• Home
    • About Us
  • Services
  • Portfolio
    • Ghostwriting
    • Editing
    • Critiques
    • Formatting
    • My Byline
    • Testimonials
  • Free Reads
  • Reviews
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Contact
HEN HOUSE PUBLISHING
  • Home
    • About Us
  • Services
  • Portfolio
    • Ghostwriting
    • Editing
    • Critiques
    • Formatting
    • My Byline
    • Testimonials
  • Free Reads
  • Reviews
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Contact

Hens Lay Eggs

food for thought

Singing the pandemic blues

3/31/2020

 
Truthfully, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent social lockdown hasn't affected my daily life much at all. What it has affected is my business.

Many have posted on LinkedIn, Facebook, and other places that the national quarantine's enforced inactivity can be put to creative use. Learn a new craft or work on a new project. Perhaps you have a story simmering in the back of your mind that you always meant to write, but never had the time or inclination to start. Now's the time, folks! If you have rough draft, take this time to self-edit and refine the content and find an editor. (I'm available!) If you've thought of starting a blog, you'll never have a better chance. If the idea of writing gives you the willies--but you know you have a great idea--then look into hiring a ghostwriter. (I'm available!)

Or maybe, just maybe, occupy your time by reading a book or six. Buy them. The overwhelming majority of authors do not earn a living wage from royalties, so they appreciate every sale. 

The lockdown will result in many businesses shuttering forever, especially small businesses that can't afford to pay their employees when they're not selling enough (or at all) to cover expenses. The effect will ripple with unemployment figures soaring and the unemployed turning to the government for help. The Great Recession from 2007 - 2009 will feel like a mere blip on the historical timeline of world economics.

People who have never had the opportunity to work from home now have the opportunity to try it out and determine whether it suits them. Those who lose their jobs may join the gig economy, starting up small businesses of their own.  Others may decide to retire early. Businesses that survive the oncoming recession--perhaps even depression--may find themselves fishing in an even more shallow labor pool than before. The gig economy will explode, becoming a brutal environment that chews up and spits out freelancers like an asphalt milling machine.

It won't be pretty.

I knew the lockdown would have a negative effect on my finances and it has. Already hard to come by, gigs have grown even more scarce. Worse, take a look at the major freelance platforms (Fiverr, Upwork, Guru) to see that cheap buyers are demanding even higher word counts on tighter deadlines for a lot less than the already insultingly paltry fees offered.

It's enough to make any freelancer weep.

What really makes me despair is the number of vendors who accept these terrible projects with their low, low fees. They--and the opportunistic thieves who offer such projects--undercut and undervalue the services we freelancers provide.

I can't complain too much, though, as my husband is one of those employed by an "essential service." He's still working. If it weren't for him, we'd be in a world of hurt.

So, with the "extra" time I have resulting from an abrupt and huge slow-down of work, I obviously have more time to work on the latest manuscript. And I have. I expect to finish the draft within another week or two, at which time it will be turned over to my editor, so she can work her magic on it.

I have created some possible covers for the new book.
Picture
Cover Option 1
Picture
Cover Option 2
Picture
Cover Option 3
Picture
Cover Option 4

    Which cover option do you prefer?

Submit

Comments are closed.

    Share!

    Picture

    Author

    Hard boiled, scrambled, over easy, and sunny side up: eggs are the musings of Holly Bargo, the pseudonym for the author.

    Follow
    Karen (Holly)

    Blog Swaps
    View Guest Author Posts
    Looking for a place to swap blogs? Holly Bargo at Hen House Publishing is happy to reciprocate Blog Swaps in 2019.
    For more information: 
    Email Us

    Get Your Copy of
    Hen House Publishing Blog via Email:

    Delivered by FeedBurner


    Categories

    All
    Books By Holly Bargo
    Egg Reviews
    Events
    Guest Author
    Interviews
    Mfrw
    Mfrwauthor
    #MFRWHooks
    Reviews
    #SpringfieldOHBookFair
    Status
    #WinterBookFair

    Share

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

HOME | ABOUT US | SERVICES | PORTFOLIO | TESTIMONIALS | BOOK CATALOG | FREE READS | BLOG | EVENTS | CONTACT
Copyright © 2015 - 2023
  • Home
    • About Us
  • Services
  • Portfolio
    • Ghostwriting
    • Editing
    • Critiques
    • Formatting
    • My Byline
    • Testimonials
  • Free Reads
  • Reviews
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Contact