NetWork Stuff
This editing network I joined is kinda weird.
I get about 1-4 opportunities a week to bid on jobs. If I want the job, I contact the client and provide info about my services and fees. The same client may be contacted by up to two other editors wanting the job. If the client is interested in me, we may then exchange several emails, negotiating, determining the scope of the job, etc. And then, very often, the response is “Sorry; I can’t afford you.” OK. Fine. I’m not so hard-up for work that I’m willing to do freebies or give discounts to struggling authors. So. We’ll see. I’ve completed one network job so far and it was lucrative. There are benefits to doing this type of work beyond the monetary ones, too, provided the work actually lands in my lap. I should get more experience in new areas this way. However, all this bidding and emailing takes time, and so far, it hasn’t landed me much work. At this point, if all the bids I’ve made were to result in signed contracts, I’d have way more work than I could handle. I guess it feels strange because it’s forcing me to do a lot more marketing and client education than I’m used to doing when working for publishers.
