Lately, as the economy's been tanking (gulp) and Ed's been having to count out his pennies in order to cover a venti skinny latte (vanilla, please!) he's been racking his brain for some creative ways to rake in the cash.
Obviously, there's bartending, and more than a few of Ed's mag friends leave the office on Fridays to head to shift #2. There's also babysitting, dog walking, cat sitting, personal training . . . all part time jobs Ed's friends have held while trying to climb the magazine ladder.
Finally, there's writing. Some of Ed's ultra-word driven pals spend their evenings and weekends furiously typing out query letters, essays, articles, and even books in order to rake in enough dough to cover their New York lifestyle. After all, a shiny $2 a word assignment at a magazine can really help pad a bank account. While most of these get the A-OK and well wishes from their boss, some of these staffers also fly under the the radar—using fake names or dropping bylines—because of rules prohibiting freelancing at their current mag.
Ed believes that honesty is the best policy, and talking over your goals and writing with your editor is the best way to get what you want, both in your writing life and in your work life. What do you think, Edsters? Do you have rules prohibiting freelancing? And what have you done about it?
xo, Ed
2 comments:
At my first journalism job out of school (as a newspaper advertorial writer), I used a pen name when I freelanced. I knew I could have probably gotten permission, but since I wasn't writing for direct competitors or crossing sources, I figured staying discreet would be best. Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, right? At my current job as a mag editor, I freelance quite a bit. I have told my boss that I write for other pubs, but I don't broadcast just how high my workload is. I concentrate on freelance during weekends and evenings so as not to distract from my hectic day-time schedule, although finding a balance is tough. I think that holding dual careers, especially full-time writing/editing w/ freelance, is slowly becoming more accepted because of the low salaries that are becoming the norm. Supervisors know that ends need to be met, and as long as you're not crossing ethical guidelines or blatantly abusing company resources in pursuit of your own endeavors, your attempts at earning extra income shouldn't be a problem.
I'm really lucky to have a boss who supports my freelancing. We were bought out by a smaller company, and, thus, salaries here are lower. I also work at a trade mag, and, while I enjoy the content I write about, it's not my passion: freelancing for consumer mags about arts and fashion keeps me "balanced", as well as topping up my salary.
I even do some freelance stuff at work. As long as you restrict it to the lunch-hour (and don't let it interfere with the quality of your work), I can squeeze in a telephone interview, some proofing, or editing a piece.
It also goes in cycles, too. There's times when I am freelancing like a fiend, and merely take a personal day to get caught up, so it doesn't interfere with my work. And then there are times when I concentrate more intensely on my day-job and leave the freelancing aside for a while (like recently, when I was gunning for a promotion, which paid off in the form of a raise).
It's all about balance, and making sure your boss is cool with it. But I know I'm lucky!
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