The gig economy is a bit like the Wild West. Opportunities abound, but the rewards often come with a substantial dose of risk. Fortunately, it’s easy to dabble in most freelance work without making any major commitments. You can practice graphic design in the evenings, walk dogs in the mornings, and write on the weekends. This gives you valuable experience and some extra income to boot.

If you’re thinking of taking your freelancing career full-time, though, there are some things that you’re going to want to consider beforehand — especially where finances are concerned. Here are five specific financial questions that you should ask yourself before you ditch the 9-to-5 in favor of a freelance career.

1. Freelancing Can Require Professional Help

The first thing you should consider before going freelance-full-time is your professional lifelines. For instance, while this humble author has extensive personal financial freelance experience, the five tips presented here are more general in nature and should always be discussed with a financial professional who knows your particular situation.

Typically, the professional help that you should have “on tap” as you launch your career can be boiled down into three categories:

●  A lawyer: Do you have a good lawyer that you can go to with legal questions? Having a lawyer can ensure that you safeguard yourself against any unnecessary personal or workplace liabilities.

●  An accountant: Again, while these general tips are a good starting point, a CPA will be aware of state and local tax codes and the more detailed nuances of running your business finances successfully.

●  Another professional in your field: It doesn’t matter if you’re a rideshare driver or a writer, a musician or a software developer, if you’re going to survive the full-time freelance gig, you’re going to want to ask someone with experience when questions inevitably arise.

If you don’t have professional help lined up, your freelance efforts can quickly spin out of control.

2. Are Your Finances Healthy?

Next up, consider the current state of your finances. Ask yourself a few questions:

●  Are you responsible with your money?

●  Are you able to live on a budget?

●  Have you considered how you’ll pay the bills early in your freelance career?

●  Do you have healthy credit?

As you grill yourself, consider what you can do to improve your current financial situation in preparation for the financial stresses and strains that often come with the freelance life. How much money do you need to make each month at a minimum? Can you improve or repair your credit? Do you have an emergency fund saved up to cover expenses if you have a lull in income?

3. Have You Considered the Extra Costs?

While adding up your personal expenses is a good start, you must also consider additional costs that come with your new independent career.

For example, if you’re an aspiring author, have you considered the costs involved with self-publishing? If you’re going into a service-based freelancing gig, do you need to pay to build and upkeep a website? If you’re going to be a rideshare driver, have you added up the expense of keeping your car on the road every day?

Strive to challenge yourself with critical questions like these before you make the leap into full-time contracting work.

4. Can You Handle Your Own Taxes?

Of course, the biggest financial elephant in the room is taxes. As a freelancer, you won’t have things automatically withdrawn from your paycheck. Heck, you won’t even get a “paycheck” in the first place. You’ll just get paid.

With that said, have you considered what it takes to do your own taxes as a contractor? It isn’t rocket science, but freelance taxes do take a bit of your time and focus. Make sure you’re aware of all of the major details, such as estimating taxes or filing returns, and that you have that CPA readily available so that you’re ready to put everything into action once you start generating a full-time income.

5. Are You an Organized Person?

Finally, consider if you’re organized enough to go full-time in the gig economy. This includes everything from beginning to end of the work process. Are you ready to perpetually feed and organize your workload? Have you equipped yourself with the proper financial tools, such as a budget calculator and business bank account, that are required to make and receive payments, maintain a budget, and set aside taxes on a regular basis?

If you aren’t organized from the get-go, it can hamstring your ability to ultimately succeed, you know, with the actual work that you’re getting paid for.

Financially Flourishing as a Freelancer

There are many financial considerations that should take place before you commit to full-time contracting. However, none of the above factors should be seen as a barrier to entry.

Rather, they can and should serve as initial starting points and opportunities to prepare yourself for the oft-overwhelming but ultimately exciting journey ahead. If you can start your freelancing adventure on the right financial foot, you’ll be better able to handle whatever curveballs your professional future may throw your way — and ultimately be financially better off for the change.

