Call For Freelancers

If you decide to become an independent author – even if you’re just offering stories where the rights have reverted to you after publication 1 – there are some things that you simply have to do. Editing. Cover art. Finding good (and cheap) printing services. eBook conversion. Setting up a webstore. Doing these things badly reflects poorly on your work, even if your prose is wonderful.

ParentsPstcrd_091409.jpgYou might not have the skills (or time) to do these things, so you’d like to hire a freelancer to help. But it can be hard to find freelancers willing to do these things for you – especially if you’re either new, or if you’ve always relied on publishers to take care of it for you. Add the fact that there are scam artists wanting to take your money, and it’s a dangerous world. (Note: I’m pretty open about who I am; I’m also an associate member of SFWA and HWA. That’s no guarantee of course, but it helps demonstrate that I’m not just “some guy”.)

So here’s what I hope to do: Create a list of freelancers in these areas who would be willing to work with (or even focused on) independent authors.2 This would be more similar to Ralan’s guide to markets rather than Duotrope’s. No warrantee express or implied, caveat emptor, due diligence is yours. 3 The idea here is to reduce search costs, not remove risk.

With any degree of luck (and spreading the word), this will become a win-win situation for everyone.

So first, spread the word. If you know freelancers who fall into the below categories, send them a link to this page. If you are a freelancer, the information I’d want to put on the page is below. (Just cut and paste; when this starts to take off this will be moved to a real webmail form.) The information you give me will be used to create and populate the above-described page. This page should go live before World Fantasy at the end of October) 4. I will send you an announcement (and I’ll announce it on this blog as well). Do not send confidential information. I will obfuscate your e-mail address using javascript on the page to thwart spambots. (See the example from my e-mail address below.) If you have been the subject of an alert from Writer Beware or are rated “not recommended” by Preditors or Editors, don’t bother.

Send me your questions and suggestions about improving this project in an e-mail. steven {dot} saus [at] gmail {dot} com
Once they’re answered, cut and paste the form below into an e-mail to me steven {dot} saus [at] gmail {dot} com
.

===FORM TO SEND STEVE===

Name:
E-mail:
Website:

Services I can provide (check as apply):

[ ] Copy editor
[ ] Line editor
[ ] Art design (Cover design, layout, procuring images, etc)
[ ] Artist (Create original art)
[ ] POD / Printing service (We all know about blurb and lulu, thanks.)
[ ] eBook conversion (indicate formats)
[ ] Document preparation for conversion (e.g. Amazon’s Kindle converter)
[ ] Web Store setup
[ ] Web Store hosting
[ ] Other (please explain)

Prior experience (include links to samples, if possible):

Estimated Charges:
[ ] The estimate above is negotiable and/or variable

Average turnaround time:

Additional information you’d like authors to know:

======================================================

1 For example, rights to my story “Memories of Light and Sound” in the DAW anthology Timeshares revert to me March 2011, and then I am freely able to do anything I want with it – including offering it as a standalone eBook.
2 This is the key distinction between this project and the other lists I’m aware of. I’d like to also draw in people who would otherwise be excluded; I’m thinking of graphic artists and academic folks who might have never otherwise considered working with authors.
3 I might mark people I personally know and trust, or who are recommended by people I personally know. This is a slightly different emphasis than the ratings scheme used by P&E. Recommendations will not be given lightly (but your mileage may still vary).
4 If for some reason it doesn’t, I will still tell you.