Today, I came to a crossroads. It was the first time in my freelance career that I have determined that a particular client, who has been incredibly fun to work for, is no longer a viable option for me to continue working with. While the exposure has been great, as I progress in my career I simply cannot afford to work for clients who pay a wage which is below what I consider to be my minimum standards.
It was a difficult decision. I have literally spent the last week determining whether or not it was worth it to continue writing for this particular client, because I do enjoy the work, and they have been very good to me over the past few months. However, it comes down to simple numbers, and as a businessman first and foremost, I simply cannot continue at the present rate of compensation.
This morning was spent drafting a letter of thanks to the editor of the publication, as well as a request for a higher rate of pay. If the publication is unable or unwilling to compensate me accordingly, I simply let them know that I would respectfully be moving on, and that I hold their publication in the highest regards.
It's difficult making such decisions. You obviously want to keep your professional relationships at the highest standards possible. Burning bridges is not something you want to go around doing with regularity. And if you do your job correctly ( which any writer worth his salt will), then your request/resignation will read well enough that the client understands that it's nothing personal, it's just simply business. In this case, I really don't want to burn the bridge, but I simply can't continue working for exposure combined with a ridiculously low wage.
It's not simply about meeting your financial needs. It's about climbing the ladder of your chosen profession. Everyone starts out at the bottom and works their way up. Monetary compensation is simply the first step in moving up the rungs. I started out as a grunt pushing a broom when I was a teenager working for my dad's company for 8 dollars an hour. By the time I was 22 years old I was making 25 dollars an hour. By the time I was 24 I was making 35 dollars an hour, and I started my own company. By 2007 I was making 400-500 USD a day. It's just the rules of advancement. They hold true no matter what the career is. As you gain more experience, you earn more money.
So, while it was a hard decision to write a letter to an editor and put an ultimatum on the table, at the same time it's for the better. My career is advancing, and I am not simply writing for the exposure. My resume has expanded exponentially over the last year, and I am to the point now where I am no longer considered a fresh-faced newbie, and the rates adjust accordingly. It's nothing personal against past publications, it's just that the wages need to be acceptable according to national averages based upon the level of experience. It's business.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Anything new?
Almost to the end of the first week of July, and I have to say, it's been a productive week. A lot of planning going on.
Firstly, I've got to start organizing things and figuring out for next year how to deal with taxes. They get kind of convoluted when you are living overseas, and the US is anal-retentive about how you have to deal with it. Technically you can make up to 87k a year overseas without having to claim it, but you have to first "prove" that you fit all the criteria for working and living overseas. I didn't worry about last year, because we lived off our savings in 2008 and I didn't make a red cent, but this year I most certainly have been making money, and while 95% of it has been from non-US sources, I still have to worry about filing next April. So I need to call the Embassy and figure out the ins and outs of how to deal with accountants and filing from overseas. I also have to figure out about a driver's license for Bulgaria. I haven't worried about it to-date because we live in the heart of the city and use public transportation, but we are talking about buying a car next year, so I have to look ahead to that eventuality. We have no plans to go back to the US, not even to visit (at least not for the foreseeable future of 5+ years) so it's not like I can go back and get another International Driver's Permit (mine expired back in January; they are only good for a year)
Secondly, my wife's Etsy shop. I think we are launching this weekend. That was our initial plan, although that might be backed off till next weekend depending on how much crafting we get done this weekend. She is waiting on a bunch of tea cups and plate sets from a friend of the family who has had them stashed in the attic for 20+ years, and we are possibly getting our hands on those tomorrow...we'll see. Evy also informed me she is taking the first two weeks of August off work to focus 100% on crafting for 8+ hours a day, in order to get a bunch of hand-made items up for sale and see about making her crafting business a viable business, and not just a part-time hobby. If she can make enough money off of it, she'll quit her part-time job and work from home, like me, while she finishes up school. She has quite a large reader-base now, and it's not just people from the US and the UK who we are targeting. Her mother's business means that we have significant connections to the wealthy, ritzy people within Sofia, and a great many of them have expressed interest in Evy's hand-crafted goods, and her mom has been helping promote the idea, so we may get an unknown bonus set of clients from here in Bulgaria as well. Not to mention all the girls Evy deals with at work have been oohing and aaahing over all the things she has been making and then taking in to work for them to see. I think she's going to do just fine.
