| Spring is here at last: longer days, more sunshine, and | | | | me either. Completely paralyzed, I started to think that I |
| bluer skies, cheerfully accompanied by the sprouting of | | | | had made the wrong choice, that freelancing wasn't |
| daffodils and bluebells. 'Tis the season of new | | | | for me; perhaps I should have stayed in my cushy |
| opportunities, new awakenings, a time filled with | | | | banking job after all (although in light of recent events, |
| promise - unless you're a freelancer that is. The | | | | perhaps not). It was time to admit defeat. |
| problem with spring is that it heralds summer and | | | | Then just before I threw down my pen, something |
| summer is not the season to be jolly in the freelance | | | | strange happened. The leaves started to turn to gold, |
| world. So, take it that the dawning of spring is an omen | | | | the weather started to cool, and conkers appeared on |
| that warns us of what is commonly known as | | | | the trees. Autumn was here, and with it came the end |
| 'freelance famine'. | | | | of the freelance famine. Ever so slowly the work |
| Of course, this never even occurred to me when I first | | | | started to drift in, and I began to do something |
| started out; I was so swamped with crazy deadlines | | | | dangerous in the freelance world; I began to hope. |
| and hundreds of different projects that it never even | | | | Within a few weeks I was completely submerged in |
| occurred to me that there would be a quiet period. | | | | deadlines and remained so for a further eight months - |
| There never seemed to be enough hours in the day | | | | right up until this spring. Thus I have concluded that |
| and sometimes I longed for a time where I could take it | | | | being a freelancer is like being a teacher: A good solid |
| easy, put my feet up, and watch car-crash TV. Maybe | | | | eight months of work and then the summer off. |
| it would be nice to have a more relaxing few months, | | | | Sounds ideal, but the difference is freelancers don't get |
| not that I could afford it, of course . . . | | | | paid for the summer. |
| My fellow freelancers emailed me as soon as the | | | | So, during these credit-crunch times, it is now more |
| weather grew mild and the tulips were in bloom: | | | | important than ever to attract business. Summer is bad |
| 'Beware of the summer', they said (albeit less | | | | enough without the financial crisis looming over us. So, |
| dramatically). 'Make sure you stock up as much work | | | | if you do find yourself in an uncomfortably quiet period, |
| as you can for the season; it's always quieter then the | | | | then make the most of it: update your website, gather |
| rest of the year.' Did I heed the warning? Absolutely | | | | new testimonials, and make sure it is the best it can be; |
| not. They were just doomsayers who hadn't been | | | | contact your regular clients and gently remind them |
| fortunate in the past and wanted to put a hex on | | | | that you are in the market for some freelancing work, |
| everyone else. | | | | so they won't forget about you; stay in touch with your |
| Clearly they hadn't done enough during the winter to | | | | fellow freelancers even if it's just to have a good |
| ensure a steady flow of work for rest of the year. | | | | moan about the dry period, it is always a relief to |
| Conversely, I practically lived in the future; in fact, I had | | | | know that everyone is in the same boat. |
| gathered enough work to get me through to the | | | | Most importantly, do everything you can to generate |
| following winter! So, I thanked them for the caution and, | | | | more business not just through your existing contacts |
| smugly, told them that I was fine. After all, I was | | | | but by making brand new ones. Summer is a sociable |
| drowning in work; surely I could afford to be a bit | | | | time, so mix business with pleasure and head to every |
| conceited! | | | | single publishing event you can think of. There are lots |
| And then summer 2008 arrived and, little by little, the | | | | of social events in the publishing world going on all year |
| curse started to take effect, and the work started to | | | | round, but especially during the summer months, so get |
| dry up. Projects I had been promised gradually faded | | | | yourself involved and join the fray. Remember: the |
| away, invoices went unpaid, and, suddenly, I couldn't get | | | | more people you meet the more work you will |
| hold of anyone. Publishers were nowhere to be found | | | | generate. |
| (they were all gone on something called 'a holiday') and | | | | Freelance famine is a phenomenon that affects all |
| the whole industry seemed to have shut down. I spent | | | | freelancers at some stage or other and we have to |
| a good two months last summer wringing my hands in | | | | be ready for it. As I discovered, to my peril, it is no use |
| despair; the work I had so neatly lined up had | | | | turning a blind eye. So before our clients batten down |
| completely disappeared, and there was absolutely | | | | the hatches, refuse our pleas for work, and take their |
| nothing to replace it. | | | | summer hiatus, make sure you stockpile enough work |
| In desperation, I signed up with a few writing agencies, | | | | for the summer months, otherwise you might get |
| who wrote back, ruefully, to tell me that they were | | | | caught out by the drought. |
| also struggling with the drought and had no work for | | | | |