The World Can Wait

It's been a good long while since I've posted something even resembling an old fashioned journal entry based on how "things" have been going. What used to be a mainstay of this blog -- bitching and moaning about my work situation -- has seemingly been relegated to secondary status. Funny how things can change.

Like most bloggers, I usually write better when I have something to be pissed off about. Lately, however, things have been going pretty well in the freelance biz. Still not quite enough weekly hours to suit my taste, but at least the workload has been fairly steady. The last coupla weeks, though, have been interesting if not noteworthy.

A few Fridays ago I was bemoaning the lack of hours I was getting at LT, my usual freelance "headquarters" if you will, when I got a call from the agency that I am booked through. It was C wondering if I was interested in some weekend work, off premises. Of course, of course, I verbally indicated, and it was on. It was a small project involving a 13-page insert for an in-flight magazine put out by AE. It was great to get another client into the fold, especially at 30 bucks an hour, even if it turned out to be only 3 hours' worth of work; that's how it got started with all six or seven of my present clients: a one- or two-day project, and if you can manage to do the job well enough and stand out a little, they're usually gonna want you back. At least that's been my experience.

Then a few weeks ago I got a call from a good friend who wants me to help him out with his Website, managing the managers, so to speak. A few days later we had a meeting with his Webmaster dude down at a small office on Varick, where I was also able to network a little bit and may have gotten my foot in the door for some future proofreading work not only at his agency, but for someone else he knows. After I finish editing some work related to the site, we'll go back downtown and I can follow up on things.

Ironically, or at least coincidentally, this past week marked the two-year anniversary of The Big Layoff, as it's come to be known in publishing industry circles. As my regular readers already know, that was the occasion of my being downsized out of a job as Managing Editor of Production/Copy Editor at an institution I had toiled at for just shy of 17 years. Then one Monday coming back from a lunch break at the South Street Seaport, I was informed that my services were no longer required, and my presence at said office was in fact no longer permissible, effective immediately. (Hey, I am starting to get pissed off again! This is gonna be good therapy for me!)

I'm not gonna the same old ground or cover all the low points of getting fired, trying to make sense of it all, the trials and tribulations and false starts as I wended my way back into the employment sector. All that is available in the WardensWorld archives, often in excruciatingly painful detail. Someday I hope that period of my life will be turned into a cinematic masterpiece starring somebody like Robert Downey Jr. or Matthew Broderick in the title role, hopefully capably helmed by a director in the mold of a Marty Scorcese or a Jimmy Jarmusch.
Instead, I remain incredibly optimistic, which is not always easy given the vicissitudes of the modern freelancer's lot in life. The key is that I steeled myself very early on to the likelihood of my having to do this for three or four years -- supplemented by some catering work, some odd jobs -- before landing a plum or even peachy publishing gig that would not only take full advantage of my various and myriad skill sets, but would in turn reward me with a wide range of benefits and handsome salary package, as well as a spacious cubicle or cozy corner office overlooking some idyllic cityscape. That's if this very Weblog doesn't take off like a proverbial rocket and become a cash cow, allowing me to work at home in my underwear. Hey, a slacker can dream, can't he?

But characteristically, I digress. Almost all of the 6 or 7 clients that I have built up over the last almost year and a half have used me or at least inquired about my services at some point over the last month. Some days I'm already booked somewhere else, such as one day a few months ago when I was already at LT and both WO and S, two downtown ad agencies, called within an hour on the same day requesting my services; and then there are days where I am off from LT and no one calls. Usually they know to call at least a day or two ahead of time. That was the case last Friday, when I was booked at LT for an early afternoon shift, but then S needed me to work on the Sw. Catalog, which is a little like the Pensky File that George Costanza worked on in that great Seinfeld episode, except I actually get some work done.