What else? Hmm. Paying off the last credit card. I thought that would be done a couple months back, but things got sidetracked a bit with some RL expenses. Still...the first of those is paid off next week once I get my next client's payment, and the last 2k worth of debt will be paid off at the end of August when I get paid for the work I'm doing this month. Then, it's ship our last boxes out of the States, see about closing down our US bank account (which will be interesting considering Wells Fargo won't even let you do a simple wire transfer without physically being in the office to sign the paperwork, despite the fact that a court of law considers a digital signature legal and binding), and sever the last of the ties we have back there so we can show the IRS that I have, in fact, "moved on" and am not still using the US as a base of residence while living abroad in a tax haven. My wife's family is here, the family business is here, her school is here, and she doesn't even have a green-card, nor have we applied for one (thinking about it, but haven't gotten around to it when we have no plans of heading back anytime soon), we have a bank account here, the apartment is in our name and it's here, we have our cell phones here....etc. etc. etc. It's amazing how the first thing the IRS looks at when a person files from overseas is whether or not you did so just in order to use one of the many loopholes that exist. You aren't ever allowed to have an actual, viable reason to move overseas that has nothing to do with taxes (like, oh, I don't know...a WIFE?)...everyone is immediately presumed guilty until proven innocent, which is bassackwards from the way it's supposed to be, which is innocent until proven guilty. Needless to say, while I have never been paranoid about dealing with the IRS before (I had a kick-ass accountant in Colorado), I have to admit I'm a little irritated with the amount of paperwork I'm going to have to do in order to prove that I'm not here simply to avoid paying taxes. It's really stupid. Meanwhile, people like Madoff and AIG are ripping American taxpayers off for hundreds of billions of dollars and I have to sweat simply being honest. It's ridiculous. You can't imagine the sheer number of hoops I've had to jump through in order to transition to a foreign country, and the amount of money we had to spend getting everything taken care of, but knowing that I have to deal with even *more* hassles is just...ugh. Thankfully I really don't have to "sweat" any of this until next year, but I want to start looking into it now so I can have a gameplan when the time comes and give myself plenty of time to deal with the interviews with various accountants and paperwork and etc.
My cook-book is also on my "hot" agenda. Chapter work on the novel is on hold until September. I also have no plans to do any more short stories (for those of you just checking in) for the 2009 fiscal year. I have 5 in circulation. I had a 6th that I was requested to write for another publication, but I canceled it after a significant disagreement with the owner of the publication. One of those 5 has been on hold in Australia for 2 months, and according to their reading list the main editor should be getting to it in a week or two, and their slush editor said held stories usually have a 35-40% chance of getting "in", so I'll keep my finger's crossed. I pulled another one off the rotation list because I feel it needs a little more refinement. The other ones are good to go, and I've been getting favorable responses from editors, rather than just form letters, which is a good sign. The last two editors, in fact, have gone on to give me lists of their sister publications where they think the stories might fit better, and have been including their personal reasons for not accepting the stories.
One thing I've noticed is that as my freelance and journalism resume gets thicker and thicker (I include my background in my cover letter) editors are actually physically replying to my queries and manuscripts. True, 99% of my work isn't fiction, it's journalism and content creation, but when people see you are making a living doing this, it tends to lend some credence to your work, even if you haven't won any awards yet. The simple fact you are landing clients and keeping them long-term means you are a reliable, solid writer. That doesn't necessarily mean I've mastered fiction writing, and I'm not too arrogant to know that I have a long way to go in that regards. Still, I've sold 2, had positive replies on a few more, and I'll keep refining and circulating the 5 I have finished until they find homes. The other good thing is that I'm not a starving writer so desperate for a credit that I'll put up with haughty editors and hack publications. In the meantime, I've got my plate full with writing gigs outside of the fiction world, and I'll get back to work on the novel sometime in September, after I get this cook-book finished. I still haven't decided if I'm going to go the route of e-publishing or talk with a friend about getting it published in paper format. Just have to wait and see.
