<div dir="ltr">There's an important lesson here.<div><br></div><div>What I was taught at Medill 40 years ago was wrong. </div><div><br></div><div>You can't let your reputation be tied to the publication you're with. You have to build your own brand. </div><div><br></div><div>Books help. The best thing I ever did was write my first edition of Moore's Lore.It came about because I was losing all 17 gigs in the dot-bomb, and needed to keep occupied. </div><div><br></div><div>That is easier than ever thanks to Amazon (sorry if that seems like an insult to anyone). </div><div><br></div><div>Building your own brand, around your own special expertise, is integral to building respect in this business. </div><div><br></div><div>When I first started freelancing in 1983, I first called on local business-oriented publications, then on other local publishers. They treated me like garbage. I found a much better reception from national publishers, who were competing in a national market for talent. </div><div><br></div><div>The same thing is true today. There are publications within the journalism universe that are considered important, and most aren't. If you can get into one of them, it's worth the effort.</div><div><br></div><div>Good luck. There is also no shame in using the knowledge you have within the beat to get work that pays far more than any mere "journalist" can make. Remember, this is not just a job. It's an indenture!</div><div><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Dana Blankenhorn<br><a href="http://www.danablankenhorn.com" target="_blank">http://www.danablankenhorn.com</a></div><div dir="ltr"><a href="http://investorplace.com/author/danablankenhorn/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:14.6667px" target="_blank">http://investorplace.com/author/danablankenhorn/</a></div><div dir="ltr"><div><a href="http://seekingalpha.com/author/dana-blankenhorn/articles" target="_blank">http://seekingalpha.com/author/dana-blankenhorn/articles</a></div><div><br></div><div><div><div></div><div></div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, May 29, 2019 at 11:20 AM Tara Calishain <<a href="mailto:researchbuzz@gmail.com">researchbuzz@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Last fall I left a job which ate my life for a dozen years. 60-80 hour weeks (unpaid overtime), difficult work, no support from higher-ups. Nine years without a vacation. Three years with no days off (and I don't mean I worked five days a week. I mean I worked seven days a week for three years.) I won't even tell you about sleeping in a warehouse five days a week for four months. <div><br></div><div>It's been almost seven months since I left and I feel like I'm only starting to feel human again. Sometimes when I go outside and realize I have nobody breathing down my neck to get things done, I cry. </div><div><br></div><div>I have been looking around in a desultory way for work, and did get a columnist job at The Saturday Evening Post. Then David Strom (bless him forever) hooked me up with a newsletter job for Inside.com. The pay does not knock my socks off, but it's a good base with my column job, Saturday Evening Post, Patreon, and freelancing. </div><div><br></div><div>I will pitch and write articles (please think of me if you need something done), but other than that I am not hustling. I have made the deliberate choice to go into a lower gear for a couple of years. </div><div><br></div><div>During that time I plan to: </div><div><br></div><div>-- Exercise regularly, cook better, and lose some weight. </div><div><br></div><div>-- Learn to draw. I'm not a visual person and I want to better that part of me. </div><div><br></div><div>-- Learn Spanish, because when I was in high school I took German like a knucklehead. (Nothing against German people, but there's a ton of people around here who speak Spanish.) </div><div><br></div><div>-- Spend much time with my 95-year-old Granny and do things that make her happy. (These include finding instruction manuals for old cooking devices, burning 80 episodes of "The Old Fashioned Revival Hour" to a CD, and sharing funny dog videos.) </div><div><br></div><div>-- Write fiction, because my mother keeps telling me to. </div><div><br></div><div>-- Goober around a little with ResearchBuzz. </div><div><br></div><div>It's going to take me a long damn time to stop apologizing for not working 40 hours a week, but I don't care. I haven't been a happy person since I was nine years old, but I want to try to be once more before I die. </div><div><br></div><div>Go for it. </div><div><br></div><div>Tara</div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, May 29, 2019 at 11:04 AM Liam Kelly <<a href="mailto:ljkelly1888@gmail.com" target="_blank">ljkelly1888@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Hey all,<div><br></div><div>I'm thinking to leave my position as editor of a crypto-centric blog to pursue a few different options. </div><div><br></div><div>Likely I won't find anything as well-paid as this for a few months, but I've been at this publication for a few years now and I have the impression it's time for a bit of progress.</div><div><br></div><div>The idea is to leave editing to the side and gather as many bylines as possible in hopes of landing a staff position at a larger publication. </div><div><br></div><div>But I was curious about a few things:</div><div><br></div><div>- If not writing, what other skills would <b>you</b> develop during a similar break?</div><div>- Am I crazy to leave a position in which I'm paid a flat rate to both write and edit?</div><div>- And, finally, any general thoughts on some personal experiences related to this subject.</div><div><br></div><div>I've got savings, a handful of smaller clients that I've been working with, and a dreadful feeling of stagnation. All of this has culminated in this plan. </div><div><br></div><div>Thanks in advance for any suggestions, relevant stories, and/or links to things I should read before making the "leap."</div><div><br></div><div>Best,</div><div><br></div><div>Liam J. Kelly</div></div>
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