Indiana Lee is a writer and journalist from the Pacific Northwest with a passion for covering workplace issues, social justice, environmental protection, and more. In her off time she enjoys hiking with her two dogs. You can follow her on twitter @indianalee3, or reach her at indianaleewrites@gmail.com

The post #5onFri: Five Things to Consider Before Freelancing Full Time appeared first on DIY MFA.

What can your editor do for you?

Editing is not a “one-size-fits-all” kind of process. Understanding the differences between the types of editing is crucial to making sure you get the most polished manuscript possible. Here are the three main types of editing you can request from your editor.

Developmental editing

Sometimes called substantive editing, this kind of editing involves taking your manuscript apart, polishing all the pieces, and then putting them back together again in the optimal configuration. Why would you do this? If you have gone through a few drafts and this is your first attempt at having your manuscript edited, you’ll want to have an editor take a deep, critical look at your writing to make sure that your voice is consistent, your characters are multi-dimensional, and your plot is air-tight. This process often involves line-editing, where the editor will rewrite portions of the text to fix any problems or to illustrate the direction she thinks you should take when you begin your next draft.

Copy editing

Copy editing is the slightly less invasive cousin of Developmental editing. Copy editing assumes that you’ve gotten the plot, characterization, and structure correct and only points out the most glaring of errors in those aspects of the manuscript.

Copy editing instead focuses on the grammar, spelling, and punctuation you use, and makes sure that your text conform to the industry standards. There are several different style guides, so if you know that your treatise on the mating habits of freshwater clams is required to follow MLA guidelines, make sure your copy editor uses that and not the Chicago Manual of Style to do their job. Sounds nit-picky, doesn’t it? But trust me, it’s important. Style guidelines exist to help authors and publishers maintain consistency in spelling, formatting, notation, and many other aspects of the manuscript across all publications of a certain type.

Proofreading

Not to be confused with copy editing, proofreading is the lightest kind of editing out there. If developmental editing is a bull dozer and copy editing is a machete, proofreading is the feather duster of edits. A proofreader comes to the text assuming that everything is as the author intends it to be. Their job is not to question usage or structure. Their job is to check for typos and formatting mistakes, to make sure that there’s a period where a period is supposed to be and that you spelled “hodmandod” correctly.

This is the final stage of editing, the last tweak you make before you send your manuscript out into the world. It’s not the first thing you should ask your editor for, unless you’re sufficiently confident that there are no problems at all in your manuscript.

Mix and Match

These editing types are very easy to mix and match. You can request that your editor perform light developmental editing or heavy copy editing or proofreading that includes a light copy edit. And your editor may have an entirely different idea of what level of editing you need. The surest way for you and your editor to figure out what kind of edit your manuscript needs is to have a sample of it (usually the first 10 to 20 pages) edited. Imagine how you’ll feel if you go into the editing process thinking all you need is a light copy edit, and then suddenly find out that the editor you are working with has requested that you rewrite half your chapters.

A sample edit will determine whether you and your editor have aligned expectations for the amount of work to be done on the manuscript. But even better, if this is your first time hiring an editor, a sample edit allows you and the editor a chance to assess each other before you commit to working together. If you and your editor agree after a sample edit that your manuscript needs a developmental edit, and you can appreciate and learn from their style and approach to the text, then you’re golden. If not, then it’s easy to move on before too much time and/or money is lost on either side.

It’s important that you find the RIGHT editor. Not just anyone will do. We’ll discuss that more in detail in my next post.

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Elisabeth Kauffman is a freelance editor in California. Her favorite genres are YA fantasy, sci-fi, and romance. She regularly obsesses over board games, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter. Come share your ideas with her on Facebook and Twitter–@WritingRefinery–and on the web at www.writingrefinery.com

The post So You’ve Decided to Hire a Freelance Editor appeared first on DIY MFA.