Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Good Things Come to Those...



…who wait! And that would be little ole me. I did a rant entitled Freelance Woes lamenting the late (or possibly never) arrival of a paycheque for some freelance writing. I received encouragement and advice and ended up deciding to give the publisher until February before I made the (dreaded) inquiry. The paycheque finally came. It was dated December 20, 2006 so maybe it had been lying around collecting dust.

Not only that — I also received another paycheque for last quarter sales of my book.

Yippee skippee all the way to the bank. Pause for a reality check here. If anyone thinks I’m raking in the big bucks, I must point out that these are not huge sums of money. I must also point out that I’ve already spent this money a hundred different ways in my mind. (It goes so much farther there.)

Anyone who does freelance work will understand the joy and gratification of receiving $$$ for said work — no matter how paltry the sum. It really does something for the ego and your sense of self-worth. Gone are the days when simply seeing my work published in literary journals (no $$) would suffice. I need, I crave, the monetary recognition.

Does that make me sound pathetic and/or greedy? Consider this. Due to my back condition (which I’ve occasionally referred to without going into great detail and/or a huge pity party) I cannot work “outside the home.” But, I would like to take part in and contribute to society in some meaningful way. (Okay, I’m a wife and mother and do an utterly fabulous job in those capacities but still…) So, to write and get paid for doing so is a very big deal to me — as well as the satisfaction of knowing people enjoy reading my work.

In my heart of hearts, I know money is not the be all and end all. And no one should be judged according to how much money they make (or whether they make any money at all). Once we had three kids, I no longer contributed income to the family unit. But I was A-OK with that — and very grateful we didn’t require a second income. I also figured my contribution as a mother sufficed. Although I always thought my husband should be able to deduct for tax purposes the equivalent to what a housekeeper, cook, nanny, chauffeur, etc. would earn. Because I was ALL THAT — and more…

Now that my kids are grown and (almost all) on their own, I just happen to need a little something for me. Such as — work that pays. It’s an added bonus that writing is something I love to do.

Big secret (not any more) — I’d still probably write for nothing…

5 comments:

oreneta said...

There's no question, the bucks legitimise the effort in a way that not much else can. It IS our cultural benchmark of success...if someone is willing to PAY to see what we have written, well that is a whole different kettle of fish. So glad they coughed up. We always felt sullied with te craps that never did.

Anonymous said...

I have always thought that society should support or at least legitimize the stay at home mom. I like the idea of having someone keep the home fires burning, I think it benefits everybody.

Beth said...

oreneta: Thanks. I'm glad they paid too but I'm still conflicted as to why I really care about money as a measure of success.

trish: Right - because if the "stay-at-home mom" wasn't there to do the job, someone else would be getting paid to do it! I could rant on and on about this topic.. better stop.

Angel said...

hey, I don't think you're being greedy at all. You do a job and you should be paid for that job.

There's so many things that you can say about SAHM's...we Should get something....tax breaks, anything...! it's a hard job. But I wouldn't want anything else..I choose to raise my kids myself and I'm lucky enough to be able to do that.

Beth said...

beth: Aren't we lucky we had a choice? I wouldn't have traded this job for anything else.