New DE Gig
Well, I’ve been scrambling for work a tad too much for comfort lately. I don’t like hunting for jobs. I kinda suck at it, but I’ve been conducting a Big Maketing Push for the last month. I’m proud of myself for that, anyway. I haven’t marketed myself this much in … well … 5 years. Nothing much has happened yet because of The Big Push of 2008 (one publisher responded with “Get back to us again in Jan 2009, and by the way, we pay $11 per hour for your highly developed professional editing skills), but I do have some Very Good News to report:
I’ve been hired to be the developmental editor for a medical terminology textbook revision for a BIG FAT PAYING PUBLISHER. It’s the second edition of a book I worked on (as an assistant to the DE) way back in 2004. The revision is beginning now (a bit later in the year than we originally expected—which explains my uncomfortably empty pocketbook) and will be steady work until December 2009. Can I get a big fat “Hooray!”? I will be THE DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR. Not the assistant. This is upper-level editing, not nitty-gritty in-the-shitty-trenches editing. This is project managment, peer reviews, author hand-holding, massive diplomacy, content management, content reorg, complete redesign and repositioning, focus groups, etc. The first edition was 784 pages long. So, we’re not talking a small book here.
Rather, this is a BIG FAT JOB. I’m delighted to have it. What I LOVE to have, as a self-employed freelancer, is one or more BIG FAT JOBS, and lots of shorter-term, little jobs that pay well. That’s the best-world formula: steady pay + being my own boss + high-paying, regular bumps.
I am promising myself that I will continue the Great 2008 Hunt for Better Clients, even though doing it feels like what I imagine unmedicated root planing to feel like. The goobers that pay $11 per hour do NOT fall into that category. So I persevere.
Oh, and this photo is kinda funny: That’s the funniest, nastiest résumé rejection I’ve ever received sitting atop the first edition of the book I’ll be revising as developmental editor. Heh.
August 4, 2008 at 9:20 pm
August 4, 2008 at 9:24 pm
AWESOME!!! Great job and many congrats! I’m really happy for you Sarabellae!
August 4, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Yay. Scrambling sucks. Glad you’ve got something big and steady, and a nice step up the ladder for the next job.
August 4, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Here is a BIG FAT HOORAY!!!! *muah*
August 4, 2008 at 11:03 pm
That’s right. How ya like me now, Rejectypants?!?! Oh my god, you should frame that picture and put it over your desk. Perfect.
Schweet! Congratulations honey, this sounds like a wonderful fit. Yay!
August 4, 2008 at 11:25 pm
It sounds like a huge step for you!
August 4, 2008 at 11:39 pm
HOOORAY
August 5, 2008 at 12:14 am
What wonderful news! Go you!
And what a snitty way to send someone’s resume back. Bah.
August 5, 2008 at 12:29 am
Yay! Congrats! =)
August 5, 2008 at 2:41 am
Boo to the ya! Congrats for you. You’ll be able to use this photo when you write your book on finding work as a freelance editor….
August 5, 2008 at 12:13 pm
HOORAY and congratulations, Ms. DE!
August 5, 2008 at 12:13 pm
HOORAY! HOORAY! This is great. I love the photo, too.
Congratulations, madame DE.
August 5, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Yay!! That is fantastic!! I am so happy for you!
It’s so nice to feel valued by the people you are working for.
*LOVE*
~J~