Life In The Transition Lane
As I believe I mentioned earlier in this on-going memoir / rant, I, after 10 years as a full-time professor (and 2 as an adjunct), am no longer teaching at Monroe College. This is my sabbatical semester (ending in April, a short 2 months from now) and, at its conclusion, I'm on my own -- so I should have some new path from the famous "fork in the road;" most importantly, a new source of income.
The exploration of the new paths is exciting but also brings some stress. To re-cap a few explorations:
• I have been writing feverishly, completing two books, “The Inwood Book” (an omnibus containing some poems, a few shorts stories, and a novel, “Offering It Up”) and a very large collection of poems, “New and Collected Poems." These and three previous collections of poetry, “Cashing A Check”, “Writing In My Head”, and “With a Chip on My Shoulder (A Chapbook),” are available on Amazon in both softcover and Kindle versions. While the books have gotten good reviews, sales have been underwhelming. One of the negatives of “Publishing On Demand” (and the only negative I have seen) is that all publicity and marketing are the responsibility of the author and it is often a tough road to go to establish oneself.
• Barbara McMullen and I, together with our long-time publisher at Computer Shopper Magazine, Stan Veit, are re-launching our web-based magazine, “Web 2.0 The Magazine”. While there is little chance of great initial revenue from the magazine, it is a labor of love that may eventually lead to something,
• I’m looking for freelance writing assignments, something that I haven’t really done in fifteen years – and, for the fifteen years that I did such writing, I never really had to scrounge for work. It was not my prime source of income and, when I had an idea for a piece that I would want to do, I’d simply have to call a contact and suggest it – and either do it or not. Additionally, I was on the masthead or a regular at a significant number of publications so I had the assurance of regular writing opportunities. In the time since I have been a regular contributor, the industry has changed dramatically, the contacts have moved on and many of the publications have either moved solely to the web or disappeared completely.
• I’ve also been looking for adjunct teaching positions but the winter semester was long gone when I could look and the summer semester is not a fertile ground for such positions.
• I will also put out some feelers for a return to consulting – most specifically in the area of “Social Networking”. I’ve designed and implemented networks used by thousands of people in wide ranges of applications. Once again, as with all the above, this effort requires marketing -- getting the word out and analyzing and pursuing opportunities.
Unfortunately, marketing, while one of the most important activities in turning the above potentials into revenue, is not an immediate revenue producer. It is rather an expense, both in actual cash outlay and in time that might be used for writing and other income activities.
On the positive side, the time that used to be eaten up by an unholy academic schedule (Monday & Wednesday from 10AM to 10PM; Tuesday & Thursday from 6PM to 9:30PM and Saturday from 8:30AM to 11:30AM) is now available for other enjoyable things such as writing, reading, and re-sharpening my consulting tools (This is not to say that the teaching was not enjoyable; the upper-level courses where the students were Information Systems majors and had passion for the material was always enjoyable and the knowledge that I prepared students well for careers was invigorating -- but introductory courses to non-majors who could care less about the material was not something I really enjoyed and the six and seven course load was onerous.)
Additionally, the more reasonable time-schedule has led us to consider getting a dog, a move that will really put a regimen into my life (4 walks a day). I had to give up my dog fifty years ago when it was found that I was allergic to animal hair -- a truly heartbreaking occurrence for a child. For the last 30 years, I've been able to have cats -- my wife had them and my children wanted them and, through shots, I was able to not only endure them but be their biggest fan. A few years ago, I came to fall in love with a dog, a friend's Shih Tzu, and was elated when told that they were non-allergic. Unfortunately, my awful schedule, coupled with my wife's (who also lost her full time Dean's position with the same institution and is now adjuncting at three colleges with an erratic schedule) made it impractical to take on the commitment required for a dog.
Now, however, it seems practical and yesterday, we looked at a three month old Shih Tzu puppy named "Rocky" and told the foster mother that we wanted it. Our credentials are now being evaluated in comparison to other would-be parents who are making appearances this week -- and we should have a decision early next week (I haven't been this nervous since my children applied for college).
