Project Alert! I’m an Editor of a Canadian novel!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have added book editor to my list!

 

Many years ago I attended NYU and acquired a certificate in Publishing and Editing which has come in pretty handy with the work I do. Let’s put it this way, I’m not a novice with my red strike! I’ve been editing and proofing copy for a number of years now, but this project was a big deal. When it fell into my lap, I was terrified and excited. Terrified at the prospect of editing a full-length novel, yet excited at the challenge I was entrusted with. It was such a terrific opportunity, there was no way I could pass on it!

Book editor sounds snazzy, doesn’t it?

The book was actually very fluid and well written, which in turn made my job so much easier. The writer was precise with her copy, had a quick and punchy tone that was easy to read and the storyline had my attention from the intro line to the last line written. All of the above made this project fun, thrilling and a pleasure to work on. I also went on to deliver a product with minimal errors to a very satisfied client. Not bad for summer work reading! 

Since then, I have gone on to proofread and edit a few books on my roster. Are you in need of an editor or proofreader for documents or a novel you’re working on? Feel free to contact me for details.

Thank you to Meraki Publishing for the opportunity.

Congratulations to the author Constance Lechman on her recent release! You can purchase the book at Indigo, Barnes & Noble and other bookstore outlets. 

Project Alert! I’m the Co-Editor of The 150 Extraordinary Canadians coffee table book!

It has been a very busy summer leading into a fruitful fall, which is the reason you’re only hearing from me now. There have been a few fantastic projects Soulafrodisiac Online Consulting has worked on and was delighted to be a part of, but I have yet to share with you! Therefore, it’s time to play catch up.

 

The 150 Extraordinary Canadians: Our Leadership And Innovation Legacy (CNW Group/Transformation Institute for Leadership and Innovation)

 

One of these projects was a new coffee table book titled The 150 Extraordinary Canadians: Our Leadership And Innovation Legacy by Silvertrust Media (Planet Africa, Destiny Magazine etc.). I’m happy to announce that I am listed as the co-editor of this ambitious project! The book entailed a host of writing and editing that I wouldn’t have made my way through without working with such a superb co-editor (thank you, Mina!). We sifted through and compiled 150 biographies of some of your favourite Canadian entertainers, philanthropic contributors, executives and more, to bring you a stellar list of Canadians who have contributed to the fabric of Canada. And may I add, the forward is written by our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau!

The coffee table book is already available and will also be used in schools, shelved in libraries and sold in bookstores across Canada. I do hope you get to come across the literary compilation upon your future book run. Purchase your copy today and let me know what you think!

A special thank you to Silvertrust Media and The Transformation Institute for the opportunity.

You can read the official press release on CNW here.

Finding A Balance With The Right Tools

It has been awhile, hasn’t it? Well, I’m back!

I would first like to thank those of you who sent congratulatory messages my way. It’s well appreciated! I have returned to the workforce as a new Mom to a wonderful and spritely baby boy. I’m now fully immersed in changing diapers, keeping up with creating new fancy foods for my kiddo’s insatiable palette in his Baby Bullet and trying to keep my mind in order long enough to figure out which project I’m working on.

Image courtesy of wordle.net

Truthfully, I have thankfully been able to be selective about the projects that I’ve taken on since having my son. While two fantastic opportunities came my way that I couldn’t pass up (I’ll share news in the next post!), balancing the new work life/mom life situation has been absolutely insane. Especially as a telecommuting mother. I have many questions that I ask myself every single day! How do I find a working equation that’s best for me? What tools can I use to make my workday effective and productive?

So here I am with a solid predicament but equipped with a few handy tools that I use on the regular. Beforehand, they were simply my amazing work aids. Now, I refuse to work without these tabs open and ready to go. I’m really big on being efficient with my time; for myself and for my clients. No one likes their time to be wasted. Therefore, when I’m not feeding or tending to my little one, I do use the silent time to work on projects on deck.

I use time management tools such as Harvest and Toggl to make sure I keep track of the time used on each project. To stay on top of my projects, I use Asana to assist in the progression and strategy of my client’s requests and I leave all of my invoicing at the end of the month to Wave.  I’m going to have to add the Pomodoro Timer to the list as well because sometimes we get so wrapped up in our duties that we forgot to step away and take a break. Do you know about the Pomodoro technique? If not, be sure to get yourself acquainted.

Thankfully, the applications listed above are my lifesavers! There are many more applications on the market that can assist you with your company tasks and keep you organized and in step with your projects. Search them out and find the right ones that agree with you. Which applications do you use? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time…

Paycheques and Passivity

Well, it’s been a long time, hasn’t it?

I can be quite frank and state that my life/work balance was skewed for a while. However, now being passed the halfway mark of my pregnancy (yes, I’m expecting!), everything has slowed down considerably. And it’s a wonderful thing.

Recently, while I was speaking with a few fellow entrepreneurs, I asked what was the one thing as a small business owner that irks them on a daily basis. The response? Chasing clients for their payments. Now, I would think that is a bone of contention with every business owner. While we all love what we do and are proud that our thriving business continues to shine, why does the aggressive and frustrating nature of a bill collector have to be added to our roster?

It should be as simple as providing the service and in return, the client provides payment for the requested services. Now, I’m not speaking about difficult or unsatisfactory clients (it happens!). but clients who love your work and have nothing but accolades ready once your work is submitted, but are nowhere to be found when net 30 comes rolling around. My belief is: if you requested the service, you should have the allotted funds set aside to pay for it. Why the excuses?

By the way, as a client, what you do with your money (who has and hasn’t paid you) has absolutely nothing to do with my invoice being cleared. I am a service provider and I shouldn’t be privy to your financials. Sometimes things do happen that are totally out of our control, however, we all know that when it’s time to pay hydro, your phone bill and rent, the value of each bill is set aside for it to be paid on a monthly basis. Small business owners and freelancers provide a service, why is the situation drastically different?

I ask myself these questions every day. Yes, there are always ways to safeguard yourself. You should never start a project without some sort of compensation (but that doesn’t always ring true for us freelance writers). Also, be sure to add on interest rates for late payments etc. However, those methods don’t always work.  It’s really daunting being in the position to take someone to small claims court or having to constantly email and call in order to receive some type of response regarding your invoice. And most of the time, you’re lucky if you even get a response. Aggravating. A nuisance. Absolutely unnecessary.

As a business owner, do you have any tried and tested ways of clearing your monthly invoices? Share them with us in the comments below. Perhaps you have a trick that we haven’t tried as yet. At this point, we’re definitely willing to try a trick or two!