That's it for this Thursday's update. I've got some work to do, so I'll yap with you guys next time around.
Firstly, I've got to start organizing things and figuring out for next year how to deal with taxes. They get kind of convoluted when you are living overseas, and the US is anal-retentive about how you have to deal with it. Technically you can make up to 87k a year overseas without having to claim it, but you have to first "prove" that you fit all the criteria for working and living overseas. I didn't worry about last year, because we lived off our savings in 2008 and I didn't make a red cent, but this year I most certainly have been making money, and while 95% of it has been from non-US sources, I still have to worry about filing next April. So I need to call the Embassy and figure out the ins and outs of how to deal with accountants and filing from overseas. I also have to figure out about a driver's license for Bulgaria. I haven't worried about it to-date because we live in the heart of the city and use public transportation, but we are talking about buying a car next year, so I have to look ahead to that eventuality. We have no plans to go back to the US, not even to visit (at least not for the foreseeable future of 5+ years) so it's not like I can go back and get another International Driver's Permit (mine expired back in January; they are only good for a year)
Secondly, my wife's Etsy shop. I think we are launching this weekend. That was our initial plan, although that might be backed off till next weekend depending on how much crafting we get done this weekend. She is waiting on a bunch of tea cups and plate sets from a friend of the family who has had them stashed in the attic for 20+ years, and we are possibly getting our hands on those tomorrow...we'll see. Evy also informed me she is taking the first two weeks of August off work to focus 100% on crafting for 8+ hours a day, in order to get a bunch of hand-made items up for sale and see about making her crafting business a viable business, and not just a part-time hobby. If she can make enough money off of it, she'll quit her part-time job and work from home, like me, while she finishes up school. She has quite a large reader-base now, and it's not just people from the US and the UK who we are targeting. Her mother's business means that we have significant connections to the wealthy, ritzy people within Sofia, and a great many of them have expressed interest in Evy's hand-crafted goods, and her mom has been helping promote the idea, so we may get an unknown bonus set of clients from here in Bulgaria as well. Not to mention all the girls Evy deals with at work have been oohing and aaahing over all the things she has been making and then taking in to work for them to see. I think she's going to do just fine.
What else? Hmm. Paying off the last credit card. I thought that would be done a couple months back, but things got sidetracked a bit with some RL expenses. Still...the first of those is paid off next week once I get my next client's payment, and the last 2k worth of debt will be paid off at the end of August when I get paid for the work I'm doing this month. Then, it's ship our last boxes out of the States, see about closing down our US bank account (which will be interesting considering Wells Fargo won't even let you do a simple wire transfer without physically being in the office to sign the paperwork, despite the fact that a court of law considers a digital signature legal and binding), and sever the last of the ties we have back there so we can show the IRS that I have, in fact, "moved on" and am not still using the US as a base of residence while living abroad in a tax haven. My wife's family is here, the family business is here, her school is here, and she doesn't even have a green-card, nor have we applied for one (thinking about it, but haven't gotten around to it when we have no plans of heading back anytime soon), we have a bank account here, the apartment is in our name and it's here, we have our cell phones here....etc. etc. etc. It's amazing how the first thing the IRS looks at when a person files from overseas is whether or not you did so just in order to use one of the many loopholes that exist. You aren't ever allowed to have an actual, viable reason to move overseas that has nothing to do with taxes (like, oh, I don't know...a WIFE?)...everyone is immediately presumed guilty until proven innocent, which is bassackwards from the way it's supposed to be, which is innocent until proven guilty. Needless to say, while I have never been paranoid about dealing with the IRS before (I had a kick-ass accountant in Colorado), I have to admit I'm a little irritated with the amount of paperwork I'm going to have to do in order to prove that I'm not here simply to avoid paying taxes. It's really stupid. Meanwhile, people like Madoff and AIG are ripping American taxpayers off for hundreds of billions of dollars and I have to sweat simply being honest. It's ridiculous. You can't imagine the sheer number of hoops I've had to jump through in order to transition to a foreign country, and the amount of money we had to spend getting everything taken care of, but knowing that I have to deal with even *more* hassles is just...ugh. Thankfully I really don't have to "sweat" any of this until next year, but I want to start looking into it now so I can have a gameplan when the time comes and give myself plenty of time to deal with the interviews with various accountants and paperwork and etc.
