I made a major career move almost five years ago. I had been a well-paid legal assistant for decades. Felt very comfortable with my duties, very pleased with the manifold jobs completed, very self-satisfied with the fast pace. No clock-watching at this job. Yet . . .
I was not fulfilled. Not so much with the legal environment as it was about the rigid work atmospheres: driving to work in the dark and home again, in the dark; glass high-rises with windows that did not open; "dressing for success" but it was my brain earning a living; any commute farther than five miles from my house, preferably none! This is evidence how you can be really good at your job--productive, efficient, accurate--and all the while, in the wrong place for you.
Not only did I yearn to be an entrepreneur, but I demanded to be creatively unleashed. To save "me"--the one inside, dying a slow death.
Freedom to work from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., take a nap, and resume again with a workout, breakfast, then charge into creating novels. My own stories. With gifts that served me well in my former career, but will let me soar into my second--fully engaging my soul, my heart and my mind.
My first dream-come-true was landing a freelance copy editor position four years ago with a big NYC publishing house. THE publisher that I felt best matched me and my reading preferences. In line with my own writing, whether short stories or novels, from years long ago, and not-yet-unpublished back then. It still makes me smile and gives me goose bumps as I recount "falling" into this blessing.
My second dream-come-true was uploading the first of now six e-books. Wow! I AM PUBLISHED! You have no idea how fulfilling this is for me and my goals as an all-Indie author. Plus with my book-reading love discovered long before I attended any formal school, it was an obvious direction for me. Which gifts-encompassing talent the copyediting and the creating both utilize.
My third dream-come-true is one still-in-progress. I wish to be a self-sustaining author. Making enough money from just my e-books to pay all my bills--which have been pared down greatly since the inception of my author career. Then my copyediting fees would become the extra monies that elevate me from paycheck-to-paycheck status to the enviable more-than-enough plateau. Can't wait!
And in the spirit of that, I'm redoing my To Do list from a sad rendition of all the glitches that prevent me from uploading about six projects to date, to become a Research Reminder of the answers I am sure to find within the wonderful realm of the World Wide Web. It's all in the mind-set, right?
Wish me good hunting!
Denise Barker, author + freelance copy editor
Good Ole Boys, a love story (e-book)
A Copyediting Checklist for Novelists (e-book)
