Battling Debt and Mental Illness — and (hopefully) Winning!

AspiringButAnxious

Thanks Bob

Received my first Amazon royalties today: £6.54
Not exactly 50 Shades territory, but it's a start!

AspiringButAnxious

Mixed day: not done as much as I intended, but made some progress. Went on my exercise bike for the first time in months, which felt good and submitted 3 proposals on Upwork. I'm feeling pretty tired, because I stayed up until 3:15am watching the tennis... Going shopping drains me too, since it involves going out into the world and being around other people.

I spent a little more than intended, partly because Pepsi is on special offer so it's cheaper than Tesco cola and I wanted to stock up. I also bought my birthday cards for the rest of the year (apart from my dad's, because there was nothing cheap that caught my eye). My one awful impulse buy was getting 2 packets of crisps for £3... Not great for losing weight either!

I plan to crack on tomorrow, especially with the short story I'm working on and planning my next ebook.

belleandthebudget

I thought I was bad staying up until 1am doing surveys!

The deal on Pepsi sounds great, good thing to stock up on too since it's not going to go bad.

Good luck with the short story writing!

AspiringButAnxious

Thanks, Belle

I'm in a bit of a pickle this morning. Someone on Upwork is offering me a long-term opportunity writing 500 word articles — for $2 per article. Since there will be research involved as well as writing and editing my work, this amounts to a smidge over £1 an hour. They think this is fair because I have no other contracts through Upwork.

Part of me wants to say "f**k them!" and turn down the offer. It makes me angry that people think nothing of paying writers so little — I doubt I would be offered such a paltry amount if I were an accountant or solicitor. I have been published, albeit only a few times (not counting my ebooks and blog) and I have qualifications in the field, including an MA in Creative Writing. I deserve more than £1 an hour.

However... There are some advantages to accepting this offer:
1. I will get feedback on Upwork, which makes people more likely to hire you. Especially if it's a 5 star rating.
2. It's still money. Can I afford to turn any offer down when my current earnings for the past 3 months are £16.54?
3. I can negotiate for a higher price when I've got several articles under my belt.
4. It's work experience. I can put it on my CV and use the opportunity to hone my skills.
5. It's a long-term opportunity, so I will have a semi-reliable source of income. Even if it is peanuts.

I really don't know what to do. I suppose I could ask for more money, but it sounds like there is no room for negotiation at the moment. It's not as if I'm drowning in offers — one other person was interested on Friday, but I haven't heard from them since. Ugh. I hate being in this position. I'm desperate, but is it too much to expect a fair wage? If I weren't a freelancer, it would be illegal.

AspiringButAnxious

Okay, I wrote out all the pros and cons of accepting the $2 per article and told them I'm interested.

If nothing else, it will mean I have some experience on Upwork and *hopefully* a good rating, which will attract more, higher paying offers. Plus getting $2 per article is more than earning nothing at all.

I just hate that my skills are so devalued. I'm trying to think of this job (assuming everything goes through all right) as paying my dues. I will still work on my own projects and try to get more freelancing gigs alongside it. Once I have more experience and get higher payments, I can eithet negotiate for more money or walk away.

Who knows, I might surprise myself by writing faster than predicted, which means the money would be equivalent to £2/3 per hour!

On a brighter note, I got a £3.50 Amazon voucher from a survey company today. New Amazon balance: £4.24 I've also ordered another £5 from SB, so I'll be well on my way to buying present #3.

belleandthebudget

AspiringButAnxious wrote: »

Okay, I wrote out all the pros and cons of accepting the $2 per article and told them I'm interested.

If nothing else, it will mean I have some experience on Upwork and *hopefully* a good rating, which will attract more, higher paying offers. Plus getting $2 per article is more than earning nothing at all.

I think I would have done the same thing. I guess, look at it as a bit of promotional work with a bonus $2 per article and once you've built up your feedback on the platform you can get your teeth into the real work.

I'm with you on the whole devaluing of skills though. I work in media, story/script development (for long-form/film and TV) is my speciality and I have an MA too. I'm lucky to work for a great studio but people just don't see the effort and craft of these kind of jobs. :mad:

AspiringButAnxious

Yeah, I knew what I was getting myself into... I have to keep reminding myself that I love writing and will do virtually anything to get to the point where I can earn a living from it. Strangely, I had my heart set on being a screenwriter from the age of 13 — my BA is in Film Studies and I chose my MA partly because it let me split my modules equally between prose and screenwriting. Then I did an Open University diploma to strengthen my MA application and fell in love with writing prose!

AspiringButAnxious

It has been a day of change, as a glance at my sig will tell you! I deposited the £138 from my savings pot into my bank account, which meant I could pay off my Very acc 2 months early. It's great not to have to worry about paying it anymore — all the money I have left over after my SO to my parents is my own and I can crack on with saving a £300 EF by the end of this year.

I also wrote 5 articles for my new freelance client. It took a little less time than I predicted: 4 hours instead of 5, so around £1.80 per hour after Upwork fees. Better than a kick in the teeth, I suppose. Hopefully I will be able to write faster with more practice.

I finally finished my short story draft too Just as well, since the deadline is Monday! It's in pretty good shape, so 2 days of rewriting should be enough. Then it'll be onto the next...

crazy_cat_lady

Fantastic news - I'm doing the happy dance for you - with the work, and with getting rid of Very 2 months early as well! Brilliant. :j:j:j

There_Is_a_Light

Well done on paying off Very.

My son is a musician and it really makes my blood boil when they are constantly expected to perform for free to "get exposure" sometimes they are expected to sell tickets which they get nothing in return for! Really annoys me to see any type of talent being exploited.