A three year freelanceiversary at Tobias Buckell Online

Journal Entry

A three year freelanceiversary

Today I will be celebrating being my own boss for 3 years, and am heading into my 4th year of making a living doing all sorts of creative, odd, different things. It’s nice to stop and reflect on the fact, and extremely fulfilling.

In early 2006, just two days before the launch of my very first novel I wrote:

Sunday my grandfather died (service was on Wednesday). Yesterday was a bit stressful for various reasons. Today I learned my contract will not be renewed at work, July will be my last paycheck.

A bit stunned, I set about job searching and was finding nothing that didn’t involve moving: but with a recently purchased house that was unlikely. Instead of being able to focus on promoting my first novel (or even enjoy the glow of first publication) and start writing my second, I was spending every spare minute looking for a job. After all, who wants to remain at a job, even if you had 6 months left, where you’ve been basically told you’re not wanted?

By March 8th, I’d come to the conclusion that this was an interesting lesson. People I thought were good people, or at least honest, weren’t. Having grown up in a tough environment, I’d let lessons from early childhood slip away in the belief that the ground rules had changed.

These are the rules I felt I needed to reintegrate into my life:

Only I am responsible for my own success or invested in it.
The harder I work the more I should get paid (the idea of being salaried is fundamentally somewhat communist to me, if you achieve all the goals of a salaried job quickly more jobs are given to you, without an increase in pay. So you either have to ‘act busy’ in order to protect what you originally signed up for, or allow massive mission creep. I notice this in a lot of jobs and organizations and saw a lot of this in life).
I should have multiple streams of income so that no one person can decide my financial fate, and so that I can also undo unfruitful business relationships.
I should not invest in or implicitly trust in or take advice from (though I can still remain friendly toward) people who do not have a personal stake in my success.

Here was what I wrote on March 8th:

I’ve always believed that publicly stating a goal has a powerful effect on your trying to achieve it. I’ve used this public forum as a way to do that before, and it’s effective. So I’m doing this to spur the whole thing on. To try and make it happen.
So I’m declaring that when May 30th rolls around, somehow, I’m not going to work an 8-5, I’m going to be a full time freelancer.

In addition to the two month deadline to get out, I also took out a line of credit equal to a year’s salary, and agreed with Emily, who was wonderfully supportive, that when that ran out, I would admit defeat and return to the 8-5 world (haven’t had to use it, it’s still there).

When I made this announcement, I’d lined up enough money to pay for almost half the salary I needed. Within the next month I hustled so hard I made my own head spin, until I had enough to make about 85% of what I needed, with promises of other work that took me to slightly more than what I was making (I ended up doubling my 2005 salary in ‘06 and ‘07, and more than that in ‘08).

I walked out of the day job three weeks earlier than my own personal deadline, on May 9th, 2006.

Since 2001, all I’ve ever wanted to do was basically be the me that I’ve been from 2006-2009. It’s hard work, being your own boss. And I do work hard at this (I’ve met many a person who heads back to the security and predictability of a day job). But I love working hard for me, because it’s working hard at things I love.

Here’s looking at another year!

Filed under the topic My Writing on May 9th 2009 at 2:54 am. You can subscribe to the RSS feed for this entry to keep track of comments. You can also use to trackback.

