Friday, May 30, 2008
Quick weekend update
I'm at another horse show (my last for a while), so I won't be getting much done. However I wrote two articles for Helium Marketplace yesterday. I don't know yet if they'll be purchased. I had to post one under Greg's login because you're only allowed to do one. One of the jobs I applied for on odesk had invited me for an interview the other day and asked for samples, so I sent some. Today she emailed back and said she'd like to talk to me further. Will do so next week.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Tuesday, May 27th
Didn't do much writing today, although I did apply for an odesk job and got an interview, and did the copywriting test and came in the 91st percentile of people who took the test. I also taught two classes at The Ballroom. I finally invoiced Horseman's News for the three articles I did this month--the other one will have to go next month.
Earings:
$60
Payments received:
$60
Earings:
$60
Payments received:
$60
Monday, May 26, 2008
Monday, May 26th
Today is Memorial Day, which means I got a day of "work" so I could write! Here are today's activities:
1. Sent two queries, one to Los Angeles Times to reprint my article about Los Angeles County and one to Hemispheres Magazine (in-flight for United Airlines) suggesting an article about traveling with a dog to Scottsdale. Greg did the research for the latter last night.
2. Worked on "You can too scream through a snorkel"
3. Worked on proposal for "Mommy's Survival Guide..." and sent it to Beth for her thoughts
4. Tried to do research on Sun & Surf article for Pacific Coast Journal but no one is home! Did manage to speak to one person. It's due tomorrow, so I hope I can finish it!
Beth talked to me about querying 10-12 markets per week. whew! I don't know if I can pull off quite that many, but I'll sure try. If I can sell some decently paying articles each month, that will really help. My goal for June is to sell one article for more than $100.
1. Sent two queries, one to Los Angeles Times to reprint my article about Los Angeles County and one to Hemispheres Magazine (in-flight for United Airlines) suggesting an article about traveling with a dog to Scottsdale. Greg did the research for the latter last night.
2. Worked on "You can too scream through a snorkel"
3. Worked on proposal for "Mommy's Survival Guide..." and sent it to Beth for her thoughts
4. Tried to do research on Sun & Surf article for Pacific Coast Journal but no one is home! Did manage to speak to one person. It's due tomorrow, so I hope I can finish it!
Beth talked to me about querying 10-12 markets per week. whew! I don't know if I can pull off quite that many, but I'll sure try. If I can sell some decently paying articles each month, that will really help. My goal for June is to sell one article for more than $100.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Sunday, May 25th
OK, I'm falling asleep so I'll make this quick. Today's activities:
1. Wrote my third book review and posted it to AC. Sent all three to Michy to post on her book reviews blog as a guest blogger. Sent to Apex book reviews in hopes of landing a paying gig reviewing books.
2. Came up with some ideas and put Greg to work on research.
3. Started writing "You Can too Scream Through A Snorkel."
4. Started working on non-fic book proposal for "The Mommy's Survival Guide to Autism."
5. Submitted "He Speaks in Colors" to Complete Woman Magazine.
6. Applied for a job on odesk.
7. Started research for an article for Pacific Coast Journal (sister magazine to Horseman's News) but I don't know if I'll be able to finish it in time because I need to interview people and no one was home yesterday.
1. Wrote my third book review and posted it to AC. Sent all three to Michy to post on her book reviews blog as a guest blogger. Sent to Apex book reviews in hopes of landing a paying gig reviewing books.
2. Came up with some ideas and put Greg to work on research.
3. Started writing "You Can too Scream Through A Snorkel."
4. Started working on non-fic book proposal for "The Mommy's Survival Guide to Autism."
5. Submitted "He Speaks in Colors" to Complete Woman Magazine.
6. Applied for a job on odesk.
7. Started research for an article for Pacific Coast Journal (sister magazine to Horseman's News) but I don't know if I'll be able to finish it in time because I need to interview people and no one was home yesterday.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Saturday, May 24th
Exciting day today--Beth got my website up and running! Check it out--www.authorjennwalker.com!
