Activities of EFA's Atlanta chapter will be posted here. For additional information, contact Barbara Merchant, acting coordinator, at chap_atlanta AT the-efa DOT org. You must be an EFA member to join an EFA chapter. Chapter events are open to all members, guests of members, and freelancers interested in joining EFA. The Atlanta Chapter meets on the first Saturday of even months, from 1:00 to 3:00 or so.
Next Meeting
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Previous Meetings
Chambodia Crawl
October 9, 2004
We will meet at the Oriental Pearl, 5399 New Peachtree (770/986-9866), for dim sum—the appetizer portion of this crawl. From there, we'll carpool to a different Asian restaurant for the main course. Since it's Chambodia, our choices range from Vietnamese to Bangladeshan. Think of where you'd like to go, and consult your friends for restaurant recommendations. After the main course, we'll carpool to another site for dessert. Be sure to bring your business card, and get ready to go face down in some fantastic Asian food!
Web Resource Session
October 5, 2004
The Atlanta chapter of EFA will meet this Saturday, October 5 at 10:00. We will position ourselves at a remote table (probably the only table) in the James Jefferson Hall of Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, located at the corner of East Lake Rd. and Second Ave. There we will discuss what freelance jobs exist out there in the wide open yard of Opportunity. Please bring your favorite web site address, the one you periodically cruise for freelance work. We're going to compile a web resources list to share with each other.
Added Incentive: There will be caffeinated and decaffeinated beverages and something to dunk in the beverages. Should you want to bring something to accompany the dunking part of the refreshments, please do. We never turn food down.
Rules of Engagement: One Writer's Path to Publication
June 2, 2004
Speaker: Stacey Adams
Chapter organizer Katherine Hyatt greeted members and guests to open the meeting. She announced that there is still a need for a program chair.
Stacey Abrams is a writer who has published both fiction and nonfiction work. Under the pen name Selena Montgomery, she is the author of the novel, Rules of Engagement (May 2001), as well as the forthcoming novels, The Art of Desire (January 2002) and The Laws of Love (November 2002), all to be published in the Arabesque book line through BET Books/Kensington Publishing.
Stacey has published articles on issues of taxation, nonprofit organizations, and public policy including pieces with the Yale Law and Policy Review, The American Prospect, and The Christian Science Monitor. She is also an editor of and contributor to the acclaimed project Content of Our Character: Voices of Generation X-Collected Essays on Ethical Leadership in the 21st Century and the Ford Foundation project, the Youth Commission on Urban Poverty. Stacey is a contributor of political commentary for the National Newspaper Publishers Association, for publication in more than 200 African-American newspapers nationwide for a readership of 15 million.
Stacey received her J.D. from the Yale Law School in 1999. She graduated from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin in 1998 with a M.P.Aff. in public policy. She received a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies (Political Science, Economics and Sociology) from Spelman College, magna cum laude, in 1995.
Stacey asked that everyone introduce themselves and the reason they came to hear her speak.
Stacey said her love for reading was nurtured by the fact that she is the daughter of a college librarian. She always wanted to be a writer, and she would go from school to the library every afternoon and peruse the stacks, sometimes falling asleep between bookshelves with an open book in hand. Stacey's love for writing was enhanced by her attending a performing arts high school where she wrote plays and musicals as well as polished her short story and poetry writing, which she began at a young age.
She began writing her first book, Rules of Engagement, during law school. She offered her "Ten Rules of Engagement for Becoming a Published Writer."
Ten Rules of Engagement for Becoming a Published Writer:
- Acquire the story. (Get the idea. Ignore the adage; write what you know. Instead, write what you want, but be willing to research and support what you choose.)
- Select a genre. (Romance, Mystery, Suspense, Science Fiction, etc. If you straddle genres, be as true to both as you can.)
- Find a voice. (Read everything in the genre you select--both good and bad. This will help you learn good habits and notice bad ones in your own writing. But find your own voice. A pale imitation of a great writer will not (likely) be published.)
- Develop a strategy. (Stacey read Aristotle's Poetics to help her "arc" her book. You can create an outline or a storyboard to organize your book. Stacey uses a storyboard.)
- Execute the operation. (Read the Writer's Market to decide whom to approach. Some publishers will accept unsolicited or unagented submissions; others won't. Don't waste your time with those who won't. For either a publisher or an agent, send the first three chapters and a query letter, or whatever they recommend.)
- Submit it to the primary. (If a publishing company is interested, then you will send in the full manuscript. An agent will either ask for the same or shop around the three chapters.)
