Here's what happened in 2008:
52 acceptances
28 rejections
30 ms. published
My gross income from freelancing decreased 29.17%. Much of the decrease is the result of a key client ending my independent contractor status by putting me on payroll as a part-time employee. Income from all sources was up 4.93%.*
Income from
Advertising & Public Relations: down 63.90% (see above)
Editing: up 2.18%
Fiction (not books/novels): down 11.73%
Non-fiction (not books): down 96.97%
Royalties (from all books): down 69.40%
Seminars/teaching: down 69.40%
Last January, when I summed up 2007, I had a lot to say. This year, not so much. This year was what it was, and I'm just damned lucky to be here to sum it up.
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*Updated 1/15/09.
3 comments:
That you were/are, Michael. It also appears to me sitting on the outside that your productivity is increasing again thanks to the med changes.
Going forward--will continuing to be on the payroll in some ways free you up to concentrate on the writing you prefer most?
I had thought a permanent position with benefits would allow me to relax a little and concentrate more on writing. I have found, so far, that the physical and emotional demands of the job are far outweighing the ecnomic benefits and totally destroying any energy to work on anything in the evening.
Kevin
Being on one former client's payroll has had a negligible effect on the overall mix of work I do. What I do as an employee is essentially the same as what I did as an independent contractor, and I spend about the same number of hours doing it.
As a part-timer, I'm not eligible for any benefits, but there is an advantage to having an employer take out for income tax so I don't have to set as much aside for my quarterly estimated taxes, and they pick up the employer half of FICA and other things, again saving me a few dollars out-of-pocket.
I am lucky in that the particular mix of things I do for my employer and my clients doesn't burn me out. There's some creativity required, but it isn't the same as writing fiction. (If it was, I would have been unable to support myself after the surgery!)
just found this tonight---well, there is also the hard to quantify stress factor in having them do some of the accounting work which takes some burden off. That has to be worth something.
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