The Dangers of Full Time Freelancing (add your own!)

[ZSutherland]

I'm not doing it full-time, but I put in about 4 hours a day after my 8.5 hour workday.

Staring at nothing, waiting for ideas, and then hearing your dog whine. You realize you haven't moved in so long, he thinks you died.

Having an idea come to you on the toilet, then fussing around for your notepad and pencil. Really freaks out the the people in the surrounding stalls...especially if you mutter things like, "yes, that's it. the red dragon eats the dwarf and the elf gets the uberloot."

Getting stuck in work mode, even on social outings.

Accomplishing a section of your work, feeling good about yourself, then looking at your to-do list.

Z

 

[Nightfall]

LOL I can't decide who's line is better, Michelle's, Chris' or Mythholder!

 

[Michelle Lyons]

You mean an hour and a half each time, right?

Naturally.

 

[Will]

Happily checking the boards for news on your latest project, and:

A) Nothing but arguments about GURPS/Palladium/D20 taking over. Sniff.

B) Melting under the savagery of astonishingly self-righteous flames.


Trying not to contemplate the fact that you'd make more money as a janitor. Or a greeter at Walmart.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Having an idea come to you on the toilet, then fussing around for your notepad and pencil. Really freaks out the the people in the surrounding stalls...especially if you mutter things like, "yes, that's it. the red dragon eats the dwarf and the elf gets the uberloot."

LOL thanks I needed that...

AR

 

[Belen]

Working 18 months on the same campaign setting and each time a new boss takes over having to "revise" the previous work according to a new format or template.

Quitting in anger over the process, then learning the company went belly up the next week and wondering who has all your hard work now....

Whew!

I am much happier now with just a full time job and gaming for fun.

Dave

 

[Ghostwind]

Typical introduction...

Stranger: So what do you do for a living?
Me: I'm a writer.
Stranger: Really? What kind of books do you write?
Wife: He's really a stay at home Dad but he also writes science fiction and fantasy.
Stranger: That's fascinating. Are your novels carried locally?
Me: Actually I write supplements for gaming books more than novels.
Wife: <groan>
Stranger: You mean games like Monopoly or Bridge?
Me: No. Books that expand rules for roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons.
Stranger: I see... Sounds intriguing. Nice meeting you. I have to go now...


You also know you are are full-time freelancer when the book you are working on right now isn't slated for publication for another year, which also means you likely won't see your check until then...

 

[Vigilance]

#1 Hazard: Not getting paid by publisher X *ever*
#2 Hazard:
Publisher: "We'd like you and a dozen others to 'audition' for future freelance assignments"
Me: Cool. What do I do?
Publisher: Here's a list of assignments we'd normally have to pay for.
Me: Do the assignments.
Publisher: Oh! So sorry turns out business went south and we're not hiring anyone. We can use these assignments for web enhancements though. Thanks!

Chuck

PS: Both examples really happened to me. Example #2 was a "writer's boot camp" where the top two or three applicants would supposedly get freelancing gigs from a major d20 company. To my knowledge no one ever got a gig.

 

[Krug]

What about this one? Courtesy of Gaiman's blog:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/12/business/media/12lingua.html?pagewanted=all

The legacy of the Lingua Franca, a literate magazine for academics and like-minded folks that closed in 2001 and went into bankruptcy, lives on, but perhaps not in the way that its contributors may have hoped.

The bankruptcy trustee in charge of the case, Robert Geltzer, has served summons to many freelance writers who collected fees from the magazine when it was in its death throes. The demand: If the fees are not returned, he is threatening to sue.

Joanna Smith Rakoff, a writer who worked as a Web editor and wrote for University Business Daily, an affiliated publication, had her first substantial article for Lingua Franca published just before the magazine folded. Two years later, she has been told to return the money for the work she did. The money is to be directed to "secured" creditors, rather than freelancers, who are the unsecured kind.

Ms. Smith Rakoff, who has written for The New York Times, said she had received a note demanding that her $1,550 fee be returned in 10 days - or else she would be sued and forced to pay the money back. "I feel angry and betrayed," she said. "This thing has taken over my life. I can't afford to pay it and I can't afford not to do anything about it because then there will be a default judgment against me."

 

[Nightfall]

I feel your pain Steve.