National Association of Independent Writers & Editors
Member Benefit #31
As of 2018, H&R Block operates approximately 12,000 retail tax offices staffed by tax professionals worldwide. It also offers consumer tax software as well as online tax preparation and electronic filing from their website.
NAIWE members receive 25% off for new H&R Block clients, 20% off for existing H&R Block clients, or 20% off for tax preparation software!
Visit the NAIWE website to see all of the member benefits.
Here at NAIWE, we emphasize the importance of developing multiple streams of income, and I have found this to be beneficial in my own business as well.
Before taking the plunge to freelance full time, I was a bit fearful of getting rid of my steady paycheck. I felt that it was reliable. However, as I continued to build up my clientele, I overcame this mindset when I realized that my income came from one source — my employer. What would happen if I lost this job? I would lose all of my income!
As a freelancer, I had multiple clients. Therefore, I was receiving multiple checks. If one client’s work were to dry up, I still had the other clients’ work to hold me over while I looked to fill that open spot.
While I had to learn to juggle this new method of not necessarily knowing when a check would be in the mail, I found that this method of having multiple streams of income was actually safer to my overall well-being because I am not putting all of my financial faith in one company.
And as my freelance career has continued, I have further developed multiple streams of income by speaking at conferences, teaching college-level courses, and publishing books.
How about you? How have you developed multiple streams of income to give yourself more financial security?
April Michelle Davis has been the executive director of the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE) since 2018. Prior to that, she was NAIWE’s Social Media Marketing Expert. NAIWE is an association that focuses on career building for writers, editors, and other professionals in the publishing industry by developing multiple streams of income; it helps its members market their products and services through social media, newsletters, and more.
She is also the coordinator for the Virginia chapter of the Editorial Freelancers Association, a lifetime member of the American Copy Editors Society, and a freelance editor, indexer, proofreader, and author. April Michelle has taught courses through her own company, Editorial Inspirations, as well as for associations and colleges on topics such as editing, indexing, grammar, writing, and creating macros.
Her credentials include a master’s degree in publishing from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in English from Messiah College, as well as certificates in editing (University of Virginia), book publishing (University of Virginia), and professional editing (EEI Communications).
April Michelle has shared her insights about her career development by contributing quotes and vignettes to several books. She has presented sessions on various editorial topics to many groups, including the Virginia Writers Club, the Communication Central conference, Randolph-Macon College, the Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network, the EFA, Copyediting newsletter, RavenCon, and the Hanover Book Festival. In addition, April Michelle has published three books.
June 1: National Say Something Nice Day. Make the day pleasant for someone today by saying something nice.
June 2: National Leave the Office Early Day. This day is an incentive to many who often work more than 40 hours each week.
June 3. National Repeat Day. Take this opportunity to repeat something you needed or wanted to do again.
June 6: National Higher Education Day. Spend a moment educating or inspiring others who are interested in pursuing a similar career.
June 10: National Ballpoint Pen Day. Write a client a note today with a ballpoint pen to commemorate the patent filing on June 10, 1943.
June 11: National Making Life Beautiful Day. Celebrate those who make life beautiful through their words.
June 13: National Random Acts of Light Day. Bring light to a colleague by sharing some encouraging words.
June 21: National Selfie Day. Take some selfies that show you are balancing work-life activities.
June 30: Social Media Day. Post on all of your social media accounts today, letting potential clients know you are available for hire.
Why
NAIWE strongly supports its message about the need to protect the choice of self-employment and the need to reject California’s failed, anti-independent contractor ABC Test.
The amicus brief gives us a voice as it explains how the push to restrict independent contractor work creates an unfair regulatory landscape, favoring paid lobbyists and those with special access to lawmakers. Thus, NAIWE is among those bringing it to the forefront of policymakers’ and lawmakers’ agendas nationwide.
What NAIWE hopes to accomplish
NAIWE is advocating for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) not to adopt the ABC Test. (Congress tried, and so far has failed, to copy in the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.)
