Moving Along

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I started this blog, so I figure it's time for an update. One of my primary tasks is finding a market to pick up some of the stories I wrote for Escape, the magazine that went belly-up in such a timely fashion the SAME week I decided to go freelance.

After a rough week marked by sleeplessness and a long day sitting at my desk thinking, oh shit, I'm going to be living in a cardboard box a year from now, begging for handouts on the street, I made a little progress on making this screwball dream a reality.

I managed to place one and maybe two of my stories written for the now-dead Escape with Motorcyclist, which is positive. That magazine has a much bigger circulation, so I'll get a bit more exposure. I have two others to sell, and pitched variations of one about a ride with enduro legend Dick Burleson to Men's Health and AARP (insert age joke here--the second is not about ME but about Dick, who's 58 and still living life at full-throttle, to say the least).

Oh, and I also put together a portfolio using the "book" feature in iPhoto. What an amazing program--I did that in about three hours and it looks great. So I've got something to show--now I just need plenty of people to show it to!

One of the best things was having some of my vague notions about what kind of books I want to write forming into more concrete ideas. I think profiles of people who are finding ways to live that are satisfying and creative and outside of mainstream America are interesting, and would be interesting to this homogenized world we live in, but was struggling to find a way to make a book out of that notion. Then I started thinking about the common threads in two innovative, creative people I met while working on books, and realized that both of them built amazing businesses and things in their garage, and thought there's probably a book of profiles and stories about people creating amazing things out of their garage. My publisher, Zack, really likes that idea, and we hammered out a book idea around that this morning.

So that's a big plus this week, another small step in the right direction.

Other than that, life is proceeding normally which means, as of late, a lot of work. I teach and spent the evening refining my class plan. The students are bright and interesting, and the college (Minnesota College of Art and Design) is a place that feels much more hopeful and upbeat than the publishing company where I work (for now). I suppose there's a needed dose of reality at the publishing house, but I like the youthful energy of a college. It's a place where anything seems possible.

First Steps . . .

OK, the first step in this thing came from Zack Miller, the VP of Publishing at MBI. We went to college together, and have worked together for a long time now. More than 12 years. He's a friend, and my boss.

We have coffee each week, and he said that he thought it was time for me to pursue my dream, and that he'd support me as a publisher. That kind of support from what will be one of my primary clients is terrific, and was just the push I needed to jump off into the void.

Things are pretty quiet about this right now. I've told a few friends, and the CEO at MBI knows (even came up to congratulate me during a quiet moment at the company car show last Saturday). The rest of the company doesn't know yet, so it's not on the radar screen there.

I did tell an old friend, Sam Wheeler, and his whole family called and said "Congratulations." He's one of those who've been urging me to do this, and the message was really nice.

So I'm working on a list of books to take on, and on drumming up some more magazine clients. One of my primary clients, Motorcycle Escape magazine, went belly up this week (of course). That's a drag, but just points out the fact that I need some venues with more readers (and bigger budgets) anyway.

So I'm researching magazines, looking for a couple of good homes for my debaucherous adventures. Know any magazines interested in stories about motorcycle-riding nutbags cut loose in exotic destinations? Send 'em my way . . .

Starting Out

I've been talking about freelancing since, well, it's been so long I can't remember when I started. Probably shortly after I decided to drop out of engineering school (OK, maybe I was flunking out . . . details) back in 1989. I was talking about freelancing in 1993, and seriously talking about it in 2000.

So I'm finally taking the plunge and this blog will be where I'll air out the progress of chasing my dreams.