December 20, 2005
Do you set writing goals? Long-term and short-term? Do you hit them?

I've been setting writing goals for some time, typically long-term. The biggest joke was the "be a full-time writer by the time I'm 30." Missed that one by a decade, but I did hit it.

It appears I pretty much hit my financial goals for 2005. That depends slightly on whether you count the fiscal year as December 15th through December 15th or January 1 through December 31, and in my case we tried to get back on the government's pay schedule by paying my quarterly taxes on the 15th of the quarters rather than ... well, you get the idea. It worked out. I've technically already started my first quarter of 2006, and am doing quite well financially as a result because several clients took their own sweet time paying, their checks arriving in my mailbox after we'd already sent our checks off to Uncle George (Bush) and Aunt Jennifer (Granholm).

But, I made my goals. Next year I'm upping the ante a bit, hoping to make an additional $10,000.

How?

Well, hopefully by working smarter rather than harder. That is to say, doing more for better paying clients and less for the 10 cent or 20 cent a word crowd. By the end of 2005 I had brought together a good 4 or 5 clients who paid in the 40 cent to $1.00 per word range and needed and wanted articles from me every month. Keeping them happy this year will hit my minimum needs pretty well and anything else on top should get me to where I hope to be. Of course, the biggest truth about freelancing income is the unpredictability. Editors may change. Needs may change. Publications may go out of business. Some who hire freelancers often may go with staff writing. It happens. It's happened before.

And, of course, I'm working on a novel under a pseudonym and I hope to finish it and sell it for a nice chunk of change (could happen) and also to finish off a rewrite of Angels Falling and hopefully see about a contract for it, though that may actually fall in the 2007 arena, I'm not sure. And it's possible, since my agent is still marketing the follow-up to Dirty Deeds, that I'll see a contract from that, too. And there are potential subsidiary rights for The Devil's Pitchfork and The Serpent's Kiss--foreign sales, e-books, audiobooks, movie and TV rights, etc. Can't count on them, but they're possible.

So, loosely speaking, those are my goals. Some are kind of out of my control. Contract for Bad Intentions, for instance. But we'll see. I'm ever hopeful.

There's not much room for pessimism in the freelancing world.

Best,
Mark Terry