The Freelance Life: Publish or Perish
Published March 11, 2006
The empty mailbox is the bane of every aspiring writer; as dreaded as the legendary writer's block. For an unpublished author, even finding yet another rejection letter in your mailbox in response to yet another of your precious "babies" — your beloved manuscripts or proposals — being launched into the cruel world to test their wings would at least be proof that you indeed exist. The rejection letter (and there are varying degrees thereof, some better than others) signfies that you ARE a writer, that your words are being received and responded to by another entity, instead of existing in a limbo-like void! Sadder is the mailbox filled only with bills and junk mail because the would-be writer has never sent a single query or manuscript to an editor for consideration in the first place.
When I was first trying to get my articles published, I experienced a daily mailbox angst. Back then, e-mailing back and forth to editors was not an option, at least not for me. I had an old battleaxe of a PC, but no connection to the Internet, which had not yet reached the user-ubiquitousness it has achieved today. So it was the old snail mail agony — and snail mail from editors could often mean weeks, if not months, of waiting for a reply.
As a newbie, I struggled mostly on my own. Since I wrote "propaganda" for a living for a nonprofit organization, I knew how to write. I could craft the blab-vertising for the Man, all right — you'd be surprised at just how many different ways there are to say something is wonderful, marvelous, flawless, and the best in the land — but for many years never really dreamed of writing freelance, for newspapers, with a byline.
A GLIMMER OF HOPE
About 18 years ago, I had my first hypomanic attack, and it was a doozy. I started hatching multiple schemes — get married and have a huge reception, teach an editing class, go for a second master's (or a second and third simulaneously), convince my Luddite boss to explore computer applications for our office as of yesterday, and on and on. But of all the ideas that popped into my fevered noggin' at the time, the one that bore the most delicious fruit was my decision to take a journalism course through my alma mater.
Although I had received an MA in English through this same university, this particular course did more to help me understand newspaper and magazine publishing than any class I'd ever taken before.
The professor was a great, affable guy with a lot of publishing creds under his belt. He had a bulletin board called the Wailing Wall where he posted rejection letters, including his own. He started the first class with a quote from Samuel Johnson: "No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money." Since, except for my paying gig, I'd only done academic writing up til then — the kind that only other academics read when they needed some footnotes for their own papers — the idea of getting a byline and getting paid for the effort was a new venture for me.
- The Freelance Life: Publish or Perish
- Published: March 11, 2006
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Books
- Filed Under: Books: The Writing Life, Culture: Arts, Culture: Media
- Writer: Elvira Black
- Elvira Black's BC Writer page
- Elvira Black's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
Matthew:
Yes, it's really exciting to know that you CAN do it the other way around--and sometimes both ways!
I didn't really give up once I got established, since I was doing pretty well--I just finally quit in part so I could try to have some sort of a life. Deadlines at my nine to five job, then more deadlines with my freelance stuff--but I did have a load of fun, and I'm sure I can always go back to it (gulp) if I ever felt the overwhelming need to do so.
Congrats on your success--it is great to have a niche! Tres cool.
I have a "success" story similar to Matt's -- I got freelanced after an editor found my blog, here on BC, actually. I think the road to success is different for everyone. Some people take route like you, Elvira, others go the route Sussman took, and others, like me, just kind of stumble into it. But hey, whatever works, right?
Chelsea, that is awesome! I think BC is a great place for writers to showcase their work. That must have been so wonderful to just have an editor approach you rather than vice versa, which is much more humbling and stress inducing--lol...
At first you think you get the e-mail by mistake.
Yeah, I ignored the e-mail from my editor at first (sorry Lori!) just because based on the subject line I figured it was just another mass email sent to all the journalism students! Glad I finally got bored and opened all my email!
Matthew:
I can just imagine how it must have felt--when I had my first piece published I was walking on air for days, if not months...better than the best high...lol...
Chelsea:
That is so ironic but in the best way. I did something similar but for totally different reasons. I was so eager to get published and so tired of rejection letters that sometimes I'd get a response in the mail and wait a day or two to open the letter because I hoped it would be good news and I didn't want to be disappointed too soon. Sad but true...
I'm still in high school, but the one freelance type thing that I've done resulted in a successful story for the now-defunct New York publication The Black Table. I should see about getting into the fray again, it's a lot of fun.
Good article, Ms. Black!
Sam:
That was a great, funny story! Any state that originated something as incredible as White Castle is ok by me...lol...
Anyone still in high school who's getting their articles published in journals and writing for BC seems virtually destined for some pretty successful times ahead. Congrats!
This post is right on time for me. Another one in the hole for you!
Hey Berry:
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it...I tried to click on your link but couldn't connect...
Thanks so much for mentioning your good luck in my class! (It came up on a google search.) Check out my new book ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR WORD: WRITING LESSONS FROM MY FAVORITE LITERARY GURUS (Seal Press.) I have upcoming events 9/19, 9/26, 9/28, 10/2 all listed on my website susanshapiro.net
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Good to see you found your niche. But I'm living proof that it works the other way around, too: blogging can lead to freelance opportunities. I was actually approached by an editor to write sports columns for a weekly tabloid. It was a direct result of Futon Report -- he liked it enough to give me a shot.
It also helped that there's not a big market for Toledo sports blogs. (There may not be another active one out there).
So Elvira, you were sure lost in the pond when trying to make it as a freelancer in the NYC market. Yeesh. I would have given up sooner than you.