Writing Your Way To Success: Finding Your Own Voice In Academic Publishing / Edition 1

by Glen a Jones, Susan M Drake

Overview

There are many books available that will guide the academic to substantive academic writing. However, approximately 85% of publications are written by 15% of the academic population. Many academics experience the writing process as very difficult and painful, and give up writing rather than trying to surmount the obstacles. Writing Your Way to Success takes a fresh look at the publishing game and offers tried and true strategies that allowed two new academics to experience publishing success. It certainly will help you too!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780913507636
Publisher:	New Forums Press
Publication date:	07/15/1997
Series:	New Forums Faculty Development
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	66
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.14(d)

About the Author

Susan Drake and Glen Jones have collaborated on numerious writing projects. Dr. Drake teaches in the Brock University College of Education in Ontario, Canada. Dr. Jones teaches at the University of Toronto.

Table of Contents

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	Introduction	1
	About This Book	1
	Foolish Assumptions	1
	How This Book Is Organized	2
	Icons Used in This Book	3
	Where to Go from Here	3
Part I	Getting Ready to Go It Alone	5
Chapter 1	Are You a Born Freelancer?	7
	Describing the Footloose and Fancy Freelancer	7
	Reviewing the Various Types of Freelance Work Arrangements	8
	Living without a Boss	9
	Bosses, bosses everywhere	10
	Managing yourself	10
	Freelance Position Available: Deciding Whether You're a Good Match	11
	Will you love it?	11
	Will you leave it?	12
	Predicting Your Success	13
	Uncovering the Skills That Freelancers Require	14
	Understanding the Joy of Freelancing	17
Chapter 2	Understanding the Realities of Working for Yourself	19
	Going It Alone	19
	Losing Your Identity	20
	Uncovering the Illusion of Insecurity	20
	Surviving when you're pushed from the nest	21
	Holding the purse strings	22
	Balancing Your Work and Your Personal Life	22
	Enjoying Solitude and Avoiding Loneliness	25
	Developing necessary interruptions	25
	Steering clear of dangerous liaisons	27
	Remembering That Money Matters	27
	Enduring your transition period	28
	Hoping and planning	29
Chapter 3	Making the Decision to Freelance	31
	Considering a Variety of Jobs	31
	Creative work	32
	Financial positions	32
	High-tech jobs	33
	Personal services	34
	Business opportunities	35
	Assessing Your Skills	36
	Doing Your Homework	37
	Who is your competition and what do they do?	37
	Can the market support you?	37
	Can you compete with your former employer?	38
	Asking Yourself Some Tough Questions	39
	What are your career goals?	39
	Does freelancing help you achieve your career goals?	40
	Can you sell your skills?	41
	Can you make the money you want and need?	41
	Can you afford to give up the benefits of working for someone else?	42
	Is the life realistic for you?	42
	Will freelancing complement your family's lifestyle?	43
	Are you ready and able, but most of all, willing?	43
	Taking Steps if Freelancing Doesn't Work	44
Chapter 4	Laying the Groundwork for Your New Life	47
	Scouring the Planet for Information	47
	Making a Plan	48
	Knowing why you need a plan	48
	Understanding what's in a business plan	49
	Finding information	50
	Timing Your Move	51
	Counting your money	51
	Considering your current employer's benefits	52
	Thinking through seasonality or event relationships	52
	Writing a schedule	53
	Creating a Strong Network of Contacts	53
	Networking while in your current job	53
	Continuing your alliances	55
	Meeting strangers	55
	Making the Break from Your Old Work Life	57
	Leaving friends and gaining friends	58
	Finding new resources	58
	Facing the unknown	58
	Dealing with buyer's remorse	59
Part II	Opening Your Doors for Business	61
Chapter 5	Forming Your Company	63
	Naming Your Game	63
	Deciding whether you need a name	63
	Choosing a name	64
	Testing your name	66
	Protecting your name and obtaining licenses	67
	Organizing Your Company	68
	Weighing the advantages and disadvantages	68
	Organizing as a sole proprietorship	69
	Forming a limited liability corporation (LLC)	69
	Creating a corporation	71
Chapter 6	Organizing Your Office	73
	Finding Office Space Away from (Or at) Home	73
	Leasing office space	75
	Staying safe	77
	Furnishing Your Space	78
	Your office is your castle	79
	Feng shui and office arrangements	79
	Getting Equipped	81
	Phone	81
	Computer	82
	Fax	86
	Copy machines and copy services	86
	Electronic extras	87
	Office supplies	87
	Protecting Your Equipment	89
	Taking steps to prevent electronic disasters	89
	Maintaining your equipment	90
	Practicing Good Work Habits	90
	Adjusting your chair	91
	Fiddling with your computer monitor	91
	Adapting your lighting	91
	Altering your keyboard position	92
	Cleaning Up Your Act	93
	Making Clients Comfortable	93
Chapter 7	Budgeting Your Time	95
	Understanding a Freelancer's Weekly Activities	95
	Starting Your Day Productively	96
	Budgeting Your Time According to Three Simple Rules	97
	Tracking Your Time	98
	Coping with Success	99