Today's activities:
Mostly stuff for the website. Working on assembling a portfolio.
Went back and forth a little on a job for odesk.
Wrote two book reviews and posted them on AC. I want to apply to review books with a website that does them.
Last night I set up a dancing blog, partly for adsense and partly for promotion and partly for fun. Posted on it today although I still need to customize it.
Today's activities:
Mostly stuff for the website. Working on assembling a portfolio.
Went back and forth a little on a job for odesk.
Wrote two book reviews and posted them on AC. I want to apply to review books with a website that does them.
Last night I set up a dancing blog, partly for adsense and partly for promotion and partly for fun. Posted on it today although I still need to customize it.
Friday, May 23rd
Exciting day--I got my first interview on odesk! Two, sort of. The first one was telling me the job I'd applied for was taken, but he was giving me a heads up that he was posting another in a couple of days in case I wanted to prepare. He sent the same message to several others.
The other was actually interviewing for the job. I sent him a sample of an ad I did for an Arabian stallion. He asked me to do a test of a category description for his retail website, so I did on and sent it off...I'm still waiting, but I sent it this afternoon so who knows when I'll hear back now. I'll post if he hires me!
Today's activities:
Taught dance class at Sac Ballroom Society.
The above-mentioned odesk interview
Finished rewriting Bubba Goes National (see my Jennifer Gets Bloggy blog for thoughts on this!)
Sent stuff to Beth for the website
Earnings:
$50
Payments received:
$50
Goals for this weekend:
Write a sample for the guy who said he was posting another job
Write 3 book reviews for the site that's hiring reviewers
Finish rewrites on Bubba...CHECK!!!
The other was actually interviewing for the job. I sent him a sample of an ad I did for an Arabian stallion. He asked me to do a test of a category description for his retail website, so I did on and sent it off...I'm still waiting, but I sent it this afternoon so who knows when I'll hear back now. I'll post if he hires me!
Today's activities:
Taught dance class at Sac Ballroom Society.
The above-mentioned odesk interview
Finished rewriting Bubba Goes National (see my Jennifer Gets Bloggy blog for thoughts on this!)
Sent stuff to Beth for the website
Earnings:
$50
Payments received:
$50
Goals for this weekend:
Write a sample for the guy who said he was posting another job
Write 3 book reviews for the site that's hiring reviewers
Finish rewrites on Bubba...CHECK!!!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thursday, May 22nd
I didn't to a whole lot today, but I did apply for several odesk jobs and updated my profile and cover letter there, with some coaching from Sandi. Also got a good start on writing the content for my website for when Beth has time to build it.
Payments received: $32
Payments received: $32
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Getting Back on Track
All right, I did do some work over the past few days, but I haven't been posting. Shame on me! Here's a quick recap of my activities:
Wrote two articles for Sandi.
Wrote two articles for Horseman's News.
Applied for my quota of jobs at elance for the month.
Applied for one job at odesk. It won't let me apply for anymore until I do some kind of test but it's not letting me do it so I'm pulling my hair out.
Cried to Beth because this is impossible and I can't do it.
Stopped crying when she gave me some good ideas.
Looked for markets for my California Counties articles.
Won second place in the Accentuate Writers Short Story Contest!
Earnings: $160
Wrote two articles for Sandi.
Wrote two articles for Horseman's News.
Applied for my quota of jobs at elance for the month.
Applied for one job at odesk. It won't let me apply for anymore until I do some kind of test but it's not letting me do it so I'm pulling my hair out.
Cried to Beth because this is impossible and I can't do it.
Stopped crying when she gave me some good ideas.
Looked for markets for my California Counties articles.
Won second place in the Accentuate Writers Short Story Contest!
Earnings: $160
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Thursday update
I'm at a horse show this weekend, so I won't be getting much work done. However, I owe Sandi five articles and Horseman's News three, so I'll need to try to work them in somehow!
