Stephen King Library 2010 Desk Calendars are in. Thanks are in order.

As a freelance editor over the past few years, I've worked on a wide variety of projects. Some fun, some tedious, others quite somewhere in between. But such is the life of a freelancer, you make due, seek and accept jobs where you can find them, and learn to be Charlie Hustle.

At one point late last year I was asked to edit Book-of-the-Month Club's--exclusive to memebers--2010 Stephen King Library desk calendar. This sounded like, and turned out to be, one of the most enjoyable projects I been involved in to date.

The hardest part was following up the terrfic work of the ultra-talented Robin Furth, former King research assistant, writer of various books about King, as well as scribe of several of the new Marvel and Del Rey comic book adaptations/miniseries of King's work. In my humble opinion she is a marvel and I was quite intimidated to talk to her, but when we spoke she was very cool and totally supportive-and even willing to contribute an essay to my project. Fantastic, I thought, what a great way to start on this exciting project.

Then it was several months of planning, reading, researching, and writing essays, trivia, finding excerpts, etc. I'd like to personally thank my sister, Jill, for help. See, she's a life-long King fanatic and had a copy of almost every novel and short story collection out there. She was my own personal King library. And working with her on one essay was a real thrill. I showed up at her apartment one day and left with pretty much her entire collection in addition to the books I already had.

Brainstorming ideas was the most fun. I mean, this is the kind of thing every bookish person dreams about. Take a favorite author, write about the little bits of this and that, the juicy details, the odd connections. Find fanatical people to contribute and pull it all together.

I also have to thank my personal "editorial assistant-at-large" and that would be my lovely wife, Fotini. She is also a contributor, with her own personal story about traveling to Greece as a teen and dearly grasping onto those King paperbacks to get her through long boat rides and flights. King was her personal salvation and she is also responsible for many essay ideas and helped me develop them into the readable bits within. For this, I am eternally grateful.

The other great part of editing this project was that I got to commission authors and King fanactics to write articles. This was great as there were already so many great contributors, the project soon became a delicate balance of previous collaborators and new entries, each with a personal angle which added to the depth of the collection.

In addition to the wonderful essay by the aforementioned Robin Furth, there are also return contributions such as: Stephen Jewell, an Australian born, London-based writer; comic book illustrator Jae Lee; Bev Vincent, a contributor to Cemetery Dance magazine and Bram Stoker-nominated author of The Road to the Dark Tower; Brian Freeman, author of many terrific books; Dan Kimmel, a Boston-based film critic and writer; and Rocky Wood, celebrated Australian writer of non-fiction and member of the HWA (Horror Writers Association).

Also I was able to invite others to contribute, including edged-weapon master and fantasy author, Peter V. Brett, and Jeff Somers, veritable SF writer and the kind of guy who'd have your back in a saloon fight. Everyone had great personal stories how King's work touched them in some way [I realize that sounds naughtier than it should]. I'd also like to thanks all the other contributors: Matt B., Nancy, Tom, Matt D., Beth, Jenn Huff, and Gary - you're all aces.

Here is a sample of one of the wonderful layout pages by freelance designer, Shonna Dowers, who did a wonderful job on the entire project. It was a pleasure work with you.

Last but not least I'd like to thank Deborah Sinclaire, EIC of Book-of-the-Month Club, without whom this project would not have come to me. Deb is a former boss, turned trusted colleague and confidant, and her confidence in me is something I've always valued and appreciated. Thanks.

Little did I know when I was asked to contribute one small article for the 2008 calendar, while I was an editor for the Science Fiction Book Club, [where I wrote about seeing King at NY Comic Con that year], that this entire project would come to me just a short time later. But for me, it's been all about the journey.

Walking the Path

This is the type of day I like. First of all, it's only 9:30 a.m. and it is beautiful out. I'd prefer it to stay at the cool 68 degrees it is at now, but I can handle an 80 degree day. I've been home the past few days, happily editing a new manuscript about ancient warfare that has been very interesting, I'm really enjoying it.

But I am glad that I set out to get out of the house today and get into Manhattan. First, I'm heading to lunch with my friends from Osprey publishing, and I'm looking forward to catching up. From there I might hit Midtown Comics to check out yesterday's releases, and hopefully find some gifts for my godson's birthday.

From there I'll wander around, and hopefully share a drink and a few laughs with friends as the day goes by. I plan to end up in the Time Life building, where I used to work, as I've been invited to attend the Secret Identities: Asian Americans in Comics panel, which sound like a lot of fun, and I remember there sometimes being cool events like this in the building when I worked there.

I've also spent the past two weeks setting up meetings and planning to touch down with colleagues and friends at next week's Book Expo at the Javits Center. It looks to be a great show, if even a bit smaller than last year in L.A. That is fine by me, as I'll be wandering around and not working a booth this year.

I see BEA as a great networking opportunity, and I'm looking forward to meeting many new people, especially the other book review bloggers at the blogger signing event on Saturday.