- Wait impatiently for a response. (Give the publisher or agent three to six months. If you don't hear from them by then, nudge them along.)
- Writhe in happiness. (After you've been accepted, be sure to negotiate your contract to include your advance, royalties, movie and merchandise rights, ownership of your pen name, etc. It is probably wise to hire a lawyer to assist you.)
- Strike a balance with your editor. (Edit the book according to what you want. Pick your battles with your editor.)
- Bask in the glow of being a published author!
During the Question and Answer Session afterwards, Stacey made some other points:
- Promoting your book: You can ask booksellers to sell your book, but they are not obligated to do so.
- Do not allow the publishing company to keep the rights to your pen name.
- Whenever you can negotiate screenplay, electronic and merchandise rights.
Creative Editing for Fiction and Nonfiction
April 7, 2004
Speaker: Ann Kempner Fisher, Literary Editor
Ann will explain the creative rewriting and revision process for all genres of novels, as well as nonfiction books (self-help, memoirs, how-to, motivational, etc.). She will also touch on how to write a query letter to an agent and/or publisher and what the submission process entails, and the self-publishing option, including Internet resources (Authorlink, Xlibris, and others). The talk will be informal, approximately 30-45 minutes in length, and there will be a time for comment and questions.
We're sure Ann will share tales from how she got started in editing, too, including anecdotes from her Hollywood years, which included such jobs as script coordinator to Jack Nicholson; television writer of situation comedy pilots, episodic comedy, children's shows, and film scripts; and -- best of all -- television critic and feature article writer for Playgirl Magazine.
Ann has also been a contributing writer for The Official I Love Lucy Book and Frank Sinatra - An American Legend, as well as a workshop instructor for the Georgia Writers' Conference, and a continuing education teacher (Creative Editing) at Emory University.
Polishing the Lance—Refining Your Résumé to Market Yourself Better
February 3, 2004 Speaker: Barbara Merchant
Katherine Hyatt officially started the meeting with announcements. She asked attendees to consider joining the free on-line mailing list set up through Yahoo! Groups, as a way to manage their own interest and participation in the Atlanta Chapter's events and happenings. The mailing list is open to both EFA members and guests interested in the Atlanta EFA Chapter. Users may request subscription to the mailing list by sending an e-mail to AtlantaEFA-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, which will be reviewed for approval by a moderator. Alternatively, information about upcoming meetings can be found on the Atlanta Chapter's page at the EFA's site: www.the-efa.org/chapters/atlanta.html
Barbara first provided some background on herself. She initially started freelancing in college when she proofread for Horizon Magazine and Antique Monthly. After obtaining her degrees, she found there were no jobs in her field and ended up working a variety of medical-related jobs while she did freelance writing. Barbara joined the EFA in 1992 because she felt that she, like many other freelancers, was working in a vacuum, and she sought the networking that EFA offers.
The term freelance was first used in 1820 in Ivanhoe. The original free lances were medieval Italian, French, and English knights who lost their positions with noblemen and hired themselves out as mercenaries to make a living. In Ivanhoe, the term appears in the sentence I offered Richard the service of my free lance. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term was applied 60 years later to writers, but it also applied to politicians who had no particular allegiances.
After providing this background information, Barbara then recommended that freelancers always have the following six items in their possession each time they leave the house: * tissues, an emergency $5, business cards, 60 cents (2 quarters and 2 dimes to make phone calls from a pay phone if you don't have a cell phone), a pen, résumé but not a chronological résumé!
A chronological résumé is a traditional résumé, listing work by dates of employment and is used by most people who are looking to be employed full-time by a company, while a functional, skills-based résumé details skills and expertise in subject matter and should be used by freelancers and contractors. The difference is that freelancers are not looking for a marriage, but rather a date.
Often, the problem with a freelancer s using a chronological résumé is that it appears to the potential customer that the freelancer has not had a real job or has not worked since the time the freelancer went solo. The skills-based résumé should alleviate this concern.
A functional, skills-based résumé will answer the uppermost question in potential clients minds Have you done a job like this before?
Following are directions for creating a skills-based résumé
- At the top, place your name, address (post office box is okay), phone, fax, and e-mail address.
- Do not state a goal or objective. An objective is also becoming passé on chronological résumés.
- The very first heading should be Skills, under which you may create underhedeadings for Writing and Editing, if applicable. List each type of editing and writing in which you have had experience.
- The next heading should be Other Skills. Under this heading, list skills that do not fall under the writing and editing categories. For example, skills that could be placed in this category include word processing and project management.