What NAIWE members can do
NAIWE encourages you to amplify your voice with that of your fellow freelancers by sharing the brief on your social media accounts (please use the hashtag #ReadTheBrief) and contacting your representatives in Congress with your concerns for the ABC test and similarly restrictive tests that classify independent contractors as many of our decisionmakers are not aware of how we choose to operate our businesses.
Synapsis of brief
The brief represents a broad coalition of 250,000 freelancers, including writers, editors, translators, and other communicators.
The brief, filed in response to a request from the NLRB, argues that the ABC test should not be adopted by the NLRB in defining independent contractor relationships. The same ABC Test decimated independent contractor income and careers as California’s Assembly Bill 5, requiring later revisions to AB5.
The amicus brief further explains that independent contractors comprise one-third of the U.S. workforce; details why more women have been choosing independent contractor work for decades, including during the pandemic; dispels the myth that app-based workers make up a large percentage of these small-business owners; and cites a litany of studies showing that the vast majority of independent contractors want to remain independent.
Member Benefit #30
Shaila Abdullah has over a decade of experience designing websites for authors. Being an award-winning author herself, she understands the industry and will provide you with a content management website that reflects your unique style, genre, and personality. Other design services such as book covers and interiors, marketing materials, and email campaigns (e-newsletters, announcements, etc.) are also available.
NAIWE members receive 10% off any service!
Visit the NAIWE website to see all of the member benefits.
We wanted to get to know Stephen Colwell (NAIWE’s Branding and Marketing Expert) better, so last month we sat down with him. Here are some thoughts he shared with us.
How do successful professionals juggle meetings and work?
Generally, there are two approaches I recommend. 1) Whenever possible, bundle calls within a specific time block. Schedule specific days, mornings, afternoons, or a combination. The key here is to allocate specific windows for calls and avoid interrupting your deep work sessions midstream. 2) When it comes to client-planning calls, consider one longer call weekly rather than multiple shorter calls. This can help open up your schedule to allow more time to focus on the important skilled work. Lastly, scheduling calls during your nonpeak performance hours will help you preserve your finite energy for the actual work you were hired to do.
Is there a best practice that small teams to big teams can apply to regain their focus?
Yes, work closely with your clients and teams to define a pre-set weekly schedule for your project planning calls, check-ins, or huddles. The goal is to define a consistent routine, a rhythm, and a cadence. This removes the scheduling back and forth, reduces noise, and helps everyone block-out the time needed to focus on real work. Also, reduce the use of messaging tools wherever possible. It’s very easy to rattle off instant messages (IMs) on a whim. Resist. Ask: does it really need an answer now, or can it wait until our next huddle or planning call. The daily barrage of IMs is a productivity killer. Reducing the noise requires more effective planning upfront to reduce the need for additional ad hoc requests and meetings throughout the week.
How does this apply to freelancers that run their business while wearing all of the hats?
I encourage freelancers to be assertive, avoid chaos, and work closely with their clients to work out a schedule that protects their key focus time. Everyone works differently. Getting this right requires working with clients who get it, who demonstrate the good faith commitment to finding a balance that works for both the employer and the freelancer. A strong project manager will find this balance.
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Far too many creative professionals are struggling with a relentless din of meetings and interruptions that too often get in the way of the strategic work they were hired to do. During this webinar, we’ll walk through a simple set of practices and routines even the smallest teams can use to improve focus without all the disruption and confusion. If you work in a team environment where strong coordination and collaboration is vital to your success, this workshop was designed for you.
You can join in this conversation on May 25, at 2:00 pm eastern, when NAIWE will host a discussion on working with and managing teams. The cost for NAIWE members is only $10! Non-members can join for $30. Register today!
May: National Get Caught Reading Month. Wherever you go, the campaign challenges you to get caught reading.
May 1: National Mother Goose Day. This day honors Mother Goose, the imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes we loved as children and also as adults.