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15 Responses so far

1. Catherine Shaffer on May 9th, 2009 at 6:01 am
Vive la freelance! In 2008, when the rest of the world was slipping into a new Depression, I had by best year yet. *clinks glass*
2. Catherine Shaffer on May 9th, 2009 at 6:03 am
Oh, and I absolutely agree about the un-capitalist nature of conventional employment. I think what we have come to, in 21st century USA is a sort of new feudalism, where your corporate boss “owns” you and can control you with the threat of taking away your health care. I can really get going on that one, so I’ll spare you.
3. Emily on May 9th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Here’s to the you I fell in love with! We lost that guyto the day job for a while. Bigger things are yet to come for you.
4. MarkHB on May 9th, 2009 at 7:58 am
You’ve knocked it right out of the park with those rules, Toby. Top job – and I say that as someone who’s been successfully and gainfully freelance since 1996, so I’m not just blowing smoke at you.
I love the freelance life because it blows the fiction of “A Job for Life” out the airlock from the get-go, making me face the reality of having to create revenue from scratch every single day. In a way, it’s actually comforting because I face the chaos of the job-market with clear eyes, and know that it’s only my own dedication, professionalism and proven ability that’s going to keep the lights on, keep my kit maintained (I do 3D animation and video work, so that’s no small factor) and food on the table.
The rewards are far much more than just the self-determinist joy of making one’s own money from one’s own effort. It’s great to read about someone else who’s living well on it. I’m looking forward to my next chance to support a fellow freelancer by buying your next book when it comes out!
5. Alexander Field on May 9th, 2009 at 10:40 am
This is very inspiring to me today Tobias. Thanks for the tips and the story! Glad to hear it worked out well.
6. Wyman Cooke on May 9th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Happy Freelanceiversary. I wish I was at that stage of success. I wish I was at any stage of success. Many happy returns.
7. Mark Terry on May 9th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Congratulations. I’m past the 4-1/2 year mark now and it’s awesome. I’m considering starting my own publishing company for e-newsletters in a niche market and I keep reminding myself when I falter that, “What’s the worst that can happen, it doesn’t work out? Then you go and do something else. That’s what you’ve been doing for the last 4-1/2 years anyway.”
It does take a different mindset, but it can affect all aspects of your life positively. Everything becomes an adventure.
8. Russ on May 9th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Same here. October 2005 was my last day in cubicle world! It’s wonderful to be free. I’ve been able to do so much with this freedom. My first big project — a feature film! Seriously.
Keep up the good work.
Russ
9. Clarissa on May 9th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
I’ve been doing this too, but I find it really sad that it wouldn’t be possible for me to do it if I couldn’t get health insurance through my husband. :/ (It’s not realistic for me to buy health insurance on my own.) It has a lot of rewarding aspects, although I need to work more on getting serious about the “multiple streams” bit myself, having just lost a client and finding myself reeling a bit at the impact to my finances. I’d love to hear more about what you’re doing in addition to novel-writing–it sounds as though you’re doing more than that. Love your novels, by the way.
10. spyscribbler on May 10th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Congratulations, Tobias! That’s wonderful!
I’ve always worked for myself since college, so there’s always been something that’s paying, but man, one or two people can really throw a wrench in the works. You’re so right, though. I’m trying to broaden my streams at the moment, but… you know, that’s exactly what I love about this job. You have the power to get out there and make more money, and choose how much you want to work/make. It’s the ultimate self-empowerment, even when things suck, LOL.
11. tobias on May 10th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Clarissa: the health insurance thing is tough. I think the USA would be so much better served if it allowed small businesses and individuals to strike out more by figuring that out, in any way. Right now, I see it harming rural areas and small business so much it’s discouraging.
That said, I’m making so much more now than I was at my previous job, I could still afford to be a freelancer if I had to pay the health, thankfully. But having wife’s insurance makes things doable.
Everyone else:
thanks for the kind words and congrats!
12. Steve Buchheit on May 11th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Congrats on the three years, Tobias. It’s been fun watching you do ti.
I’ve felt the flip side of that second rule way too many times (worked harder, but never seemed to get paid more), however with this recent economic downturn, I was able to benefit slightly from it (a position was made for me).
13. Graham B on May 13th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Mr. Buckell–
Found your blog through Brandon Sanderson’s site. I’m looking forward to reading your work. As for the above post, simply brilliant and very inspiring, especially the bit about stating a goal aloud. Thank you for that, and best of luck with building on what you’ve established.
Sincerely,
Graham
14. Gabriel Novo on May 14th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Congratulations on such an incredible milestone. To have a sustainable revenue source from freelance work, especially in these uncertain times, is nothing short of amazing.
I have to admit I’m a little jealous, since I don’t have the gumption yet to make the leap myself, but I do admire your tenacity and passion.
BTW, I came to your blog after numerous pokes and prods from Scalzi. He’s your one-man “Ra! Ra!” squad.
15. Dan on Jun 8th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
That’s great Tobias. I may be approaching the same point in my own life. I just finished my first novel but have yet to get an agent or publisher. My day job cut me from full time/ salary to part time with no benefits. This wouldn’t be all that bad under normal circumstances, but my wife took the year off from teaching to be home with out new baby. So now I have a good incentive to look out for myself and work harder for me. Thanks for giving me a little encouragement.

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Tobias is a Caribbean-born SF/F novelist who lives in Ohio.

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