Every job carries with it peaks and troughs where you’re busier and quieter than you are at other times, the added excitement of being a freelancer is that these peaks and troughs are not only those of productivity, but pay – and we all need to keep a roof over our head.

Here’s what I’ve learned from my own experience and from the sage advice of others who’ve been there and worn the same t-shirt, on how to cope with, and perhaps even avoid, a lull in work.

Get some ongoing projects/a retainer/regular clients Ongoing, regular work will help to even out the work (and hence cash) flow. For example, a friend of mine is a regular contributor to a respected tech blog. I have a small group of regular clients, one of which uses me for editorial projects that extend over several months. Today is a slack day, I have nothing editorial to do, but I’m actually “working” on three different projects at the current time.

Days like this are a good opportunity to catch up on paperwork, think about whether my marketing strategy is achieving what I need it to and improve my professional skills (oh and write a few blog posts).

It’s also far more efficient to keep current clients happy and therefore have them repeatedly coming back to you, than to be constantly on the lookout for brand new clients.

Don’t neglect networking and marketing Now I don’t mean turn into some false super-slick salesperson impersonator of yourself. It turns out that there are all sorts of ways of effectively networking within your comfort level, from Chamber of Commerce events and industry conferences, to forums, online groups, bulletin boards and newsletters. Put yourself out there and keep meeting (whether personally or virtually) potential clients and fellow freelancers. It’s best if you view all these interactions not as potential revenue streams, but as opportunities to learn from others’ experiences and to share those of your own that others might find helpful – that way you avoid coming over as desperate and aren’t gutted just because something you tried didn’t immediately lead to 75% more work (or whatever it is you’re hoping to achieve).

Bill appropriately It’s really important to know your own worth. I recently exchanged emails with a woman looking to hire freelance computing editors. Perfect you might think. On discussing the conditions it transpired that the organization she represented was looking to pay around a third of what I charge for regular editing, I actually charge a markup on my regular fees for such work as it’s more technically challenging. I thanked her for her time and moved on.

If you don’t understand how much value to attach to your skills then the danger will be that you won’t be making a decent living in the good times and then you’ll really be snookered come the lean times.

Save your money When you’ve just landed a couple of big, fat projects back-to-back and the money is pouring in it’s easy to begin to think that life will always be like this. Don’t! I have two savings accounts, one for the tax man and the other for rainy days. I put away a third for HMRC and try to keep a decent cushion in case it rains on St. Swithun’s Day.

Have a second string to your bow This one is also known as don’t give up the day job. Now I’m a great one to talk, freelancing being my only work. However, I do have a husband in full-time paid employment and his regular income means that we don’t have the pressure of wondering whether the mortgage will paid if I have a quiet month. There are people who survive solely off a freelance income so it can be done. I don’t envy them.

Next week I’ll turn my attention to surviving the feast (top tip: say “No!” to the waver-thin mint).

The same occurs in my life, on a daily basis. Once you are a professional proofreader/editor/publishing professional of any stripe you are not allowed to make any errors in written text every again. Seriously! Heaven forbid you should make a typo in a Facebook status or comment. Friends and family will be reminding of the time you misspelled the most basic words for weeks on end. The fact that they clearly don’t understand the difference between defining and non-defining relative clauses does not enter into it. As an editor you are expected to lead some kind of Mary Poppins lifestyle, being practically perfect in every possible way.

The truth is it’s very hard to edit your own work. Your mind will invariably see what you had intended to write and not what is actually written. You can be the most highly skilled proofreader on the face of the earth, but it is still likely that you will make plenty of mistakes in your own written work. That’s why authors need editors.

You love books and that should carry you through, right?

Poor grammar and punctuation on CVs and covering letters are an abomination at the best of times and the only time you’ll get away with it is if the hiring manager has worse spelling than you. In a publishing interview the likelihood of this occurring is next to zero. Your interviewer works in publishing. Book publishers care about books, they care about the correct use of the English language, and yes, they do care whether you know the difference between there and their and they’re and if you think a colon is the same as two semi-colons.

Error 1 is easily compounded by not bothering to take the necessary steps to correct your grammar, so if you really, really don’t want to work in publishing don’t take any “brush up your spelling” type classes.


2. Take a scatter-gun approach to job applications

Never, ever tailor your CV at all. Use the same CV you created during your personal studies/career class when you were 16 and still in school (and still wanted to be an engine driver) and send it to every publisher on the planet. Make sure your standard CV is accompanied by a covering letter stating that you’ve always wanted to work for Penguin (regardless of which publishing house you’re sending it to) because you “love books” and “always wanted to be a writer”.

Don’t, whatever you do, let any hint that may have the slightest interest in publishing as a career slip into the CV. This is best avoided by…


3. Don’t get any relevant experience, at all

Make absolutely sure you don’t have the foggiest idea what the publishing world is like. I’m not just talking of internships here, you should also avoid any office-based work, any library-based or book shop work. Also avoid any training courses, yes, even those ones that are advertised in the back of the Radio Times that all your friends tell you are not regarded by the publishing industry. Especially avoid any courses that are run by the SfEP and the Publishing Training Centre. Of course you should also avoid any books that have titles like Everything you ever wanted to know about how to get a career in the world of publishing but were afraid to ask lest it made you appear foolish. Like the plague!

4. Do not make contact with anyone in the industry

Stay well away from social media including facebook, twitter and LinkedIn. They all regularly have job adverts posted either within publishing groups or via publishing houses’ own company pages. Do not join any groups such as the Society for Young Publishers and Women in Publishing.

5. Do not browse relevant job boards

There are known hangouts where publishers like to post vacancies. You may have thought it was easy to avoid taking out a subscription to The Bookseller, but you should also avoid the Guardian on Mondays, the back of trade/consumer magazines, etc. My first job was posted simultaneously in both the Guardian and New Scientist (so there’s another one that’s not safe). Be very careful browsing university careers sites as publishing is a graduate career. Oxford Brookes is particularly dangerous.

6. Restrict yourself only to London and Penguin

Now you may be unlucky here and actually be employed by Penguin. But for the vast majority of would-be non-publishers, thinking only of London and a big brand is an excellent way to not get hired. There are publishing houses all over the UK, not just in London, Oxford and Edinburgh – in fact many major towns and cities have one or two. The smaller houses outside London also tend to have fewer applicants so you will significantly increase your odds of not being hired by avoiding these. Every man and his dog wants to work in editorial at Penguin, don’t ever consider non-fiction, STM (science, technical and medical) or non-editorial (such as production, marketing, sales etc.) positions.