So Friday I got down to Varick Street at 9, worked for S until 1:00, then shot uptown and got to LT for an afternoon shift. That's how I always imagined freelancing to be. And it would get better. While I was at LT I got a call from K. at A. telling me another client was requesting my earthly presence -- none other than the good folks at V Magazine. I had worked for them last fall for a short-term project, and they had called for my services a few times since then, but it was again a case of already being booked on the days they needed me, but I took it as a good sign that at least they were still asking for me.

Now in many ways, freelancing for a new client is almost like starting a new job all over again, only instead of having weeks or months to ease into a position, you're expected to master all the relevant details and get cracking immediately. For this project, V really needed someone for the full week, but as K. put it, they could use me for two full days because they liked my work the last time I was there, which involved proofreading one of their Websites and checking that all the links were functioning properly. Now it all hinged on coordinating my schedule with my LT peeps. LT has been a life saver for me; I've been here for over a year now, since June of '06, and it's almost like I'm a fixture at the office here. (Yes, it's a slow day here -- allowing me to blog away to my heart's content and, ideally, your ultimate reading entertainment. You can thank me later and, yes, we do take gratuities. )

Bottom line, long story short, cutting to the chase, doing away with formalities, I worked Monday and Tuesday of this week for V, and then back at LT today (Wednesday) for a short 11-4pm shift. The V assignment was on premises, but instead of the office I worked at last time, this time I was to report to the office at 1166 Sixth Avenue. Now, 4 Times Square is where the actual magazine headquarters is located, which, as you may imagine, is quite nicely stocked with members of the fairer female sex in full possession of qualities placing them well above the societal norm in terms of physical attraction, charm, hygiene and winsomeness that are quite rightly prized by the more shallow members of my own chromosomal makeup.

Instead, this office seemed to be inhabited by techie types who toil selflessly behind the editorial operations of the magazine itself. My assignment involved as I said looking for broken links, typos, spelling errors, inconsistencies, then charting it all on an Excel spreadsheet. After every 50 entries in the spreadsheet I sent it along to the proper authorities so that the problems can be rectified, and we all know how painful that can be.

Now, such painstaking proofreading is not for everyone: it takes concentration, focus, diligence, you name it. But the good folks I dealt with over the last few days were so darned appreciative of my effort that it bordered on incredulity. I did catch a ton of stuff, and by the end of the day I was up to 250 errors or at least notations on the old Excel chart. It was just after 5 yesterday when I was winding down, getting ready to thank everyone for the opportunity, blah blah blah, when my cell rang. It was K. again, calling to tell me that the folks liked my work so much they were hoping I could continue and finish off the project, even if it meant working at home. But since I had a shift today at LT, which is only a few minutes from their office, I suggested returning tonight to finish it off, and they agreed. So after I knock off here at around 4, I will shoot over to 1166 and be on the clock by 4:30 till whenever the job is done. I think it's about 5 more hours of work.

It's funny: Proofreading or copy-editing for spelling, grammar, content, context, consistency, etc., is one of those things that most people have no clue about. To the young people I come across especially, what I do is akin to the black art of a sorcerer, so shrouded in mystery and mystique is turning incomprehensible gibberish into something logical and readable (I actually think of myself as The Fixer, but that's for another post). How else to explain the gratitude I receive upon completion of what comes so naturally to me, although of course I can boast of having over 20 years in the rough & tumble world of high-stakes publishing and other media.

For instance, toward the end of the day yesterday, before I knew I was coming back to finish off the project today, I got an email from one of my supervisors there telling me how much she appreciated me. Even I was startled, and believe me no one ever accused me of having a small ego or being modest when it comes to my work. The message read "Thanks for being so great, Barry!" The day before it was "Thanks for all your meticulous work!" And you know what, she's right: I am meticulous! It was all I could do to refrain from responding with a reply email telling her, in the immortal words of Sally Field: "You like me! You really like me!" But I think I'll save that sappy sentiment for when I'm offered a full-time position at CN!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have an important Yankees game to monitor on the Internets...

See also:
Please Be Seated
Thankless
Out to Lunch
Live Off Me
Worked Over
No Account
Take This Job