My cook-book is also on my "hot" agenda. Chapter work on the novel is on hold until September. I also have no plans to do any more short stories (for those of you just checking in) for the 2009 fiscal year. I have 5 in circulation. I had a 6th that I was requested to write for another publication, but I canceled it after a significant disagreement with the owner of the publication. One of those 5 has been on hold in Australia for 2 months, and according to their reading list the main editor should be getting to it in a week or two, and their slush editor said held stories usually have a 35-40% chance of getting "in", so I'll keep my finger's crossed. I pulled another one off the rotation list because I feel it needs a little more refinement. The other ones are good to go, and I've been getting favorable responses from editors, rather than just form letters, which is a good sign. The last two editors, in fact, have gone on to give me lists of their sister publications where they think the stories might fit better, and have been including their personal reasons for not accepting the stories.
One thing I've noticed is that as my freelance and journalism resume gets thicker and thicker (I include my background in my cover letter) editors are actually physically replying to my queries and manuscripts. True, 99% of my work isn't fiction, it's journalism and content creation, but when people see you are making a living doing this, it tends to lend some credence to your work, even if you haven't won any awards yet. The simple fact you are landing clients and keeping them long-term means you are a reliable, solid writer. That doesn't necessarily mean I've mastered fiction writing, and I'm not too arrogant to know that I have a long way to go in that regards. Still, I've sold 2, had positive replies on a few more, and I'll keep refining and circulating the 5 I have finished until they find homes. The other good thing is that I'm not a starving writer so desperate for a credit that I'll put up with haughty editors and hack publications. In the meantime, I've got my plate full with writing gigs outside of the fiction world, and I'll get back to work on the novel sometime in September, after I get this cook-book finished. I still haven't decided if I'm going to go the route of e-publishing or talk with a friend about getting it published in paper format. Just have to wait and see.
That's it for this Thursday's update. I've got some work to do, so I'll yap with you guys next time around.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Moving forward!
As we move into the month of July, I think we are bumping up my wife's time-table for launching her Etsy shop. We initially thought towards the end of July, but I convinced her over the weekend (and today) that we should put the finishing touches on some things this weekend and get the damn thing live by next weekend.
Now if only someone would ride my ass about my cook-book that I wanted done by the end of August....
In any case, I'm stoked about that. The key is to see if we can't get her making more than she makes now at her "job", in which case she'll quit and work full-time at selling her crafted goods while she finishes school. Not that she has a crap job; she has a great job, but she'd rather be self-employed like myself, and allow herself the freedom to set her own hours, work at her own pace, and determine her own paycheck.
That being said, I totally nerfed my paycheck today, because I spent about 3 of my working hours researching some prices on some of the things we are going to be offering for sale, and doing some rough figures. It's all good, though :)
This weekend is going to be fun, as well. We are taking the weekend away from games and other things and focusing entirely on crafting. We have several tea-sets we plan on working on, some wind-chimes, some little boxes, and some general nick-nacks to get up on her Etsy shop.
That's my Monday morning update. Cya!
Now if only someone would ride my ass about my cook-book that I wanted done by the end of August....