Today's activities:
Wrote one article for Sandi
Sent completed article to Horseman's News
Earnings:
$15 (since I counted the HN piece earlier in the week)
Linda at The Ballroom isn't sure how much work they can give me teaching dance or dj'ing but she'll do what she can. It won't be much, but it's better than nothing. I'm telling everyone I know what I'm doing in hopes of making connections and creating opportunities. I looked through odesk a bit the other day and took a couple more tests. I need to write up a cover letter before I really start bidding. I've bid on a couple jobs at elance but nothing yet. I need to start bidding at both places as much as possible.
Today's activities:
Wrote one article for Sandi
Sent completed article to Horseman's News
Earnings:
$15 (since I counted the HN piece earlier in the week)
Linda at The Ballroom isn't sure how much work they can give me teaching dance or dj'ing but she'll do what she can. It won't be much, but it's better than nothing. I'm telling everyone I know what I'm doing in hopes of making connections and creating opportunities. I looked through odesk a bit the other day and took a couple more tests. I need to write up a cover letter before I really start bidding. I've bid on a couple jobs at elance but nothing yet. I need to start bidding at both places as much as possible.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Monday update
I didn't do much today. I worked, I gave Ashlyn a lesson on my horse, I conducted an interview for the article that was practically done and finished it. I did some research on another article. I made a contact for a potential article. That's about it...I didn't do nothing, but I didn't bring in any money, either!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Update for Sunday, May 11th
Happy Mother's Day!
Today's work activities:
Wrote two articles for Sandi, completing everything I owe her
Did research for Horseman's News article
Earnings:
$16
Current projects in progress:
5 articles for horseman's news: 1 basically done, 2 research started, 2 not started
2 AC articles needing rewrite: not started
Bubba: Greg has started his edit
Today's work activities:
Wrote two articles for Sandi, completing everything I owe her
Did research for Horseman's News article
Earnings:
$16
Current projects in progress:
5 articles for horseman's news: 1 basically done, 2 research started, 2 not started
2 AC articles needing rewrite: not started
Bubba: Greg has started his edit
Saturday, May 10th Report
1. Set up a new blog to act as my temporary website until Beth, owner of (The Sandland Group has time to make me a real one. (Thanks Beth!) www.authorjennwalker.com
2. Set up a banner (again, thanks Beth!) on the high-traffic Arabian horse discussion board I frequent and point it to my domain.
3. Wrote three articles for Sandi.
Total earnings:
$30
Payments received:
$32 (work I did earlier this week)
Contacts made:
1 advertising link
Current assignments due:
5 for Horseman's News by 5/18 and 5/25: 1 started, 1 basically done, 3 not started
5 articles for Sandi: 3 complete
2 articles for AC need rewriting: not started
Rewrite Bubba Goes National: all but one chapter complete
Mommy's Survivial Guide to Autism: Waiting for Beth to edit and give me notes
2. Set up a banner (again, thanks Beth!) on the high-traffic Arabian horse discussion board I frequent and point it to my domain.
3. Wrote three articles for Sandi.
Total earnings:
$30
Payments received:
$32 (work I did earlier this week)
Contacts made:
1 advertising link
Current assignments due:
5 for Horseman's News by 5/18 and 5/25: 1 started, 1 basically done, 3 not started
5 articles for Sandi: 3 complete
2 articles for AC need rewriting: not started
Rewrite Bubba Goes National: all but one chapter complete
Mommy's Survivial Guide to Autism: Waiting for Beth to edit and give me notes
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Countdown to freedom
The universe is opening doors for me and shoving me through them. It's telling me I'm not in the right place, and I need to get where I belong, and soon. I haven't been happy at my job ever since I decided I want to freelance write and edit for a living, and it's become increasingly more unbearable as time has gone on. At the same time, more and more opportunties are opening up for me in the writing world. More and more people are reaching out to help me get where I belong, and I think it's time to listen to what the universe is telling me. It's time.