- The next heading should be Selected Projects. Here is the place to list the titles of any published articles or books that you have authored or have edited. You may also list websites and what you did on the site, and any other select projects.
- The following heading should be Selected Clients. List just the name of the company or organization, not full contact information. This is not a reference list, although you may wish to include the names of companies or organizations that potential clients may request to contact as a reference.
- The last two headings should be Education and Affiliations.
Freelancers may wish to develop several versions of their résumés, highlighting their skills based on the type of work they are seeking. The goal is to write the résumé based on various specialties.
Barbara then turned the discussion to one option of what to do with your new-and-improved, skills-based résumé make cold calls. The key is to know what department is in charge of hiring freelancers. Once you have identified the decision maker, speak to him or her about potential work and how your skills would benefit the publisher and make that person s job easier.
One guest asked whether a brochure, instead of a skills-based résumé, is an option. Barbara recommended that while a brochure may be acceptable for marketing to some clients, most freelancers are better off marketing themselves with a skills-based résumé. Ultimately, freelancers should research their options and base the decision of whether to use a brochure or a résumé on the type of client they are targeting.
Barbara's final recommendation regarding skills-based résumés is to proofread it or, better yet, have another trusted person proofread it.
The meeting officially adjourned at 2:45 p.m.; 15 people attended the meeting, including 10 guests.
Networking
January 19, 2004
Please bring your business card. We will be talking about what we do and how we can do it better. The key to doing it better, though, is through networking. So you gotta show up to pass that card around.
Financial Planning
October 7, 2003
Speaker: Mitch Melan, Financial Planner
The chapter meeting consisted of a discussion with Mr. Malan, an experienced financial planner who is accustomed to working with self-employed workers. Following are some salient points of the discussion.
The general goals of a financial plan are long-term investing, primarily for retirement, but also for large purchases like a home, college tuition for children, or other individual needs, and avoidance of taxes. Alleviating the tax burden is especially important for self-employed small business owners because of the tax deductions available and the added burden of self-employment tax and the need to pay for benefits.
There are several instruments that can help achieve both goals. The most important for freelancers is the Simple IRA, a relatively new product that is a boon to self-employed people. You may invest up to $6,000 per year, regardless of income, and it is all tax deductible. You do not need to be incorporated or have employees to take advantage of the Simple IRA. However, if you do have employees, you must provide a 3% match of income. A SEP IRA is also good for self-employed people, but it does have an income limitation. You may contribute up to 15% of your income, or $25,500, whichever is smaller. A Keogh is another option, allowing you to contribute up to 15% of income, or $30,000, whichever is smaller. A Keogh is not recommended unless you have several employees. It requires more paperwork and is more cumbersome to administer. For any of these instruments, you must wait until age 59 ½ to withdraw the money without penalty.
The Roth IRA is recommended for everyone. In fact, there is no reason not to have a Roth. After a relatively modest cushion of savings in a safe, accessible account, like a money market, Roth should be your next investment. The Roth is not tax deductible, but the money withdrawn at retirement is not then subject to taxes. You may withdraw Roth earnings for specified uses, like educational expenses or the first-time purchase of a home, with certain minimum time restrictions. Otherwise, earnings may not be withdrawn until age 59 ½. However, since Roth contributions are already taxed, you may withdraw the amount of your contribution (not any additional earnings) at any time, which makes the Roth much more liquid than people imagine. Although normally it is not recommended that you withdraw any of your retirement savings, it is important to keep this liquidity in mind in case of emergency.
All of the IRA instruments allow you to contribute to them for the previous tax year if you do so by April 15. You may also decide how to allocate funds for these IRAs, depending on how aggressive or risk averse you are, or at what point in your life cycle you find yourself when you invest. You must choose only one, either Simple, SEP, or Keogh. Trying to contribute to more than one is not permitted and raises an audit flag with the IRS. You should shop around for IRAs that have the best returns and the lowest minimums if that is a concern.
It should be noted that a regular IRA is not as prevalent, or as beneficial. The tax benefit is phased out as your income rises, and the deductions are based on your spouse's or dependent's income as well. However, if you are rolling over a 401K from a previous employer and you are now self-employed, you must roll over the money to a regular IRA rather than a Roth, Simple, or SEP. Nonetheless, it is highly recommended that you roll over your 401K rather than leaving it at your previous employer, since you never know what is going to happen at that company or organization. There are too many horror stories of people having difficulty obtaining the money that is rightfully theirs later, because of changes in policy at the company, or because the company folds.