And of course I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and grabbing some exciting new galleys to read!

A Balancing Act

I find myself escaping to my blog, my little controlled world of content; however little of it there is, however little I update regularly. Being an independent editor/writer/professional takes discipline, a discipline I learn a little more about every day. This is something I am not sure I'll ever have mastered. But I am making a go at it.

Right now, even as I write this, I'm working on two interesting but completely different projects. Both are due at the end of the month. And like a circus clown, I'm juggling them both, hoping neither hits the ground.

During the early parts of the day, I deal with lots of email correspondence, I check a bunch of blogs, websites, etc. I try to keep in touch with all of the people I've been working been working for, I pass along bits of news I read or hear, in the hopes of staying connected and leading to more work.

Remember, it is your responsibility as a freelancer to remind people that you're out there. They have day jobs, and are likely to forget -- and I don't blame them. They have meetings to attend and lots more email to respond to at the corporate level. At a home office there are distractions like Angel on TV at 9 A.M. -- I'm just saying. Like every good Jedi already knows... one must have balance in all things.

So, every day is a learning experience. I think I've found a good balance of working at home and hitting the pavement do do sales work or meet with friends and colleagues. I also find detailed work like editing comes easier at night, when there are less email and phone distractions. I guess every independent worker must find their own pace that works.

Here are the two things I'm currently working on. One is editing the content for the Book-of-the-Month Club's: 2010 Stephen King Library (R) Desk Calendar. This has been a lot of fun so far, writing essays and editing the work of others. King is a fun guy to write about. There is plenty of material -- he has so much work to reference.

I'm also editing a book on World War I aviation. Yes they are two very different projects. Then again, so is my experience working with fiction and nonfiction -- I welcome them equally. And when they are done, I'll move on to whatever comes next.

And here is to that prospect of future work coming in. Raise a glass. Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Grim times in the old book trade

It’s all over the blogosphere. Publishers are making major changes. One publishing news site already referring to today as Black Wednesday. That’s awfully disheartening. But reality, it might be.

Major reorganizations at Random House. The head of Simon & Schuster’s Children’s division “leaving the company.” Lots of shake up at Houghton Mifflin/Harcourt after they announced a freeze on new acquisitions. Also, Christian publishing house, Thomas Nelson announced that it’s cutting 10% of its staff, approximately 55 people (according to Publishers Weekly). Hard times all around. Even if god is your copilot.

The Comic Book and SF & Fantasy world have been affected too. I’ve read about layoffs at Wizards of the Coast, the CEO of Devil’s Due leaving his position along with a few staffers let go. And word from L.A. is that Tokyopop has let a few people go.

Also, a few comic book magazines made some startling announcements this week as well.

The Comic Foundry — only in its fifth issue — decided to call it quits, as the good folks behind it are simply too busy with their day jobs. [Edit. Note: I’ve had one small article published in CF #3, and will hopefully have a longer piece about comics in the last issue, #5]. And this magazine was nominated this year for an Eisner Award – an amazing achievement in the comics industry. [tears]

Also, comics industry veteran, Danny Fingeroth’s comics writing magazine, Write Now! will publish its last issue in Feb. of ’09 reports The Beat. I’ve purchased this magazine many times over the past few years, loving its approach to writing in the industry [something near and dear to my heart]. I’ll be definitely picking up the last issue.

Say it ain’t so? [insert appropriate Weezer riff here]

As a freelancer in the publishing world, this is a precarious time to be entering my second year ‘on the outside’ but such is the state of things. This grim reality reminds me how important it is to maintain a positive attitude, not to burn bridges, and to do everything possible to stay connected.

It is also a reminder to be as much of a jack-of-all-trades as possible. And that’s what this experience was all about for me. Trying my hand at special sales, subsidiary rights, book development, marketing strategy, and of course copyediting and proofreading – which I’m enjoying working on right now.

And, it’s important to hustle. I mean to literally hit the pavement. Getting work done at your desk is just fine, but sometimes in this big city, you have to get out there, walk the streets. Shake some hands.

I spent most of today going up and down subway steps, working my way across town then downtown, then back up again, all in the attempt to make a sale at a specialty store. So I lugged two heavy bags of books with me all day, and then dropped them off until the next specialty sale idea comes my way. You don’t know if you’ll succeed until you get out there and give it a try.

I realize the publishing business, just like any other, can be brutal at times. For me, I can’t see myself working with anything else – I love books. Comics, thrillers, mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, and of course non-fiction, such as military history.

I don’t know who I’m writing this post to. Maybe to myself. It’s scary when you see reorganizations happening (and I’ve been through one or two myself) and witness magazines fold. Not to mention watching the news these days about our economy is painful.

But we carry on. That’s what we do. Publishing folk. New Yorkers. Editors. Writers. People. We carry on.

As I told a friend earlier today when I emailed him to see if he was still safe at his day job, in the eternal words of Trent Reznor:

The Way Out Is Through [words to live by]