soon clean my whole freezer and refrigerator with minimal fuss in unloading food only to put it back.

Being a freelancer, I can't spend my time worrying. I do what I can. Right now I'm giving myself the luxury of this one week to work on my stuff for a change. I'm hoping to upload three ebooks within ten days' time. I'm anxious to see what, if anything, Amazon's algorithms do with something like this.

Then, if none of my submissions pan out to get additional copy edit jobs, I'll seek a temporary day job. I've done it twice before in these last seven years of freelancing, working outside the home for a combined two years and nine months, in order to pay bills, in order to catch up on past due bills, in order to make those looming future bills timely. Sure, it gets hectic and cuts into my sleep when I work for three different employers (two being full-time), but it's worth it to have the financial security of a day job when needed.

And I've even culled down my loose recipes to fit all in one banker's box. Maybe that cookbook idea of mine will come to fruition this year. That would be a bonus.

So wish me luck that I land more of my preferred work and that my own writing pays bigger monthly royalties. You know, the kind with three digits or more (representing dollars, not cents). Ha!

Now I need to return to work. Have a great week, y'all!

"If your vocation isn’t a vacation, then quit, leap, change careers."

Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
Books that Build Character(s)

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What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you give someone a book, you don’t give him just paper, ink, and glue.  You give him the possibility of a whole new life. Christopher Morley
The best inheritance you can leave your kids is an example of how to live a full and meaningful life. Dan Zadra

A Glimpse Into the Mind-set of a Freelancer

It's hard to explain my lifestyle to someone who hasn't lived it.  But I will try.

I used to think all those people grocery shopping at 10:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. during a weekday were well-off, not needing a job, or on vacation like me at the time.  I have come to a new realization.

Yes, they could be rich and have no job.  Or they may work shift work.

Or they may work at home like me and have the freedom to avoid the crowds and shop when there are less people about.

I am proud to be able to work from home. Having spent three decades in my first career imprisoned in high-rises with windows that don't open, driving to work in the dark and/or driving home in the dark, trapped in a 9-to-5 rat race, being tortured by high heels and hose and uncomfortable clothing, I'm all about anything the opposite of that as I live my dream in my second career.

I am an author.

A very happy one supplementing my Amazon/B&N royalty checks with my freelance copyediting projects from a large NYC publishing house.  I thank God for that job.  It was one cog in the serendipity wheel that led me down the yellow brick road to self-employment.

Jumping from two paychecks a month on the first and fifteenth thereof in the same amount each time to wondering where the next one of any sum will come from is a big change.

But it you want it bad enough, like I did, you will happily make the leap into the air, wondering if you will hit earth with a thud, or cold water with no end, or hopefully a nice pillow-soft landing.

And repeat daily.

Ha!

I read somewhere about an entrepreneur who paid half the bills one month and the other half the next, awaiting funds.  Now, I'm geared to be one of those anal types that pays upon receipt of the notice when money is there.  And is filled with guilt when money is not there to do so.  (Comes from a Methodist upbringing.)

As an sole proprietor, you have to get over it.

Yes, I'm sad to say, I have paid bills late.  (Isn't that part of the definition of "self-employed"?) When it becomes "too late" again and again, I seek a day job.

My requirements for this third job (counting author and freelance copy editor) are these:

• no uniforms in the strictest sense of look-alikes purchased from the employer (although I might be convinced to wear a movie theater's if I get to view a whole movie for free each day I work--or even a free one weekly)
• no 9-to-5 (been there, done that, never again)
• some enjoyable perk (like the aforementioned free movie, but also grocery discounts or free food from a favorite restaurant, a matching 401k, etc.)
• not more than five miles (one way) from my home and
• someplace that I am not the sole employee so that I don't feel bad when I give my two-weeks' notice to quit once my real career picks up.

And one day it will, because I refuse to give up.  This is my calling.  This is my gift.  This is where I'm supposed to be.  Persistence counts for a whole bunch in this equation.  Call it stubbornness, if you must.  Either works.

All this will be a funny anecdote to inspire others on the first step of their destiny.

One side note here:  If you don't "fit" somewhere, the problem is not you.  It is where you are.  Don't ever forget that.  God made you "perfect," as is (the basic construction was perfect; we may have added some faults along the way that we must deal with).  Find YOUR place.  The one made specially for you and your unique gifts and talents. 

Back on topic here.  I put off the "day job" acquisition until I really need one, so I don't land a position to keep for a short duration when someone else out there really needs it more.

My first day job was at a pizza place.  I ended up as manager and I think I got 50% off my pizzas, if not for free if the owners were there.  Plus it didn't feel like a job.  I worked with some really great people.  I was there nine months.

Then I took off about fifteen to eighteen months and wrote like 250,000 words spread out over eight novels.  I was in heaven.

Followed by working at one of those box stores where the employees got a ten percent discount.  Made some really good friends there that I'm still in touch with.  That was a two-year stint.  I had no intention of staying there that long but, for one, I needed the extra money to meet the monthly expenses and, for two, you get lulled into the habit until something knocks you in the head to make you look and see if you really need to stay there.

I didn't.

So I've been happily home-bound for the last five months, currently squeaking through a tight spot.  But I still think I see God's handwriting on the wall, telling me to stay put, to stick it through, that good times are coming again.  And soon.

