September 1, 2005
There are plenty of joys to be found in Freelanceville--relatively flexible schedules, enjoying your work, being compensated in proportion to how hard you work (sometimes)--and then there are those little petty annoyances.

I was supposed to have an inteview with an orthopedic surgeon, who made a big deal with the PR person about how busy he was and how he was only available this morning at 7:00 AM, so I made sure I was out of bed, showered, etc., and at my desk by 6:50, and I started calling this guy right at 7:00--nobody answers. After five phone calls over 30 minutes--two nobody home, one answered by a colleague, two answered by staff saying he wasn't in, did I want to call back, I gave them my number--I returned to my previously scheduled life.

It's not the first time, of course, and I'm sure it won't be the last. I already interviewed a physician for this article and I've got the names of a few patients I can profile, so I may very well do this article without him. One of the things I increasingly keep in mind is how much I'm being paid--in this case it's a very regular client, a local newspaper, but their pay isn't so hot; in fact, they're one of my lowest paying clients--and I just can't see chasing around after this guy when I can do the article without him. A freelancer needs to be mindful of the time and the overall hourly rate, and what would be running anywhere from $50 to $75 an hour quickly can turn into $45, $35, $20, $10 or, gulp, $3 an hour if you spend all your time trying to chase down reluctant interviews. I'll do it if that's what the article requires, but it doesn't in this case, so it's on to other things, and we'll see if the PR person calls me to see how the interview went.

And I've got this novel to work on...

Best,
Mark Terry