Why Me? But not in a bad way

I've finished the book about the Boston Tea Party (well, I still have a couple of revisions to make)! Yee Haw! The publisher offered me contracts for two more books, one about the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and one about the Death Penalty. I took them, of course. My former boss offered me contracts to write books in her popular rock, poker, and tobacco and smoking series. I took them, but boy do I wish I could give back the poker ones! I'm also editing all of the books in those series.

Editing. I love editing. I never really knew how much I loved editing until I started getting offers for writing. I like writing, but would rather not do so much of it. At least the Boston Tea Party publisher offers me interesting subjects. They are so good to work for.

When I contact publishing companies and packagers about freelance opportunities, I almost always ask for editing assignments. Lately, all I'm getting are writing offers. I guess I'm not complaining. I know there are several freelancers practically begging for business; I've been there. There's one whose difficulty baffles me. She has written far more books than I have, but she can't seem to get any assignments. To be honest, she's probably a better writer than I am.

I guess there's something to be said for being in the right place at the right time--and for networking, especially for networking. A member of an e-mail list recommended me to the publisher, who offered me the Tea Party contract, then contracts to fact-check three books, and the two new writing contracts. Yea networking.

Raining and Pouring

I'm about to be laid off from my full-time position. When things pick up, I'm supposed to be hired back under better terms. Well, that news certainly didn't make my day. And, I'm still trying to decide if I want to be an employee or independent contractor.

With severance, I'll be all right for a couple of months, but it's scary. So, I let some other writers and editors know I was looking for freelance work. I also answered ads to the e-mail lists--ads that I probably never would have bothered with before. As a result, I've proofed two articles for a journal this week, gotten an editing assignment from a publishing company, and a substantive edit job with an author. An online author friend recommended me to one of the people she works for, and within just a few minutes of receiving her e-mail telling me she'd done that, I got an e-mail from the person to whom she'd suggested me. On Monday she's sending me a contract to write a middle-grade nonfiction book about the Boston Tea Party! Finally, I'll be writing about something I have knowledge of.

Then the strangest thing happened. I got an e-mail with an article attached from a professor in Hong Kong. He told me that he'd gotten my info from another professor, for whom I had edited an article. Frankly, I have only the vaguest idea who he's talking about. Oh well, I guess if you're just a little patient . . . .