Those of you who are participating in the 2007 Query Challenge probably know Kristen King as an enthusiastic cheerleader for writers everywhere. But the Query Challenge is just one of many projects for this writing dynamo. Here's some advice from the Inkthinker herself:Urban Muse: So, Kristen, your recent involvement with LivelyWomen is the talk of the blogosphere (at least my blogosphere). Could you tell us a little bit about how you got involved with b5media?
Kristen King: I was in the right place at the right time with the right skills. I’ve been doing really well with my Inkthinker blog and enjoying it, but it takes up a ton of time and I’m not making any money with it. Several of my friends, including Anne Wayman, who blogs for b5media , are professional bloggers, and I’d been thinking to myself, “Hey, I could do that. Heck, I’d be good at that,” so I decided to check out their companies and see if there were any openings. I e-mailed the Science & Health Channel editor to express general interest, and the timing was just kind of perfect because they had literally just started looking for a new host for LivelyWomen. The gig was a perfect fit, so badda-bing badda-boom, I was in. It’s definitely been one of the best moves I’ve made as a writer.
UM: What are your other main writing projects and at what point did you decide it was feasible to go full-time freelance?
KK: I tend to wear a lot of hats, so I typically have several projects in the works at one time. LivelyWomen.com and Inkthinker are my big daily commitments, and the work for which I seem to get the most publicity. I also write for a trade publication for practicing oncologists and a Chicago-based advertising firm. I’m on the editorial board for Science Editor, which is the journal of the Council of Science Editors, and I do some writing for them as well. And because life would not be complete if my red pen didn’t get a good workout, I do a ton of editing, everything from scholarly journal articles (I specialize in oncology — don’t ask me how that happened!) to individual authors’ novels to meeting programs to websites and everything in between.
Before I started freelancing full time, I was working full time as a medical editor at a fantastic non-profit association in Alexandria, VA, which is about 55 miles from my home. I’d been freelancing on the side for close to 2 years before I quit my job. It just so happened that at about the same time that I decided that I’d rather stab my self in the eye with a pen than make the daily commute anymore, I started consistently receiving enough freelance opportunities that accepting them all would have made for a full-time job plus overtime. Plus, I’d just sold my Jeep and had an extra $4,000 floating around. I put in my notice and headed out of the office for the last time on April 28, 2006. My boss was then and continues to be incredibly supportive of my choice, which is awesome because I loved working for him, and I do a lot of freelance work for the association, pretty much on a weekly basis.
UM: Any tips on staying motivated as you work from home?
KK: Sure, I would love some! Oh, wait, you mean do I have any? I adore freelancing, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. My biggest problem is staying focused on my work. Right now, I have a large cat on my lap and a puppy standing up against the side of my chair barking and hitting my arm with her paw while she tries to get the cat to jump down and play with her. I just got five e-mails, the laundry is ready to be switched into the dryer and the dry stuff folded, and my husband needs me to vacuum before he gets home so he can shampoo the carpets tonight and give the shampooer back to the guy who lent it to us. Oh, and did I mention that I have ADHD? Sometimes it’s hard to remember that I’m at work right now. Sometimes I’m bored and I just don’t feel like working because, hey, it’s sunny out, and I could really go for some Starbucks. It helps to get dressed every day (rather than working in PJs, which I really try to avoid) and make a to-do list each morning. It also helps to keep a large clock where I can see it so I can keep track of where I am in my day and how much time is passing. I’ve learned to say no to answering the phone or the door unless I’m expecting someone, and to give myself permission not to do housework during the workday just because I’m home.Probably the single biggest motivator is that I never, ever want to commute again. I hated it. If my business fails, I have to go back to commuting. That. Is. Not. Happening. Also motivating is that my house is too small, and if I want to move to a bigger one (rather than making my future children sleep in dresser drawers), I need to have a successful business that will allow me to finance that endeavor. And speaking of future children, I want to be able to stay home with my kids, which means establishing my freelancing career now so I can make my family my priority in the future and still maintain a successful business.UM: Now, onto the Query Challenge... how important is it for writers to have an online support system?
KK: Having a support system is critical for writers. The work we do is often a very solitary pursuit, and it’s hard to maintain perspective when you basically spend your days talking to yourself on a computer. I’m active in a couple of online forums and a dozen or so e-mail discussion lists, and those folks have been invaluable in my freelance career. They’re a fantastic source for information, encouragement, and inspiration. I mean, the only people who truly understand the freelance life and the challenges and joys that go with it are those who live it.My goal with the Query Challenge is to give writers, myself included, encouragement (and some professional guidance) to help them actually do the things they’ve always wanted to do, and to make it fun. The trick is to turn the desire for the end result into the desire to achieve the end result. In other words, it’s turning wishing into acting. A lot of people just need someone to tell them that they’re capable of living their dream, that they have the right and the ability to be successful in doing the things that make them happy. Once they get that affirmation, they’re off and running. That’s what I’m hoping to give people through the Query Challenge. They’re a fantastic source for information, encouragement, and inspiration. I mean, the only people who truly understand the freelance life and the challenges and joys that go with it are those who live it. Folks can sign up for the challenge at any time. Info is available here.
UM: And for my final question, what are you reading for fun these days?
KK: I’m one of those people who can’t read just one book at a time, so I usually have three or four going at once. Right now, I’m working on:
- Mankind’s Search for God
- The Bible: God’s Word or Man’s
- The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
- The Doctor’s Wife
I recently finished Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, which I’ve been recommending to everyone I talk to, so go pick it up if you haven’t already. I’m also a compulsive blog reader, and I’ve got more than a hundred blogs in my Google Reader. I try to hit each of them at least twice a week, and I link to all of the writing- and editing-related ones I read regularly in my Inkthinker blogroll, so check it out.