In any case, I'm stoked about that. The key is to see if we can't get her making more than she makes now at her "job", in which case she'll quit and work full-time at selling her crafted goods while she finishes school. Not that she has a crap job; she has a great job, but she'd rather be self-employed like myself, and allow herself the freedom to set her own hours, work at her own pace, and determine her own paycheck.
That being said, I totally nerfed my paycheck today, because I spent about 3 of my working hours researching some prices on some of the things we are going to be offering for sale, and doing some rough figures. It's all good, though :)
This weekend is going to be fun, as well. We are taking the weekend away from games and other things and focusing entirely on crafting. We have several tea-sets we plan on working on, some wind-chimes, some little boxes, and some general nick-nacks to get up on her Etsy shop.
That's my Monday morning update. Cya!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
A new day for Bulgaria
Big changes have been a part of this country for awhile now, but today marks a *big* step forward. The last decade has been spent underneath the socialist/communist party despite being a democratic country (to some degree), with some of the most rampant corruption seen world-wide. That's not to say countries like America don't have corruption (let's face it: America is one of the most corrupt these days. Just watch the news!), but the corruption in Bulgaria has been very much in-your-face-tied-to-the-Mafia type corruption. Some perfect examples can be read over here.
The new legislature is all about change. I'm too tired to go into all the details here at the present, but the new political party is promising a slew of arrests with the changes. The mayor here is likened to the Chuck Norris jokes that ran rampant in the US for the last couple of years, and one of his first statements tonight after finding out that his party had won was to declare that anyone who stole money from the government and the people is going to have to pay the piper.
This is a good day. I know my wife is really excited, as are every single person we associate with here in Bulgaria. The money that the EU was giving to Bulgaria that was subsequently getting robbed to pay for yachts, real estate, and corrupt officials and prompted the EU to put a hold on any additional funding should finally start funneling in the right direction. With more funding comes more changes. Better schools. Better roads. Higher paying jobs. A better economy. Better education system. Better health system. A pyramid of effects.
A good day, indeed :)
The new legislature is all about change. I'm too tired to go into all the details here at the present, but the new political party is promising a slew of arrests with the changes. The mayor here is likened to the Chuck Norris jokes that ran rampant in the US for the last couple of years, and one of his first statements tonight after finding out that his party had won was to declare that anyone who stole money from the government and the people is going to have to pay the piper.
This is a good day. I know my wife is really excited, as are every single person we associate with here in Bulgaria. The money that the EU was giving to Bulgaria that was subsequently getting robbed to pay for yachts, real estate, and corrupt officials and prompted the EU to put a hold on any additional funding should finally start funneling in the right direction. With more funding comes more changes. Better schools. Better roads. Higher paying jobs. A better economy. Better education system. Better health system. A pyramid of effects.
A good day, indeed :)
Friday, July 3, 2009
Green Fingers, Opposing Thumbs
I try to be a "green" kind of guy, I really do. We have switched our light bulbs out to the more energy-conservative kind. We recycle, avidly. We take public transportation and walk rather than driving. We try to do everything we can, no matter how "little" it might be. Evy has her spice garden, we are starting to plant some veggies, we hang our clothes out to dry instead of using a dryer, we take the stairs instead of the elevator (which doubles as a great physical activity for burning calories when you live 6 floors up) and we try to conserve everything in order to consume as little as possible.
But there is one exception to the rule. The air conditioner.
Don't get me wrong. When I'm walking around town, out and about, I don't mind it. When I'm on vacation, hiking around the ruins of some ancient Roman or Greek city, I'm all about the sweat factor, and getting dirty, and being part of the environment. I love hiking, camping, and getting out in the elements. But when I'm sitting in my office in a leather chair, in the comfort of my home...screw sweating. I want comfort.
