Self-
Got a nice rejection letter from a company that I sent a resume to earlier this month. I sent a letter back to them, thanking them for the courtesy of letting me know. All too many companies don’t bother with it. I want to encourage that sort of thing.
Anyway, three months into unemployment, and it isn’t really un- any more. It’s evolved into self-employment. At the moment I have three writing assignments, after a lag of a couple of weeks -- which I suppose is par for the course in working for yourself. Too little, then too much. Repeat. It causes cash flow issues, but in our case nothing too serious.
In fact, I’ve revised my resume, putting my self-employment activities at the top. Like so:
Recent (summer 2005) articles for The Slatin Report (theslatinreport.com); National Real Estate Investor; Building Design & Construction; Shopping Centers Today. Also, writing for Block & Associates, a public relations firm.
Previous freelance writing (1984-2005) for Nashville City Guide, Nashville Scene, FISI/Madison Financial newsletters, Real Estate Times, Kansai Time Out, Recreation Management, Real Estate News, Inland Architect.
A motley assortment. Over the years, there’s been a steady trickle of freelance work for me, but it never was my main income. Still, it paid for some things. Without the work I did for newsletter publisher Madison/FISI in the late ’80s, I might not have had the savings needed to cross the Pacific and settle in Osaka.
Labels: publishing
posted by Dees Stribling @ 11:57 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Dees... didn't know you were unemployed. *tilting scotch glass* here's to hoping it was by your own hand. I've been there - there's light on the other side. Speaking of light - follow it. That's been my theory over the past few years and it seems to be working out.
Catching up with you is sort of like getting out of the tank. Been deprived. As for the tank, I still have a photocopy of all the logs people kept after their tank experiences. I'll have to dig them up and read back through them. Should be interesting.
Another McGillite of note tracked me down during last year's hurricane season. Ivan had just come through town and made an ass of himself. Power was out. Phones weren't. Michael Patton called me. Sounded same as he did 20+ years ago. I regret we didn't hook up as he was in Birmingham escaping Montevallo, Alabama's temporary return to the dark ages.
In case you don't remember Michael - he was a mountain of a guy with a high tolerance for beer. Super bright. Philosophy major. He and Dave (?) (who was over in Oxford House when I lived there) invented an expanded version of the game Risk, which they would play for several days on end.
Hello. A friend of your nephew here. The Sam kind of nephew. He keeps telling me that you're a good resource for me. And, as I'm reading, I'd be inclined to agree :)
Anyway, after I got over not being sent to Japan for JET *grumble grumble* I've decided to go into editing. But I underestimated the whole getting hired thing.
So it's almost the end of July and I'm thinking more and more of freelancing. Making my own little literary zines and what not, seeing where they'd take me. I don't know. It's like I have all this passion and drive, but nobody sees it but me.
"Do you really want to do this?"
-Yes.
"Are you sure? Because, you know...you'd be new at it and you have an awful lot to learn."
-I know. But I can do it.
"I don't know...I think we're gonna go with this guy, who's been editing for 10 years. Sorry"
-sigh
Heh. I figure I'd ask you for any advice/thoughts/encouragement/discouragement, since you seem to be living the life I (think I) want.
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