freelance at editing and proofreading

Long, project this time. Not in text length, but in time spent on it. Author submitted revisions (without tracked changes) after I’d already edited the article. On the day the article was due back. Oh, my.

That was a long night.

Thing is, my current payment structure does not accommodate such things. And it should. After all, I deal with things like this in my “real” job more often than not. But because I did not factor things like this into my fees, I’ll take a loss even charging extra for the late revisions.

Still, I’ll have my savings built back up after this, and might even have a little extra to throw at bills. So I’m not complaining. Much.

Actually, I realized something as I sat down to work on this article: I love editing. I mean love it. Most of what I do at work these days is graphic design. And I enjoy that, don’t get me wrong. It’s a challenge (I love challenges), and it’s immensely satisfying to me to create something cool, or just figure out the function of a Photoshop button. (I’ve not had time for training yet, so I’m learning the software through trial and error.) But editing is my true calling.

I don’t consider it looking for mistakes. I polish – making sure the author’s message comes through clearly, cleaning up any little errors or inconsistencies, and pointing out any confusing passages. It’s like detailing a car. You see cars on the road in varying stages of cleanliness (mine’s on the “have you ever washed that thing?” end of the scale), but in a car show, everything is sparkling and clean. I get writing ready for the show.

And not only do I enjoy it…I’m good at it. It’s not often I’m this sure about something. It feels good.

Is that another job in my inbox? I believe it is. Commence happy dance!

have done some editing here and there. Want to do more and get paid. we’ll see what happens

(Though I’m hanging on to the receipt, just in case I start getting scads of clients and need to claim it on my taxes.)

I’ve had parts all over my desk for a week now, and FFB is on his way over to finally turn them into a computer. How much of an upgrade? Let’s call the current puter a 10-speed, and the new puter a Porsche. (I’d call the current computer a Big Wheel, but having tried to work with my parents’ computer, I know better.)

Excited does not begin to describe me.

Just got my second freelancing job! Nothing big, but it’ll pay more than my last one. :) Might even be a regular client, too.

Squee!

I made $6. :) I’m assuming that, since I’m paid a percentage of the book sales, I will receive further checks. So it’s humorous, rather than sad, that my first check was $6. I got a bigger allowance when I was 10!

I also have another gig lined up (proofing this time). A small project this time, so it also won’t pay that much (but will be easy to knock out).

I’m thinking that, for the time being at least, I will sock away all my freelance earnings into savings. Gotta build that account back up somehow…

A friend/former coworker is trying to get me an editing gig where she was just hired as a designer. How cool! Especially if I got to work with her…we work really well together.

Oh, and I failed to add an update to my last entry. I did accept the designer position (atop my other responsibilities, of course). I’m supposed to be getting more money for it, though I’m not sure how much more (my review was postponed til Monday). But what it boils down to is I’m going to be real tired until things slow down. Which will be…oh, November or December.

Which makes me wonder how much energy I will have to devote to pursuing freelance gigs. (The past two nights, I’ve taken 3-4 hour naps after I got home…then slept all night.) Maybe I’ll have to take up coffee again!

Our graphic designer quit a couple of months ago. My bosses have offered to pay for training in design and the associated software if I take over the position. Now, I do like design. I’m not confident in my abilities yet, but I have made some things that I thought were quite cool…and my standards are heinously high, particularly when it comes to my own work. And it’s fun. Plus, I could add that to my ever-expanding list of freelance services.

However. I am not a designer…just a precocious newbie. And I’m already the editor/proofreader, webmaster of four websites (none of them simple, one-page jobs, o’course), and production assistant. Plus I support various other projects (read: the stuff nobody else wants to do). I used to be in charge of the journals, too; that’s the only duty I’ve ever managed to give back. Every time someone has quit or been fired from my department, their job has been tacked on to mine (“just until we hire someone else,” which they never do). For no extra money. I don’t want this to be another such scenario.

Also…I’m an editor first. These other skills are nice, but I don’t want to be so overworked that I don’t have the energy to put into my own business.

I guess I’ll reserve judgment until I hear exactly what they’re proposing. And think good thoughts. Maybe this time they’re not abusing my patience in order to save money!

_{Yeah, right.}

Well, my portion of it, anyway. Doing the happy dance now.

They don’t have a printed back, as I’d planned (was going to put a 2009 calendar on the back, but I got fed up trying to get the formatting to work), but I have a small stack of business cards now. Only screwed up one sheet, too, which makes me inordinately proud.

Also, I finally figured out how to get wordscopyediting.com to redirect to my Google page URL. So I don’t have to have that obnoxiously long web address anymore. Yay me. :)