Freelance Writing for Nonprofits

I figure outlining has cost me about a month’s worth of time that could have been spent actually writing this book.

Last month, as I really got into this project, I started to get obsessed with the book outline, because I was getting so many comments from well-meaning friends about how important it was to really flesh out the outline in great detail for a project this big.

I listened, and frittered away many hours working on the thing, frustrated all the while, shuffling the decks and not making any significant progress.

What I failed to take into account is that I DON’T WRITE THAT WAY!

Outlines work for me in a very general, macro sort of way. If I’m writing 1,000 words, I might create an outline in my head of  three or four items. Say this, talk about that, example here, etc. And I do have the equivalent of that kind of outline for this book, with five-six subheadings per chapter. But trying to get deeper than that in the outline is where things go awry.

I just need to write the damn thing. I know what I need to say. I need to get it out. Then I go back, see what I have, fill in gaps, then re-order everything and cut out what doesn’t fit. In other words, I’m a much better organizer than outliner.

So, I’m back to what works for me. I’m just doing it. I’m much happier, and the book is coming along at a much better pace.

My copy of the book contract and my advance check (minus my agent’s 15%) arrived this afternoon, about six weeks after I signed the contract. Yippee! As a long-time freelance writer, I’ve learned to wait for the paper before getting too excited about the deal. Happy dancing all around.

A few weeks ago at the Nonprofit Technology Conference in San Francisco, I met Jesse Wiley, my editor at Jossey-Bass (JB), in person. My friend Nancy Schwartz said something funny while taking this photo, thus the dorky look on my face. Poor Jesse had his appendix removed a few days before and still showed up to work the booth!

Jesse and I had a good meeting where he explained to me all the steps the book will go through once I submit the draft at the end of August. A whole bunch of people have to touch this thing.

He also answered several questions I had, such as “Can I use my blog as a first draft of various sections I’m working through?” (Yes) and “Can I get feedback on sections from various nonprofit friends who I’d like to read it before I submit it to him?” (Yes).

We talked a bit about integrating online content and promotion within the book itself. For example, JB can add icons in the layout that signal to readers that they can find additional resources online (Cool!). We might also do an online conference together after the book comes out, in addition to webinars I’ll do on my own through NonprofitMarketingGuide. And I’ll need to get up to speed on all the stuff that authors can do on their book’s Amazon pages.

Jesse also agreed to write a guest blog post, but I have to give him some direction first (turning the tables here, I guess). What questions do you have for an editor at one of the top publishers of nonprofit professional books? Or for someone with book publishing in his DNA (JB is an imprint of Wiley - and Jesse is one of those Wileys)? Click on “Read Comments” to add your questions and comments.

I had a little Wordpress database trouble here, but it’s fixed now. Thanks to Joy for taking the time to email me about it!

You can now comment again to your heart’s content. And please do  . . . like most bloggers, I love hearing from readers and opening up the conversation.

Once again, I’m taking a defibrillator to this blog.

On March 26, 2009, five days before my 40th birthday, I signed a contract to write a nonprofit marketing how-to book, to be published by Jossey-Bass in Spring 2010. It was a MAJOR professional goal of mine to have a book deal before turning 40 and I just made it! I’ve had various outlines of the book on my desk for the last ten years and finally got to the place where I was not only ready to write it, but also had the right connections to get a publisher interested. The process of working with my editor, Jesse Wiley, to get the green light and then working with my agent, Mollie Glick, to hammer out the deal took about six months. But now it’s done, and the hard work begins.

As is usually the case with me when starting big writing projects, I’m spending a lot of time thinking about how much time it is going to take. I daydream a lot about writing the book (without actually writing anything) and do the math every which way, converting the 70,000 words I am contracted to write by August 28 into numbers of hours per week I’ll need to write between now and then, numbers of weekends I think I’ll have to work, numbers of words per day, etc. (again, not actually writing a word).

I used to worry that these mental mechanics were procrastination, but I realize now that it’s just part of the process for me. I do this kind of thing all the time, and when I actually do sit down to write, I’m much more productive.

I’ll be meeting Jesse in person for the first time while attending the Nonprofit Technology Network’s conference in San Francisco April 26-28. I’m seeing that meeting as the deadline for all the processing to stop and the real writing to begin.

I’m planning to chronicle this undertaking here, along with anything else I come up with on the business of freelancing for nonprofits. Posts related to the actual content of the book (marketing advice for nonprofits) will be shared, as always, at my Nonprofit Communications blog.

Thanks for reading!

Long time, no post. C’est la vie. Been really busy with NonprofitMarketingGuide.com.

But here is an article that got me to log back in here: Why Work-Life Balance Is a Bad Idea by Michael Gilbert. His point is that work and life shouldn’t be in conflict; they should be integrated.

As a self-employed professional, I have always felt that way. I struggle with balance in other ways — time on client work that pays now versus blogging or research that may or may not pay later, working in the evening when my kids are preoccupied with TV or video games versus forcing all of us away from the screens to do something together, face to face. But I do not see these as work-life conflicts, but rather time management struggles on my part. It’s all important, and it’s all part of me.

This debate reminded me of another one I’ve been having with myself lately: To what extent should I try to wall off my personal life when I’m using social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter? If I am just “professional” on these sites, then I lose out on connecting online with “personal” friends. But I don’t have time, nor do I think it is really possible, to maintain two different profiles on various sites. And I have lots of people in my life who are both important professional contacts AND good friends. I care about what they are doing in all aspects of their lives, and they probably feel the same way about me. And does revealing personal information in a professional setting really have the potential to seriously hurt me anyway?

I’ve decided that the answer to that last one is either “no” or “I don’t care.” I think there is value in letting potential clients see the “personal” side of who I am along with the “professional.” I’m a package, a complete human being. While I’m not going to force any of my professional contacts to wade through personal information on what kind of music I like or who I’m voting for on my main sites like NonprofitMarketingGuide.com, I’m not going to hide that information from that percentage of people who are interested in connecting with me through social networking sites.

And honestly, there are lots of nonprofits that I would NEVER consider taking on as clients because I strongly disagree with their mission statements. So why shouldn’t clients have access to information that tells them more about my personal missions in life if that information is truly important to them? In many cases, it’s all going to be irrelevant to the discussion about working on a project together. But when it is relevant, why hide it, especially when so many benefits come from social networking otherwise?

What’s your take on these questions?