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It's been a while since I had a chance to catch up here, and unfortunately the news is not good. My mother had a slight stroke several weeks ago, spent four days in the hospital, and has required a great deal of care from me since her return home. Thankfully, she's going to be OK, but losing two weeks of work time brought home to me how unsustainable my hand-to-mouth existence really is. We almost lost our apartment and my mother's house (she owed two years of property taxes I didn't know about), and we might well have all been on the street by August if not for a lifesaving cash infusion from a very generous friend. That infusion was promptly sucked up by the bills that were already (over)due, and now, broke again, I realize I can't keep living like this. I love doing art and plan to continue making and selling it as much as possible, but even supplemented by my eBay signed book sales, it isn't enough to live on. I'm too physically defective to hold a real job, but not defective enough to receive disability.

And if I could still write books, I'd be doing it. That just isn't a possibility anymore. I wish it were.

But I can still write a coherent and effective paragraph, even a series of them, and I know there are people who can't or would prefer not to, and sometimes they pay others to do it for them. So I'm putting myself out there for others' writing needs. I don't think I could ghostwrite a piece of fiction from scratch -- hell, if I could do that, I'd just start writing my own books -- but I'm an excellent editor for manuscripts of any length and subject, and I can produce quick, clean copy for research papers, ads, catalogs, websites, love letters, and many other pieces of writing you may need. My rates are reasonable and negotiable. If interested, please contact me at [email protected] (no LJ messages, please; I never think to check them). And, if you would, spread the word!

Comments

( 19 comments — Leave a comment )
starshoegazer
Jul. 25th, 2013 09:14 pm (UTC)
Sorry to hear about your mother. I do hope things get better for you!
bloodbeauty
Jul. 25th, 2013 09:18 pm (UTC)
have you looked into elance or other freelance copy-writing sites? (like the stuff bart does)
docbrite
Jul. 25th, 2013 09:57 pm (UTC)
Good idea; I'll check it out.
gajastar
Jul. 25th, 2013 11:28 pm (UTC)
*hugs*

(I know hugs don't pay the rent, but it's what I got)
original_broad
Jul. 26th, 2013 01:07 am (UTC)
I'm sorry to hear about your mother, but glad to hear about your generous friend. I've followed you on here for years, but haven't been keeping up as much recently ... I'm so curious about your statement that you can no longer write books. You've probably gone over this in past entries so I understand if you don't want to go over it again, but if there was anything you could share about this shift I would be most grateful! Thanks!
docbrite
Jul. 26th, 2013 01:54 am (UTC)
The urge and ability just aren't there anymore; my creativity seems to have gone entirely visual. It happened over too long of a period to summarize, but late 2006 and all of 2007 were the worst flailing-about-not-writing years, as chronicled in this journal.
original_broad
Jul. 26th, 2013 01:53 pm (UTC)
Thank you so much for sharing. I imagine it must have been hard to move on from something that I'm sure at one time had become a crucial part of your identity.... Anyway I think you're very brave.
evilmommytina
Jul. 26th, 2013 03:19 am (UTC)
question...
Is typing the part you can't do anymore? I am not sure what your disability is - so I am asking to try to see if maybe there are alternatives.

You possibly CAN still write.

Just like you once did.

Using speech recognition software... Dragon Speak Easy text...???

I am looking into it myself... because even though I have horrid arthritis in my hands which leaves me looking like I have claws... I can talk... and then just upload the matter and edit it.

Tina
docbrite
Jul. 26th, 2013 03:23 am (UTC)
Thanks, but typing isn't the problem. I just don't have much I want to say, at least not verbally. It's all coming out in visual media these days.
ministry_victim
Jul. 26th, 2013 09:43 am (UTC)
So basically, you're offering up potential services as a professional, paid beta-reader?
docbrite
Jul. 27th, 2013 08:56 pm (UTC)
And editorial services too, yes.
ministry_victim
Jul. 31st, 2013 06:26 pm (UTC)
That sounds rather fantastic, actually.
kakern
Jul. 26th, 2013 05:11 pm (UTC)
I can personally vouch for the wonderful service I got from Billy. That my novel still languishes unpublished is no reflection on his skills, but rather my timidity about getting it out there. But if you have any writing in need of grammatical, structural (and, er, punctuational) overview as well as an intelligent and insightful analysis of the work as a whole--with a little bit of fan-geek excitement thrown in-- Billy is definitely the man for the job!
docbrite
Jul. 27th, 2013 08:56 pm (UTC)
Thank you!
kyryn
Jul. 26th, 2013 05:24 pm (UTC)
One thing you might look into as an occasional source is offering to proofread master's or doctoral theses. Check with your local universities and leave word with the different graduate departments about services and rates.
vintagehandbag
Jul. 27th, 2013 04:11 am (UTC)
Seconded. AND, if you're willing to deal with formatting, I think people would definitely pay for that -- I know I have. The formatting for different publications at the end of the research is just such an aggravation for me, and for a lot of researchers.
docbrite
Jul. 27th, 2013 08:57 pm (UTC)
Thanks, I will!
electricnight
Jul. 28th, 2013 05:04 am (UTC)
Sorry to hear "I'm too physically defective to hold a real job, but not defective enough to receive disability. " - That seems to be what medical care in the United States is doing to everyone these days. If sick people are in England or Canada there is respect for people needing care. Right wing republicans don't want anyone particularly women having enough money from disability to pay for birth control. I think the book editing idea is a great one... Self publishing on Lulu and Amazon is super popular right now.
teal_cuttlefish
Jul. 29th, 2013 09:26 pm (UTC)
Actually, it's pretty horrible in England right now. They are revamping their disability system with a company (ATOS) that is declaring people dying in hospital beds fit to work, and it is literally killing people.

The attitude behind disability services in a lot of places is that most folks applying are trying to cheat the system, when that is actually a small percentage of people applying. It isn't easy to live on disability, and applying is agonizing, tedious, and drawn out far too long. It took me two years to get disability, and I was one of the lucky ones that only had to appeal once.
( 19 comments — Leave a comment )

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