I'm sure everyone out there has their own personal limits. I've seen some green-thinkers who go so far as to buy a plot of land in the middle of nowhere and build their home out of peat and sod and completely abandon electricity and technology. I'm not one of those guys. I do what I can, but I do it within the boundaries of my own comfort zone. Some people would call that hypocrisy. I call it "living smart".
Finding a balance is key. We can't just go back to the Middle Ages (who would want to, anyway? All that plague, death, disease, no deodorant...ugh, no thanks) and abandon technology, because technology is what is going to help us overcome the problems of tomorrow. What we have to find is a natural, healthy balance between technological advancement and green-thinking.
In any case...I was seeing some of our guildmates talk last night while playing Lord of the Rings Online, as well as some of our friends on Facebook, and a great number of them were complaining about how hot their houses were, and how they had 2-3 fans going to keep things cooled down. Sorry...that ain't me. I get really, really cranky when my house is hot, so the AC is a must, and it's one thing that, no matter how green I might be, I refuse to get rid of.
AC ftw!
But there is one exception to the rule. The air conditioner.
Don't get me wrong. When I'm walking around town, out and about, I don't mind it. When I'm on vacation, hiking around the ruins of some ancient Roman or Greek city, I'm all about the sweat factor, and getting dirty, and being part of the environment. I love hiking, camping, and getting out in the elements. But when I'm sitting in my office in a leather chair, in the comfort of my home...screw sweating. I want comfort.
I'm sure everyone out there has their own personal limits. I've seen some green-thinkers who go so far as to buy a plot of land in the middle of nowhere and build their home out of peat and sod and completely abandon electricity and technology. I'm not one of those guys. I do what I can, but I do it within the boundaries of my own comfort zone. Some people would call that hypocrisy. I call it "living smart".
Finding a balance is key. We can't just go back to the Middle Ages (who would want to, anyway? All that plague, death, disease, no deodorant...ugh, no thanks) and abandon technology, because technology is what is going to help us overcome the problems of tomorrow. What we have to find is a natural, healthy balance between technological advancement and green-thinking.
In any case...I was seeing some of our guildmates talk last night while playing Lord of the Rings Online, as well as some of our friends on Facebook, and a great number of them were complaining about how hot their houses were, and how they had 2-3 fans going to keep things cooled down. Sorry...that ain't me. I get really, really cranky when my house is hot, so the AC is a must, and it's one thing that, no matter how green I might be, I refuse to get rid of.
AC ftw!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
First of July
...is the first of July. Amazing, isn't it!
Plugging along. Had a bought of insomnia last night, which means I'm running on 3.5 hours of sleep and several cups of coffee. Debating skipping my workout routine today, and taking a nap instead :)
Some really fun projects lined up for July so far. On further reflection I think the larger one may spill over into August, but I don't have a deadline on it, which is nice. At rough glance last night it looked to be 30 working days worth of content, tied in with my other projects, so I'll be finishing it up sometime in the first week of August.
Mostly, I'm really looking forward to the MMO Life Network articles this month. I should have the first one done towards the end of the week, with three more to do this month, and I've already started jotting down ideas for the next few in August to discuss with their editor. It's really awesome to have fun with your work...and to make a great paycheck on the side :)
Back to work! Was taking a bit of a break here, but time to get back to the grindstone. More later!
Plugging along. Had a bought of insomnia last night, which means I'm running on 3.5 hours of sleep and several cups of coffee. Debating skipping my workout routine today, and taking a nap instead :)
Some really fun projects lined up for July so far. On further reflection I think the larger one may spill over into August, but I don't have a deadline on it, which is nice. At rough glance last night it looked to be 30 working days worth of content, tied in with my other projects, so I'll be finishing it up sometime in the first week of August.
Mostly, I'm really looking forward to the MMO Life Network articles this month. I should have the first one done towards the end of the week, with three more to do this month, and I've already started jotting down ideas for the next few in August to discuss with their editor. It's really awesome to have fun with your work...and to make a great paycheck on the side :)
Back to work! Was taking a bit of a break here, but time to get back to the grindstone. More later!
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