Swamped in a good way
I have a lot to do. Lots. Tons. Very much doing to do. I’m a little shocked by it all because it’s all due between now and 10/15. I’m counting up on my fat little fingers right now and I’ve got nine jobs between now and then. Nine! So far!
I told my sister that I don’t see a lot of work coming from direct contacts — some but not a lot. Most of the work has come sideways from unexpected places. Like I do some meeting way back when and they recommend me to someone and then they show up with work in hand. Or I pitch an article and get an assignment completely unrelated to it. (I just got a job for a publication I like very much. I’ve written for them twice — both book reviews. I saw the editors hanging out on my clip site — by my stats program — and then they assigned me a much meatier article after they apparently talked themselves into believing I could do it. That felt pretty great.)
I’m writing all this to tell those of you following along that you have to have faith in the process. You keep your head up and keep working at it and it’ll all start coming together. If you give up at the beginning because you’re not seeing results, you’re giving up too soon. It’s been six months since I well and truly started to try to make an actual living and it’s taken that long to be able to see the long-term impact all that running around has made. And I’m still figuring it out so I fully anticipate it getting better and more lucrative.
There are still scary parts. Right now the scariest part is wondering how in the heck I’m going to get it all done but I figure I can just give up leisure time for awhile. It’s still easier than trying to do it without childcare. At least now when I take a breather I’m not afraid that I’ve just doomed myself to missed deadlines.
I’m so glad it’s starting to really flow back to you! If anyone deserves a successful writing career, it’s you.
So proud of you!
Remember? We talked about what gets me through busy times? Take a break and add up how much you will be invoicing for the job you are working on.
Good for you.
But I always knew you had it in you. You’ve done an incredible job staying focused on getting your name out. You could write a case study about what you have done marketing wise to increase awareness about you, and how it worked (by getting new clients and varied business industries) and use it as an example on your web site that you know what you are doing.
And kudos to Brett too - for making this happen too. You guys are a great team…
I think you should….nevermind.
i am so impressed, dawn! i’ve been lurking forever, and you’re totally my hero. i’ve gone back to look at your posts on the market studies you do on pubs you want to break into… i know you’re not doing so much of that these days, but it’s been incredibly helpful to me. and now the girl is up from her nap and so i must go. but kudos to you!
I still do market reports on places I want to write — I just have fewer places I’m aiming for these days. I’m glad it’s a help!!!