Creatively Self-Employed

INTERVIEW AT CREATIVITY-PORTAL.COM

Welcome back, readers. Please join me this month as I interview creative self-employment expert, Kristen Fischer. Author of Creatively Self-Employed: How Writers and Artists Deal with Career Ups and Downs (available at Amazon) and owner of her own copywriting business, this busy woman took some time out of her packed schedule to discuss her book and other creative matters with us.

Q: What was your first job as a young woman?
A: My first job out of college was as a newspaper reporter for a weekly newspaper. After getting my degree in environmental science and not wanting to go into the field, I decided to find something I was good at. I knew how to write; so I pursued journalism. I never thought I’d wind up staying with writing, though at that time I dreamed of being a full-time writer.

Q: What path led you to create this fabulous career? How did you make the leap from day job to dream job?
A: After working as a reporter, I decided to try to use my degree and wound up working for an environmental firm. I was writing their reports. I gained great technical- and business-writing skills there but knew my heart wasn’t in science. I took a part-time job as a copy editor at another newspaper and built my own business on the side. It took about a year before I was busy enough to go out on my own. I still have many steady jobs that give me that foundation — it’s way too scary to just rely on one-time jobs!

Q: Would you like to tell our readers a little bit about your exciting new book?
A: Creatively Self-Employed: How Writers and Artists Deal with Career Ups and Downs shares stories from real-life creative souls who are dealing with putting their work out there, marketing themselves, rejection, loneliness and trying to build thriving businesses.
It’s not a how-to book; rather, it uses examples and anecdotes as a form of support to help creative people press on with their endeavors. The goal is for readers to see they are not alone in these trials that are completely unique to the creatively self-employed.

Q: Please discuss some of the challenges you faced while writing and publishing this book.
A: To be honest, I never wanted to self-publish. That was a challenge in itself. It was difficult to get over the fact that I couldn’t get an agent to take my idea. I contacted several agents that loved the proposal, but said the book wouldn’t have a wide enough market. After I got over my disappointment, I decided that I wasn’t going to let them decide if my dream would come to reality.

I used iUniverse.com to self-publish. Thanks to my book editor, Kristen King, it wasn’t as hard as it could have been. But it’s tough doing it all yourself: production, artwork, promotion. I knew I could do it, though, since I had so much success putting my own business together.

Q: What is the most rewarding aspect of being creatively self-employed?
A: I relish being able to go out for tea in the middle of the day, or being able to nap when I want. I love being able to cuddle with my cat when I need a break from writing. Hopefully, my book will help people stay on their authentic career paths. These are all simple things that make it worthwhile.

It took me a long time to publish my book. Being a writer was a given, but being an author has always been my dream. I’m excited to continue writing, and I also have a new chapter of my life on the horizon. I love writing, but working with books is my real passion.

Read more at http://www.creativity-portal.com/bc/molly.childers/careers-fischer.html.

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