What It Is (posts below left; rate sheet, client list, other stuff below right)

My name is Bob Land. I am a full-time freelance editor and proofreader, and occasional indexer. This blog is my website.

You'll find my rate sheet and client list here, as well as musings on the life of a freelancer; editing, proofreading, and indexing concerns and issues; my ongoing battles with books and production; and the occasional personal revelation.

Feel free to contact me directly with additional questions: landondemand@gmail.com.

Thanks for visiting. Leave me a comment. Come back often.

Friday, December 5, 2014

The Question That Always Drives Me Crazy

It's not this one.


My wife and I were at a party this evening -- the annual holiday party following the board meeting of the regional theatre where my wife works. A woman who has known me for probably eight or ten years asks, "So, are you still editing?"

This woman is not unintelligent. For that matter, when she worked for the theatre, she used my services. She was directly involved when I copyedited, proofread, and indexed the self-published book the theatre put out about the theatre's founder.

Why people ask me if I'm still editing is a mystery. Has anyone since I was 24 years old ever known me to do anything else? (Throw in proofreading, and you can back that number up to 20.) Have I ever exhibited any other marketable skill? Can I build anything, design anything, fix anything, sell anything, create anything, or perform anything?

In order, the answers are no, no, no, no, no, no, no, and no.

Is editing a way station, a hobby, a disreputable pursuit, or a stage in life?

Um . . . no, no, no, and no.

I think I once responded to an MD who asked me this question, "Are you still a doctor?"

Drives me nuts.

4 comments:

moi said...

I am categorically unqualified to do anything else. Okay. Wait. There are lots of things I can do. I just can't make money at them.

moi said...

P.S. I have yet to figure out what, exactly, bothers me about Vampire Weekend.

czar said...

22-year-old loves 'em. I think he saw them on a Tuesday in Charlottesville and then that weekend at Bonnaroo. Czarina loves them. All I can say is, at least in this song, they don't bury the fucking lead. I'm sure I've heard their songs a ton, but this is the only one I can identify as them. And it worked for the post.

Here's my fave group in recent memory. Sure to hold your attention for about 75 seconds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcY5czIND-A

moi said...

Tool and Portishead walk into a bar and . . . it takes 10 minutes to get to the punchline.

But I can dig it.