Michelle's comments

Hi Scott, great comments. I wouldn't work for stock either, but I'm a journalist so my clients are a bit different than yours.

As for adapting to the recession, some indie professionals are doing what they have to do to eat, be that working with clients with reduced budgets, doing pays-the-bills work that wouldn't be their first choice, or agreeing to subcontract for larger agencies. No one could fault you for that.

I would suggest, though, being careful not to take too much work at a reduced rate. You'll just have that much farther up to negotiate when you go to raise your rates a year or so down the line.

oh that's a good idea. will do later this month after the NYTimes discussion's over. thanks so much!

Thanks, Judy. Glad you liked. :)

Forgot to mention that there's a link to Biznik in this piece!

Thank you, Amy!

Welcome. Rock on! ;)

Chris, thanks for the site rec. Inspiring story!

And Betsy, way to go! Is the NYT article live? I'd love to see it when it goes up. Congrats!

David, as a journalist, I would ask the commenter if you have their permission to use their quote in the book. Most will say yes. If the issue is controversial, you can give them the option to be anonymous or use a pseudonym.

Another thing you can do (sparingly, because book readers will grow tired of too many anonymous sources) is to say, "One commenter on my web forum lamented blah blah blah..." If you use this approach, make sure you don't identify the commenter at all; in other words, don't say that they're from Boise, work as a teacher, etc.

Hi Judy. I agree; those are great resources. There are tons out there -- books, classes, blogs -- for anyone who wants to learn more about book publishing. mediabistro.com is another great resource.

Dan, it's My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire, which Seal Press is publishing at the end of 2008. And now, I will have to kill you. ;) Kidding. I think I mention it on my Biznik page too.

Michael, whew, that's a huge topic. I would not suggest posting your entire book on a blog, unless you're happy with that medium of publication as your final outcome. It doesn't sound like you are, so scratch that idea. If you just want to make a pretty book for friends and family and don't care about finding a traditional publisher who will handle sales/publicity/promotion/etc. for you, see Lulu.com for self-publishing options.

However, if you do want to try to find a traditional publisher, I'd pick up a how-to book on the topic. Try to find one specific to publishing kids' books; there are literally hundreds of how-to-publish books out there. Or check out a class called "You're Writing the Manuscript, Now What?" at Richard Hugo House in Seattle:

http://www.hugohouse.org/classes/listings/

Hope that helps, Michelle

Hi Jeff,

I'm sure I could add more if you wanted. We didn't even get to the book proposal, agent/editor shopping, outlining, writing, editing, revising, promoting, tearing-your-hair-out parts yet. ;)

Any author will tell you, writing a book is often less glamorous than it sounds. It can even be grueling at times. It can also be the thrill of a lifetime for some writers. I'm torn between thrilling/grueling on my current manuscript...

I do think it's important to only do a book if you're in love with the topic -- and the idea of publishing. Because there are about 9000 better ways to make money out there.

Michelle

Thanks, Marie. Congrats on the new biz! Glad this was helpful to you. Good idea to put some parameters around those daytime social outings. You may even want to limit them to your neighborhood. You wouldn't take more than an hour for lunch or 30 min for a coffee break at an office job, so why should you lose time/money in your own business? <grin>

Thanks for all the great comments. Erika, you're not crazy. If a client needs someone to start three days ago, they're going to get what they pay for. (Often, not as polished a job, by a lesser pro than you.) You likely dodged a bullet by missing out on this rush job.

Laurel and Steve, I agree with you wholeheartedly about not being so quick to do pro bono once you are seasoned. Absolutely! I mainly was speaking to this scenario: When you're just trying to break in to a new niche, one or two freebies can greatly help beef up your porfolio.

I love Laurel's suggestion about the invoice for pro bono work. Brilliant suggestion that I'm going to take! And Steve, the new client survey is right on the money. I just had a web designer send me one, as a matter of fact.

Thanks, Julie. "Let's do lunch" is a big peeve of mine. With commuting and waiting for someone who's late -- not to mention how hard it is for me to transition from playtime back to working --I may as well take the afternoon off. ;)

Michelle

Thanks, Lara. I re-read the rules and suspected as much. Then sent a note to info@ and just heard back from Dan about how my hunch was right.

At any rate, I'm glad to be getting the word out in the forum. THANK YOU! And if you make the reading, please do say hello. :)

Best, Michelle

Oooh, I didn't realize I could. Doing that now. Thanks for the suggestion!

-Michelle