	Recognizing the time to change	99
	Handling too much work	100
	Continuing to Sell	101
	Estimating jobs	101
	Answering a request for proposal (RFP) or request for bid (RFB)	102
	Protecting yourself	102
	Managing the Delicate Balancing Act	103
	Cutting corners	104
	Doing two things at the same time	105
	Finding Time to Stay Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise	106
	Guarding against illness	106
	Protecting your body parts	108
	Mixing Kids and Clients	109
	Scheduling child care	109
	Phoning while at home	109
	Taking an honest approach	110
	Avoiding guilt	110
Chapter 8	Building an Extended Staff	111
	Getting Expert Advice	111
	Finding an expert	112
	Working with an expert	112
	Bartering your services for theirs	113
	Understanding which experts you need	114
	Looking for Junior Partners: Administrative and Clerical Help	117
	Getting help on an as-needed basis	117
	Working with an in-house assistant	118
	Making Work a Family Affair	121
	The devil you know	121
	The devil you don't know	122
	The double-edged sword	122
	The solution--good communication	123
Part III	Bringing Your Work to Life	125
Chapter 9	Creating a Professional Image	127
	Creating a Total Package	127
	Understanding the Factors That Contribute to Your Image	128
	Maintaining your best appearance	129
	Finding sound reasons to sound your best	131
	Acting the part	133
	Making the grade with presentation materials	134
	Maintaining Proper Etiquette	136
	Introductions and handshakes	136
	Mealtime rules	137
	Electronic etiquette	138
Chapter 10	Finding Clients	141
	Remembering That Selling Is a Full-Time Job	141
	Mining for Diamonds with Your Existing Clients	142
	Asking for more business	143
	Staying on their minds	143
	Understanding the pitfalls of success	148
	Expanding Your Base of New Clients	149
	Landing Jobs on the Web with e-Lancing	151
Chapter 11	Landing Business with Advertising and PR	153
	Selling Benefits, Not Products	154
	Creating a sales presentation	155
	Painting a picture of yourself	156
	Preparing sales materials	158
	Using a specific service to open the door	160
	Calling all sales calls	161
	Dealing with rejection	162
	Using Advertising and Public Relations Tools	163
	Knowing your audience	163
	Using multiple channels	166
	Making sure your advertising and PR works	166
	Advertising yourself through traditional means	167
	Using direct mail	169
	Keeping a little green book	169
	Cruising the Internet	170
	Generating PR opportunities	172
Chapter 12	Evaluating Jobs and Projects	181
	Weighing Factors That Affect Your Decision	182
	Making money	183
	Creating a foundation for future work	183
	Learning new skills	184
	Having fun	185
	Rating a Project's Potential	186
	Trying a logical approach	186
	Listening to your gut	187
	Living within Realistic Time Frames	188
	Estimating your time	188
	Squeezing projects in	189
	Subcontracting to keep doors open	189
	Turning Clients Down	191
	Saying no	191
	Saying something between yes and no	191
	Negotiating to keep clients on the hook	193
	Avoiding Projects That Spell H-e-a-d-a-c-h-e	193
	Living with mistakes	194
	Coping with difficult clients	194
Chapter 13	Managing Client Relationships	195
	Cultivating Clients You Love	195
	Keeping Clients Happy	197
	Communicating for results	197
	Avoiding conflicts of interests	199
	Keeping it on the QT	200
	Avoiding becoming a political animal	200
	Putting Every Project In Writing	202
	Managing Projects That Go Wrong	203
	Taking the financial responsibility for mistakes	204
	Turning complaints into compliments	205
	Getting fired	206
	Firing a client	208
Chapter 14	Staying Current	211
	Staying in the Know	212
	Networking	212
	Reading for fun and profit	214
	Continuing Your Education	215
	Staying certified or accredited	215
	Moving toward a new career path	216
	Improving your skills	216
Part IV	Managing Your Money	219
Chapter 15	Budgeting and Accounting	221
	Managing Your Finances	221
	Opening a business checking account	221
	Using a business credit card	224
	Finding special loans	226
	Establishing a line of credit	226
	Preparing a Budget	227
Step 1	Determining your financial needs	227
Step 2	Calculating income	228
Step 3	Figuring the difference	229
Step 4	Estimating cash flow	230
Step 5	Putting extra money to good use	230
	Keeping Books and Accounting for Your Money	230
	Appreciating the benefits of keeping records	231
	Paying your expenses	232
	Overcoming accounting phobia	234
	Using accounting to make business decisions	235
Chapter 16	Setting Rates and Collecting Fees	237
	Setting Your Rates	237
	Discounting your fees	238
	Charging cancellation fees	239
	Establishing a minimum fee	239
	Considering an irritation fee	240
	Working on retainer	241
	Working on spec	242
	Marking up	243
	Educating clients about fees	244
	Knowing When to Raise Rates	245
	Sending Invoices	246
	Determining how to bill for your services	246
	Understanding how often to bill	247
	Scheduling time to send invoices	249
	Drafting an invoice	250
	Collecting Your Money	252
	Getting your clients to pay	253
	Taking action	255
Chapter 17	Paying Taxes	261
	Getting the Lowdown on Taxes	261
	Selecting an Advisor	262
	Looking for the right kind of advice	263
	Interviewing a candidate	263