May 1-7: Small Business Week. Small businesses account for half of America’s workforce, and more new jobs come from small business than any other source.
May 12: National Limerick Day. Celebrate the birthday of English artist, illustrator, author, and poet Edward Lear who wrote Book of Nonsense.
May 16: National Biographer’s Day. Commemorate the anniversary of the first meeting of Samuel Johnson and his biographer James Boswell in 1763 by honoring biographers.
May 30: National Creativity Day. Celebrate you and your creative pursuit!
May 31: National Speak in Complete Sentences Day. This day is dedicated to using proper sentence structure while speaking.
Author: Dick Franklin
Plagues have taken the lives of many people of Little Ariccia, Italy, including the lives of six of the nine people in the Giordano family. Shortly thereafter, the oldest living Giordano boy along with his father burn the chaff to clear the fields. When the winds pick up and the fire grows and becomes uncontrollable, the two living boys are orphaned.
The teenage Giordano boys take different paths for their futures.
Nicolo, the younger brother, is accepted into the music conservatoire, but only after being castrated, a medical procedure that has taken the lives of many other young boys seeking to join the music conservatoire. Luca, the older brother, is nursed back to health after the wildfire by a band of Roma (Gypsies). Luca is captivated by Donka, the Roma chieftain’s daughter, and struggles with whether to leave the band or remain with those who are persecuted.
The characters of the two boys were well developed, and the scenes were well described. It was easy to immerse oneself in the scenes and visualize what was happening. Shortly before the wildfire, Nicolo was taken from his father to be part of the music conservatoire; there are extensive pages on Nicolo and his castration process (and fears of seeing the boys before him die due to the castration) and being brought to the actual music conservatoire (and being forced to beg with the orphans). It was so detailed and lengthy that it was easy to almost forget about Luca.
However, when the chapters returned to Luca, the scenes and the characters were again well developed, and it was easy to feel his pain and struggles. Because of the wildfire, half of Luca’s face was disfigured. Luca’s feelings about this (and possible self-consciousness) could have been emphasized more. Even so, he was a well-developed and believable character who has great courage in trying to help the Roma to prevent persecution and death.
Overall, we enjoyed this novel. The author has a skill for writing and capturing the audience. At 800 pages, this is a long book. Chapters were short. Print was large. And the writing was so good that it was difficult to put down.
Member Benefit #29
Anyone working in today’s publishing industry is in a double bind. Not only is an editor expected to hit deadlines and produce compelling work, but they also have to be up to speed on industry developments and trends—whether for their own work or to help clients. The Hot Sheet is an email newsletter available only by subscription, delivered every other Wednesday at midday. It’s modeled on the financial-advice newsletters produced by analysts for their clients on Wall Street, and on the Publishers Lunch newsletter that many publishing professionals subscribe to.
NAIWE members receive 20% off a subscription!
Visit the NAIWE website to see all of the member benefits.
We wanted to get to know Laura Pennington Briggs (NAIWE’s Business of Writing Expert) better, so last month we sat down with her. Here are some thoughts she shared with us.
How is a freelancing business different than other businesses?
A freelance business requires you to sit in the role of vice president of every department as well as CEO and chief service provider. This can be a challenge for many entrepreneurs.
What do clients look for in a freelance business?
Clients want someone who is creative, organized, an excellent communicator, and someone talented in their field.
What do freelancers look for in potential clients?
Freelancers want clients who are easy and enjoyable to work with, treat them with respect, and provide interesting projects.
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You’re not just a freelancer, you’re a CEO. Discover how to systematize, protect, and run your business like a pro. Get streamlined and attract the right kinds of clients by treating your writing like a business. Discover top tips for protecting boundaries, preventing scope creep, organizing your communication, and working effectively with clients.
You can join in this conversation on April 19, at 2:00 pm eastern, when NAIWE will host a discussion on the managing and running your business. The cost for NAIWE members is only $10! Non-members can join for $30. Register today!
