From Bunny Slippers to Business Plans
Bringing good vibes to all the good boys and girls...
I don’t usually promote events here that don’t have a direct link to writing, freelancing, or entrepreneurship, but writing brought me to this odd spot, so I wanted to share.
This coming Friday, July 29, I will be a guest on Late Night with Logan, hosted by sex educator Logan Levkoff. The topic? Oh, the usual. Vibrators. Sex. That kinda thing. The venue? The Trojan Vibrations Truck.
About four years ago, I walked into my publisher’s office and handed him a resignation letter.
I didn’t do it as a negotiation tactic. I wasn’t trying to force his hand. All I wanted was to give this freelancing thing a shot: to be my own boss, pick and choose my own projects, and have the time and energy to write more of my own stuff.
No salary range… no full-time dream job… could have lured me back to the corporate workforce.
The thing is, many people in my life just assumed I was looking for something better. They didn’t see freelancing as a viable career option. One well-meaning friend even offered to treat me on all future meals: “… just until you find a new job,” she said.
“This is my new job!” I replied.
You may have noticed that, recently, I put a pretty, pretty new banner ad up in my sidebar for something called Sweat EquiTees. While I typically wouldn’t advertise for apparel on Freelancedom (despite the fact that “shopping for pretty things” is totally at the top of my my top 5 list of favorite hobbies), Sweat EquiTees is different. Their mission is directly aligned with that of Freelancedom, and with everything I’ve been trying to do with my career lately.
Last week — while in the midst of ghostwriting an ebook, and having just landed another, regular blog ghostwriting gig — I posted about my writerly motivations, and about how I slowly warmed up to ghostwriting as a viable career option.
Now, as a major deadline approaches (the first draft of this ebook is due on Friday), I thought I’d take a break (I’m such a procrastinator) and share how you can rock the ghostwriting process.
There was a time when seeing my name in the newspaper, or in a glossy magazine, was enough to make me squee.
I hated assignments that didn’t offer author credit, and generally avoided them. What’s in it for me? I thought, not even considering the possibility that a paycheck could be enough.
In fact, when I first began writing about sex and my editor brought up pen names, I shrugged off his suggestion. I wanted the credit, no matter how kinky the content.
(Which is why my Playgirl debut was particularly thrilling. They ran a cartoonified head shot of me next to my article… and directly below a drawing of what appeared to be an orgy. My mom made copies and handed them out to friends.)
So how did I end up ghostwriting ebooks and blog posts?
The very first session of the Freelancedom Book Club didn’t go as I’d hoped, but I saw it coming. As soon as I opened my copy of The It Factor and started reading, my first thought was : Oh crap. What have I done!? This man is insufferable!
But this month will be different. I promise you. I’ve already started reading my next pick — The Wealthy Freelancer: 12 Secrets to a Great Income and an Enviable Lifestyle –Â and it has me excited. Twenty-five pages in and I’m already 100 percent sure I’m going to love it.
Why?
When I chose The It Factor last month as our first book club book, I didn’t really expect to be so put off by it. The Amazon reviews were, for the most part, overwhelmingly positive, and its subject matter was one that — as an introvert with social anxiety — I couldn’t get enough of.
But the book  made me angry. Why? The author seemed to have little respect for the readers he was trying to help, blaming their inability to connect with other people on arrogance and laziness.
Is it just me? Is my resentment warranted? Am I just not the intended audience for this book?
Either way, I still felt as if the book contained a lot that was worth discussing. So without further adieu…
Earlier this week, J. Maureen Henderson wrote a post for Forbes on what networking isn’t… and what it could be. I cheered as I read her post, because she got it. She got that networking wasn’t about desperation-fueled schmoozing. (Well. It shouldn’t be.) It wasn’t about working a room or handing out business cards willy-nilly. It was about conversation. It was about connection. It was about all the ways we connect with others on a daily basis, in a thousand different ways.
“Blogging is networking,” she wrote. “Being on Twitter is networking. Sending your BFF a job posting that you think would be perfect for her roommate is networking. Asking Jim in Marketing if he knows someone who is aces at web design is networking. When your new hair stylist asks what you do for a living and you answer her? That’s networking.”
Last year, J.M. did a video interview with me about my career coaching business. That was networking, too. One of J.M.’s blog readers saw that video and became my very first e-course student.
What else is networking?
Because everything is more attractive in black + white...
Four years ago today, Michael and I promised each other our undying love and devotion*. We said “I do,” danced the night away, and rode off into the sunset. [Okay. We passed out in our hotel suite, but same difference.]
Within a month, I also went full-time freelance. Michael added me to his health insurance plan, and I set about trying to see if I could make it as a writer or something.
Since then, both our marriage and our careers have had their major ups and downs. Michael went from feeling stuck in a direct mail copywriting job to excelling in the start-up web development world. I lost a permalance gig at the start of the recession, and struggled for a year to regain my footing before learning the power of diversification. We tried unsuccessfully to sell our condo. We tried unsuccessfully to conceive a child. And in the midst of all this, we lost sight of each other.
In fact, I recently wrote a piece for YourTango on how Michael and I almost separated.
The truth of the matter is, neither Michael nor I are the same people we were four years ago. And neither are our careers.
And at first that worried us.
But it doesn’t anymore.
I believe that, in order to succeed, you should always be learning… even after you yourself have achieved expert status (a dubiously subjective term in itself).
Which is why I still take classes when I can, devour self-help books like I devour Peppermint Patties, and continue to seek out new wisdom from around the web.
In fact, when I went through a career coaching certification program back in 2009, I requested my own career coach. Her input was invaluable as I worked on creating a business that played to my strengths.
Since then, I’ve come across a handful of experts I just can’t get enough of… people who excel in areas I’m weak in… people who rock the house at what they do.
So. While I can help you create a strong query letter,  guide you through the ins and outs of the publishing world, and give you the kick in the ass you need to get the publishing career you want, I should probably point you in the direction of those who shine in the areas where I can still use a bit of help.
So as long as you pinkie swear that you’ll come back to me for all the word nerd wisdom you need, I’ll reveal the top 4 experts I love to bits. (Seriously. No clicking through until you pinkie swear.)
