Too much work – a good problem to have

For the first time in my freelance writing career, I have too much work and too little time. With regular assignments commissioned up to May 2009, I’ve got work in old and new markets all at once. The endless pitching in the last month helped, I guess.  I’ve been elated recently after an editor (who I worked with quite a while ago) emailed me to ask if I’d write something for them. I said ‘yes’, of course. This is likely to be a regular gig as well, so fingers crossed.

Moral of the story: send out those queries. The responses will come.

 

To market, To market

It might be too early to brag, but I’ve just bagged a commission from a national newspaper that I’m quite excited about. The pay is excellent and it’s a topic I’ve pitched to other mags/ newspapers unsuccessfully, so I’m glad it has found a good home.

Reminder to self: Don’t give up on good ideas. There’s a place in the sun for them somewhere.

 

In print: Simplify your work life (W&A, November 2008)

A stressful job, hectic days in the office and long commutes to work. In an endless spiral, our days merge into each other, monotonous and rushed. It is often at this time that we tend to veer away from the small and simple pleasures that make life more meaningful.

So, what can we do to slow down the speed of our lives? Is simplicity really possible in this fast paced century?

 

Announcement

I am now officially a full-time freelance writer. Just so you know.

 

A brief update

Well, the car’s finally been sold (for a pittance, I might add). Most of our stuff has now been shipped, thrown away, recycled or Freecycled. The suitcases remain to be packed. All my hopes of going on a mad shopping frenzy for the last time have been dashed – the July sales ruin the chances of finding anything ‘nice’ on the shelves and the new autumn collection is useless for where I’m going.

At least the writing’s going well. An article I was expecting to see in the July issue of this inflight mag I’m writing for is going to be the cover story for August, which is great. I negotiated an increase in rates, which I was happy about. Then there are two articles for a national bridal magazine and my regular career column.

Having said that, I got my first postal rejection which was wonderful. When starting out as a writer, I kept reading about these rejection slips coming back to you which famous writers use to paper their walls with. With email, no such fun. It was therefore quite amusing to have an actual typed rejection letter politely informing me that the editor thanks me for my query but cannot use it.

Ah well, plenty more fish in the writing sea.