So -- the adventure continues!
The exploration of the new paths is exciting but also brings some stress. To re-cap a few explorations:
• I have been writing feverishly, completing two books, “The Inwood Book” (an omnibus containing some poems, a few shorts stories, and a novel, “Offering It Up”) and a very large collection of poems, “New and Collected Poems." These and three previous collections of poetry, “Cashing A Check”, “Writing In My Head”, and “With a Chip on My Shoulder (A Chapbook),” are available on Amazon in both softcover and Kindle versions. While the books have gotten good reviews, sales have been underwhelming. One of the negatives of “Publishing On Demand” (and the only negative I have seen) is that all publicity and marketing are the responsibility of the author and it is often a tough road to go to establish oneself.
• Barbara McMullen and I, together with our long-time publisher at Computer Shopper Magazine, Stan Veit, are re-launching our web-based magazine, “Web 2.0 The Magazine”. While there is little chance of great initial revenue from the magazine, it is a labor of love that may eventually lead to something,
• I’m looking for freelance writing assignments, something that I haven’t really done in fifteen years – and, for the fifteen years that I did such writing, I never really had to scrounge for work. It was not my prime source of income and, when I had an idea for a piece that I would want to do, I’d simply have to call a contact and suggest it – and either do it or not. Additionally, I was on the masthead or a regular at a significant number of publications so I had the assurance of regular writing opportunities. In the time since I have been a regular contributor, the industry has changed dramatically, the contacts have moved on and many of the publications have either moved solely to the web or disappeared completely.
• I’ve also been looking for adjunct teaching positions but the winter semester was long gone when I could look and the summer semester is not a fertile ground for such positions.
• I will also put out some feelers for a return to consulting – most specifically in the area of “Social Networking”. I’ve designed and implemented networks used by thousands of people in wide ranges of applications. Once again, as with all the above, this effort requires marketing -- getting the word out and analyzing and pursuing opportunities.
Unfortunately, marketing, while one of the most important activities in turning the above potentials into revenue, is not an immediate revenue producer. It is rather an expense, both in actual cash outlay and in time that might be used for writing and other income activities.
On the positive side, the time that used to be eaten up by an unholy academic schedule (Monday & Wednesday from 10AM to 10PM; Tuesday & Thursday from 6PM to 9:30PM and Saturday from 8:30AM to 11:30AM) is now available for other enjoyable things such as writing, reading, and re-sharpening my consulting tools (This is not to say that the teaching was not enjoyable; the upper-level courses where the students were Information Systems majors and had passion for the material was always enjoyable and the knowledge that I prepared students well for careers was invigorating -- but introductory courses to non-majors who could care less about the material was not something I really enjoyed and the six and seven course load was onerous.)
Additionally, the more reasonable time-schedule has led us to consider getting a dog, a move that will really put a regimen into my life (4 walks a day). I had to give up my dog fifty years ago when it was found that I was allergic to animal hair -- a truly heartbreaking occurrence for a child. For the last 30 years, I've been able to have cats -- my wife had them and my children wanted them and, through shots, I was able to not only endure them but be their biggest fan. A few years ago, I came to fall in love with a dog, a friend's Shih Tzu, and was elated when told that they were non-allergic. Unfortunately, my awful schedule, coupled with my wife's (who also lost her full time Dean's position with the same institution and is now adjuncting at three colleges with an erratic schedule) made it impractical to take on the commitment required for a dog.
Now, however, it seems practical and yesterday, we looked at a three month old Shih Tzu puppy named "Rocky" and told the foster mother that we wanted it. Our credentials are now being evaluated in comparison to other would-be parents who are making appearances this week -- and we should have a decision early next week (I haven't been this nervous since my children applied for college).
So -- the adventure continues!
posted by johnmac at
7:36 PM
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