Retirement planning is an urgent concern for all of us. People are currently uneasy about the future of Social Security with the looming retirement of baby boomers. The government attempts to provide incentives to workers to save by providing the instruments already discussed, and we would all do well to take advantage of them. A recent study shows that only 5% of people 65 or older are self-sufficient—not dependent on relatives or other assistance. Investing as early as possible will really pay off in the long run, because your money will keep compounding.
There is really no bad time to start investing, and it is never too late. Over the long haul, stocks outperform other investments. Please also remember that saving money in the wrong places will not help you. The return on regular savings accounts, money market accounts, and CDs is so low that it is actually as if you are losing money. Inflation robs you of purchasing power every year, so if your money is not earning more money at least at the rate of inflation, you are in essence losing money. It is hard to get this across to very conservative, risk-averse investors, especially those who may have experienced the Depression and are understandably reluctant to enter the stock market. However, if people invest consistently and do not engage in high-risk behavior like continuous buying and selling, statistics show that the stock market is the best bet over the long term.
It is recommended that a self-employed investor first take advantage of the Roth and Simple IRAs. Once that benefit is maxed out, annuities might be another option. The newer annuities are more flexible and have more options than ever before.
You should contribute to both short and long-term instruments in order to take advantage of market growth when it occurs. Your portfolio should be diversified, and having control of your choices is always better. Some people are willing to do the extensive research to educate themselves sufficiently to make sound investment decisions, but many people rely on expert financial planners to help them make the best choices. Mr. Malan's firm is available to provide advice to investors in the Atlanta area.
Tax Preparation
August 19, 2003
Speaker: Barbara Elasmar
Barbara Elasmar is a professional tax preparer with a diverse background; she has been a demographer, an accountant, and auditor, and an IRS employee. She also runs her own family construction business.
Ms. Elasmar started her talk by emphasizing that each person was responsible for the accuracy of his or her taxes. Information is the key, and nobody can take care of your earnings better than you can. She feels strongly that each taxpayer has the responsibility to become informed on the issue of taxes, and should take advantage of the IRS library of publications to begin that process. She stressed that freelancers should always remember that they are small business owners and that they should know the value of their labor.
For small business owners, the Schedule C is the primary form for communicating income and expenses to the IRS. Most freelancers will receive 1099 income through the year, which means that no taxes are withheld and estimated taxes must be paid quarterly. Some freelancers also have W-2 income, which falls into two categories: income for regular employees, and income for statutory employees. Statutory employees are employees for a specific purpose, and this relationship can be advantageous to a freelancer if the employer agrees to pay health insurance or social security, for example.
The distinction between a hobby and a business is the intent to make a profit. As soon as you intend to make a profit, you are a business owner. You have three years to generate income, and you can even request an extension, which is not usually refused.
As a business owner, you can deduct expenses. Some general tips:
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A credit card statement IS a receipt.
Always keep up with your mileage—when you go to an EFA meeting, to Office Depot, to a client's office, whenever you are doing anything at all that pertains to your business.
Remember to deduct continuing education expenses (and the mileage to get there.)
Expenses from investigating prospects for a business are also deductible.
Don't forget to deduct rental car expenses if you are on a business trip, or if your car is in the shop.
Sometimes it's best to put meals under marketing if you are taking potential clients out for lunch. You can then deduct the full costs of their meals (not yours) rather than the 50% if you include yourself.
You may use either actual cost or published per diem rates for your business trip deductions.
When deducting the portion of your utilities associated with your home office, you can take the high and low bills and average them.
Some tips on home office expenses:
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Deduct everything in your home office. If you haven't deducted it yet, file an amended return. Even that old desk you dragged up from the basement is a deduction: value as of the date you brought it into service for your business.
Use the expense lines on Schedule C instead of Form 8829. Just because a form exists doesn't mean you have to use it.
When deciding how much area of your home counts, discount unheated spaces and bathroom.
The IRS is now using percentages—room doesn't have to be exclusive use any more. For example, you can deduct 90% of your home office if you use it 10% of the time for something else. But you can also deduct a percentage of your dining room if you make all your business calls at the dining room table.
Deduct the business rider on your homeowners' insurance.
It's best not to depreciate anything but your home—use Form 4562 to do that. You can deduct the percentage of the depreciation that is attributable to your home office. The depreciation comes from the basis of your house (minus the cost of the land), which can be from your cost, assessed value, or market value. Depreciation is only deductible from income, but can carry over 15 years and back on amended returns for three years.
