1. I mentioned last year that one of my biggest clients was bought by another company. This new company turns out to be not so good about paying their outside contractors. I just today received a check for two invoices I submitted in November and December, and that was after a lot of phone calls and emails. Man, I hate chasing money. (The only thing worse than chasing money is chasing work. Such is the life of the freelancer.)
2. A new client asked me to edit a fiction manuscript, despite my protestations that I'd never worked on fiction. This is one of those services that helps aspiring authors self-publish their work. Oh. My. God. Short of a total rewrite, there was little I could do to save this manuscript. It was so poorly written I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The story itself was quite good, but I doubt anyone will ever read it unless they're being paid to, as I was. I cleaned it up as best I could, but pee-yoo, it still stinks.
3. When I reply to blind ads on Craigslist for freelance work, I usually begin my emails with "To whom it may concern." Yesterday I asked on Twitter whether that's what others do, or whether anyone prefers "Dear Sir or Madam" (or something else) in the absence of an actual name or job title to use. Before I hit the ol' tweet button, I double-checked my spelling of "Madam" over "Madame." I consulted my two favorite dictionaries, and they confirmed that "Madam" is preferred in English usage to address a woman, whereas "Madame" is used before a French name. (Both give "Madam" as a secondary definition for "Madame," though, so it's not exactly wrong.) Anyhow, today I was at Andy's office wearing my bookkeeping hat, and out of the blue his sales rep asked me, "If I'm beginning a letter with 'Dear Sir or Madam,' is there an e on the end of 'Madam'?" And how do you like that, I had the answer right on the tip of my tongue.
4. My next two big projects are both late in coming to me, so I currently have nothing on my plate. I have a feeling they'll show up simultaneously and still be due back by their original deadlines, so for now, I'm enjoying the opportunity to relax a bit and catch up on reading and errands and family/household stuff.
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