I own a house (lol about $5 of it, anyway), a horse, and have bajillions of bills. I can't just quit my job and hope for the best! I need a plan. I need to make sure I'm not going to put my life as I know it or my family in jeopardy. I've put some thought into this and consulted my dear friends and helping hands, Beth, Michy, and Sandi. Here's the plan:
In August of this year, I will take a leave of absence from work for one month. Hopefully by then I'll have two weeks of vacation time so I only have to go two weeks without getting paid. Between now and then, I need to send out as many queries, complete as many assignments, post as many articles, and place as many job bids as I can. I will also ramp up my dance teaching career again. During the next 2.5 months, I need to build up some clientele, set wheels in motion to get some more, and earn some extra money so I can pay my bills and put myself in the best financial position possible.
In order to replace my current income and have some for taxes and stuff, I need to make $1000 per week. Ouch! That's $200/day, 5 days/week or $150/day, 7 days/week. Ok, that sounds more doable. Put another way, that's 40 hours at $25 per hour or 60 hours at $16.67. Hm, not so bad! It can be done!
Starting today, I'm going to track everything I do toward my goal. I need all the cheerleaders I can get, so feel free to comment with your suggestions and cheers!
Friday, May 9th:
1. Talked to Linda at The Ballroom of Sacramento to see about getting on the class schedule. She will do what she can to get me at least one class, will let me dj one dance per month, maybe add some workshops for me. I may get to do some receptionisting as well, and if I do I can work on my laptop for a while while I'm there so I can keep writing.
2. Wrote most of a $35 article (submittable as-is, but want to add a couple things) and all of an $8 article.
Total earnings:
$43
Contacts made:
1
Current assignments due:
5 for Horseman's News by 5/18 and 5/25: 1 started, 1 basically done, 3 not started
5 articles for Sandi: 1 complete
2 articles for AC need rewriting: not started
Rewrite Bubba Goes National: all but one chapter complete
Mommy's Survivial Guide to Autism: Waiting for Beth to edit and give me notes
That's about it. I have little stuff floating around, but these are at the forefront of my mind.
I own a house (lol about $5 of it, anyway), a horse, and have bajillions of bills. I can't just quit my job and hope for the best! I need a plan. I need to make sure I'm not going to put my life as I know it or my family in jeopardy. I've put some thought into this and consulted my dear friends and helping hands, Beth, Michy, and Sandi. Here's the plan:
In August of this year, I will take a leave of absence from work for one month. Hopefully by then I'll have two weeks of vacation time so I only have to go two weeks without getting paid. Between now and then, I need to send out as many queries, complete as many assignments, post as many articles, and place as many job bids as I can. I will also ramp up my dance teaching career again. During the next 2.5 months, I need to build up some clientele, set wheels in motion to get some more, and earn some extra money so I can pay my bills and put myself in the best financial position possible.
In order to replace my current income and have some for taxes and stuff, I need to make $1000 per week. Ouch! That's $200/day, 5 days/week or $150/day, 7 days/week. Ok, that sounds more doable. Put another way, that's 40 hours at $25 per hour or 60 hours at $16.67. Hm, not so bad! It can be done!
Starting today, I'm going to track everything I do toward my goal. I need all the cheerleaders I can get, so feel free to comment with your suggestions and cheers!
Friday, May 9th:
1. Talked to Linda at The Ballroom of Sacramento to see about getting on the class schedule. She will do what she can to get me at least one class, will let me dj one dance per month, maybe add some workshops for me. I may get to do some receptionisting as well, and if I do I can work on my laptop for a while while I'm there so I can keep writing.
2. Wrote most of a $35 article (submittable as-is, but want to add a couple things) and all of an $8 article.
Total earnings:
$43
Contacts made:
1
Current assignments due:
5 for Horseman's News by 5/18 and 5/25: 1 started, 1 basically done, 3 not started
5 articles for Sandi: 1 complete
2 articles for AC need rewriting: not started
Rewrite Bubba Goes National: all but one chapter complete
Mommy's Survivial Guide to Autism: Waiting for Beth to edit and give me notes
That's about it. I have little stuff floating around, but these are at the forefront of my mind.
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