Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Booked

One of my clients has booked me to ghost write full-time for them until the end of the year, which takes care of all my job-seeking stress and free work time until the end of 2016. This is a freelancer's dream come true, and it has the extra delight of being for the client who has the most interesting projects, allows me the most creative freedom, and is a pure joy to work with, always. If I was given the job of quality control manager at the Hershey's chocolate factory, I couldn't be happier.

Unfortunately this means I have to say Adieu to my tentative plans for summer, and joining NaNoWriMo in November. Regarding the latter, as I do every year on the blog I'll still shake my pompoms, nag incessantly, and post anything I think can help for those who do take the leap.

Booking jobs this far in advance isn't always possible when you're freelancing, but when you can it takes a lot of the pressure off you. Having that income to look forward to allows you to focus more on the work, which is the ideal situation when you're trying to deliver your best. If you do reserve your time for a client, be realistic about your productivity. You can say you can write ten novels before the end of the year, but can you really knock out 200K a month without stopping until December? Do the math first. You should also consider any holidays or vacation time you might want to take off from work.

Some other suggestions:

1. Talk to the client about their schedule, and make sure they're going to be at least available to contact while you're working should any problems arise. If the client plans to be on vacation or offline celebrating the holidays, mark that on your calendar as a reminder.

2. Discuss kill fees (aka what you will want to charge if any future project is cancelled) upfront so the client is clear on the cost of cancellation. My philosophy is that life happens, and finances can get tight without notice, so I don't charge them (note that it's also pretty easy for me to land a freelancing job now, so I have a bit of an advantage there.) I do ask my clients to give me as much advance notice as possible so I can line up new jobs to take the place of the cancelled project.

3. Find out as much about your future projects as you can from the client. This is just common sense. If you hate writing NASCAR romances, three months down the road you don't want to find out you have to write a series of them.

Always be grateful to a client who asks to reserve your time, too. Even if you turn them down, you've just been paid a very nice compliment.

11 comments:

  1. I'd call it luck but luck has nothing to do with the work you've already done to get this far. I'm glad it's with a client you like so well. It sure makes life more pleasant.

    It sounds like a dream career, and you deserve the rewards. Well done, Lynn!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good for you! That's wonderful news. I know it's very hard when you're a 'contract employee' but it sounds like things are moving forward for you. Just don't forget your Just Write... ;)

    On a side note and not to be horrible on the heels of your fantastic news, but Jo Beverley died yesterday. I'm still stunned...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so sorry to hear of Jo's passing. She was a truly lovely person.

      Delete
    2. Hello Lynn and others, Congratulations on your two-season job opportunity as a ghost writer!!
      Please excuse my digression:
      I recently had some issues come up with my blog and the settings are now goofed up. Does Google offer any type of remote support to vision-impaired bloggers to get things back in working order?

      Secondly, does blogging regularly in a given area of interest help build a freelancer's portfolio?
      Thanks for your time and response.
      Sincerely,
      David Russell

      Delete
    3. Hi David,

      I did some checking but I wasn't able to find any remote support offered by Google for you. There seems to be only very general help topics and discussion forums on trouble-shooting problems, but none of them are going to be any help if you can't read them. My advice is to get a trusted family member or friend who has blogging experience to help you restore your settings to default.

      I believe blogging regularly on your areas of expertise demonstrates your writing skills, and (unless the content could be considered offensive) should be added to your writing resume, especially if you are applying for any kind of online content job. I always include a link to PBW on my resume, and have sent copies of my best posts as samples to clients when I've auditioned for content work.

      Delete
    4. Hi Lynn and others,

      Thanks for the assist with Blogger, and for the recommendation on using one's blog and some selected posts to audition for an online gig. I currently work part-time for a content mill now, and also subscribe to both Indeed and a newsletter put out by Brian Scott of online writing jobs.com
      All The Best,
      David

      Delete
  3. Congrats! Sorry to know you won't be writing during NaNo, but at least we can see your pom-poms!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations on the booking!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations. At least you know you're OK for 2016, which is a very nice position to be in.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats, Lynn! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good news indeed! Will miss you at NaNoWriMo, but work comes first. ;)

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.