Now, let me be frank.  I live off of one-third what I used to earn.  And it may be another year or two before my e-books start selling enough to write home about, when my royalty checks total more than my freelance gigs.  Meanwhile, I still have a mortgage, but it gets paid.

I've cut out a lot of expenses.  I mean A LOT.  Some that you may consider important.  Some that I considered important.  However, I'm looking long-term, focusing on the brass ring.  Yet I'm grateful for what I have, maybe more so now than ever before.

Plus I have a safety net.  Over these five years in my fledgling career to establish myself as an author, I have two family members who have consistently supported me emotionally--but one was there through all the good times and the bad, and monetarily anytime when it got really rough. He knows who he is and I owe him a lot.  Thank you is the least of it.

So when I write blog posts, such as this favorite of mine and my readers:  "...Like You Are On Vacation," I am inspiring myself as well as others.

I'm keeping my mind-set on TODAY, not tomorrow.  If I have enough for today--and I do--I am blessed.  If I'm focused on THIS day, I am not wallowing in the past--a totally useless endeavor.  If I'm focused on THIS day and fill it with goal-reaching tasks, a dream day, then those will become my past.  And be stepping stones leading to my future. I wish that for everyone.

Now, back to work!

Happy New Year!

A belated Happy New Year to you all.  With 2012 in its second day, I'm announcing my January Goals:  to have my Southern e-cookbook live by month-end and my second e-novel, "Good Ole Boys:  The Prequel" uploaded to both Amazon and B&N.  The cookbook draft keeps compounding like daily interest.  I'm gonna get it organized and just limit the page count and what's left over will become Volume Two.

As for my prequel e-novel, it needs a Final Edit and I just couldn't go through another one so near to the last one.  Plus, having three e-books to clean up in tandem with my freelance jobs among the chores along with that thing called "life," was probably too much to accomplish in any December.

So here we are.

A fresh month to attack our goals for this one-twelfth of a year.

I prefer to look at one habit, one (or more) deadline(s), within a thirty-day period as versus over a whole year.  You can lose momentum with a 365-day stretch.  Also your focus.  For me, I find it easier to locate those two, three items to fixate on.

And my day is pretty structured in order to accomplish all I have to do.  Mornings entail some household chores, checking my email--personal as well as business--and what social media I engage in, some writing-related reading, checking sales data, writing blog posts.  Around lunchtime, whether before or after, I work on any copyediting projects I have on hand.  Sometimes until 1:00 a.m., sometimes just until dinner.  Then I break for some "me" time, to watch a movie, to read a book for fun, before going to sleep.

So, mornings are chores, afternoons/evenings are for freelancing work, then downtime before bed.

Writing time is whenever the muse hits.  It can be as simple as a thought that I need to record and, what do you know?  I'm writing nonstop with a brilliant idea that came out of nowhere.  I look up, check the clock, find it is two hours later and I'm still midthought.  So I continue on.  I am assured if I follow my gut, knowing that my heart is in the right place, it will work out just fine.  I need to capture those thoughts before they flee.  And I find, once I do the "me" stuff, the actions tied to my own writing, that I'm so much more focused on the copyediting and the continual learning of my craft. 

I do something really important to me first, then the time spent elsewhere is not interrupted with distractions.

I have no cable, thus watch a selected handful of shows via Netflix or Hulu, with my movie addiction handled the same way.  No more spending precious hours watching TV in search mode "for something good." Works for me.  I get so much more accomplished now.

Let me back up to add:  First thing before I get out of bed (and last thing at night), I ask both my conscious and my subconscious, What should I work on today/tomorrow?  If no answers come right away, I shelve the question, knowing I will get a message, an inkling, soon enough.  If not, I keep to my routine as outlined above.

The answers can deal with spring cleaning as well as my own book drafts.  So watch for the answers, no matter how off-target they may seem.  Your path is found through that task.  Follow it.

So, what's on your agenda for 2012?

The Intrinsic Value

Here's a short composition of mine from January 2009 which could not find a publishing home.  Enjoy!

* * *

I canceled cable to save money and yet gained TIME.

I exchanged one career to begin another, willingly giving up more than two-thirds of my highest earnings, and gained HAPPINESS.

I surround myself with happy motivated people that I want to be like in one or more ways and gained INSPIRATION.

I work at home, saving twelve to fifteen hours of weekly commute time, and gained MORE WORKABLE (hence payable) HOURS.

I freelance and gained FREEDOM.

I wake to a fuzzy paw of a hungry cat on my nose or cheek instead of a harsh buzzing interruption and gained PURE JOY.

I work outside, weather permitting, which gives me PLEASURE.

I rarely need to drive, which allows me to GO GREEN!

I joined writing groups and gained CONFIDENCE.

I read and gained both ENJOYMENT and KNOWLEDGE.

I act, ignoring any perceived fears or notions of failure, and gained COURAGE.

I ask and gained ANSWERS.

I pray and gained WISDOM.

I am thankful for everything in my life and gained AWE.

I learn daily and gained HUMILITY.

I have made it completely through trials, tests and tribulations and gained the SECURITY of knowing I could endure to the end again.

I have dared the devil and WON.

I am successful and SMILE.

I am living my dream and LAUGH.

I am blessed and SHARE.

I risk and have thus LIVED.

Denise Barker ©January 2009 -  All Rights Reserved.