Don't forget to deduct the appropriate portion of your mortgage interest.
Don't forget things like flowers in your office, paint, coffee, furniture polish, and anything else that you buy exclusively for use in your home office. Home improvements count too.
Keep good records. Although the general guideline of seven years is a good one, sometimes it pays to keep records even longer, especially for long-term deductions like home depreciation. After a computer glitch that left a large number of civil service employees in limbo regarding their pensions, Ms. Elasmar was able to prove her income using EVERY check stub she had received over a period of decades.
Keep documentation of your expenses throughout the year—put receipts in an envelope and sort them out once a month.
There is no need to cheat the IRS because there are so many legal deductions for a business owner. Nickel and dime them to death, because they are YOUR nickels and dimes.
(Any errors in this text should be laid at the feet of the note taker and do not reflect Mr. Elasmar's expertise.)
-- Gayle Vandenberg
How Much Should I Charge?
April 1, 2003
Presenter: Kate Harris
The Atlanta chapter met on Saturday, April 1 in the Decatur Library. We began with a preliminary discussion that included members' enthusiastic response to the e-mail discussion list. It was decided that the chapter would meet on the first Saturday of even numbered months. If that seems like too little or too much, we will modify the schedule at a later date. The next meeting will be June 3.
We thanked Katherine Hyatt for all her hard work in getting the chapter started, and officers were elected to distribute the responsibilities. Katherine Hyatt will be the chapter organizer chair, and her responsibilities will be to oversee the overall operation of the chapter, promote the chapter and EFA in general, recruit members, and serve as contact person for other chapters and EFA headquarters. Kate Harris will be the program chair, and will organize meetings, recruit speakers, locate meeting space, and publicize events. Gayle Vandenberg will be the secretary/treasurer, and will take and distribute meeting minutes, collect meeting location funds, and provide e-mail support. In fact, all of the chairs will assist Katherine with e-mail correspondence. The hope is that posting the other chairs' e-mail addresses on the EFA website along with hers will distribute this responsibility more evenly.
The fact that we do not have access to EFA events in New York was brought up, and it was decided that we should try to increase chapter participation so that we can host our own events here in Atlanta. We also discussed the job phone, and the general consensus from members who have used it was that it is a good way to find new clients and work on a variety of different projects, but the pay is not high. We brainstormed about the next speaker, and it was decided that we would try to find someone in the web industry to speak. Kate promised to research. Katherine let us know about an assignment opportunity for overflow work from an ecommerce company, and asked that interested members send their résumé to her. Kate Harris was our speaker. A brief summary of her talk follows:
Kate's topic was how much to charge for freelance writing and editing. She highly recommends Laurie Lewis' book, What to Charge, and her stated goal was to provide a few examples from the book to give us a taste of how helpful it is.
The attendees all participated in a role-playing exercise based on a client calling and requesting that a report be edited. What questions should we ask the client? Some responses follow:
What is the scope of the job? Does it require substantive editing, copyediting, or proofing? How long is it? How many authors were involved? What is the deadline? How does the client want the editing to be performed? Online with track changes? Hard copy? How many drafts and revision cycles will there be? Are the pages single-spaced or double-spaced?
At this point, the attendees discussed how they handle such requests. Katherine always insists on seeing the document, or some portion of it, before committing to a price. She will sign non-disclosure agreements if necessary. Gayle always writes a scope of work that is incorporated into the contract. Larry always uses an hourly rate.
Some members cautioned against pricing too low, as the client may think you are inexperienced. It is sometimes best to tease out what the client's budget is ahead of time, if possible. Pricing also depends on other factors, such as how new one is to freelancing, how badly the job is wanted or needed, whether the client is corporate or non-profit, and so on. Some people are willing to accept a lower rate for a cause they believe in, or offer introductory rates to gain new clients. On the other hand, it was recommended that freelancers walk away from a project for which they are expected to do the impossible with very little compensation.
The second part of the talk concerned the tracking of project hours and how to charge for time. Laurie Lewis recommends using the "editorial hour", or charging an hour for each 45 to 50 minutes worked, just as other professionals do. Kate also stressed the importance of using task-based logs to determine where your time is going and how much time a particular type of project takes. The issue of overhead was brought up; freelancers should charge overhead as a component of their rate for all the costs associated with doing business that cannot be attributed to any one client. Members moved on to discuss billing, and building in partial payments for longer projects. Rush fees were recommended by several members.
Kate ended her talk by reminding us that we are professionals and business owners, and we should remember that as we negotiate with clients.
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