For a long time, I had been curious about who a freelancer is. Similar to the words like ‘writer’ and ‘author’, which I talked about in my post, Who is a writer?, freelancer is one of those words that brings to mind images of someone working alone, maybe doing a coding job or something creative. When Palle Schmidt approached me to review his book, SOLO : Survival Guide for Creative Freelancers, I was intrigued. Though I do not plan on being a freelancer anytime soon, I was confident his experience would have something to teach me and I was not wrong.
Let’s take a quick look at what this book is about.
If you’re planning to build a freelance career in an artistic industry, SOLO is the perfect field guide for creative entrepreneurs at every level. Whether you’re starting out, or a seasoned professional, this book will give you the tools you need to push forward on your journey to building your brand and becoming a sought-after commodity. Drawing from his own experiences as a twenty-year professional in the comic book and commercial art industries, author Palle Schmidt guides you through the process of transitioning from amateur to creative professional with an emphasis on longevity, sustainability and happiness in whichever field you’ve chosen. Complete with real-life examples, pre-written forms and psychological business strategy, SOLO will be the book you reference throughout your career for advice and inspiration as you turn your brand into an empire.
SOLO is written for people who believe in creative living on their own terms, who want a sustainable career, mixing freelance work with creating and selling their own art. Diving in to the tactics and strategies of this book will help you find a clearer vision to strike out your own path.
Here’s some of what the book covers:
– How to get started with freelancing
– How to create a network of people to help build your career
– How to handle clients and pricing your work
– How to handle the business side of things
– How to gain new clients and create several income streams
– What tools, tactics and templates you can use to sustain you over the long haul
The Short Take – From Goodreads
How often have you searched on the Internet, trying to find the answer to a problem that your personality and experiences make quite unique? You can surely get some inspiration from the answers in the search but getting the right answer is unlikely. SOLO: Survival Guide for Creative Freelancers is Palle Schmidt’s attempt at bringing together all the questions he had about being a freelancer over the years, and sharing his experiences – what has worked for him, what hasn’t worked for him, the things he is expected to do like an entrepreneur and the things he doesn’t find useful. He had answers to questions I can see myself asking but had not put into words yet!
I learned about what it means to be talented and disciplined. I got to know the factors I need to keep in mind if I want to be my own boss one day. But most importantly, I learned the value of freedom and networking – something that introverts find quite hard to do. Palle offered practice advice on issues like finances, social media, online presence, and more, always with the caveat that each person’s situation is unique and we will each have to find the right fit for ourselves, based on our values, skills and priorities. And he was brutally honest about all of it.
If you do anything creative, whether it is bookblogging, like me, or drawing art, or writing, you should read this book. Even if you do not plan to sell your services, you should read this book. There are so many hidden gems and ideas that you will definitely take away something from it, like I did.
The Long Take – Themes for Thought
Have I mentioned already that I learned so much from this book? If I was to tell you every single thing, it would take a couple of blog posts, partly because I have not completed my journey of using this book yet. Palle has a couple of places where he leaves questions for the reader to answer, such as questions to ask a mentor and existential questions to ask oneself. I have not answered them yet and they will arrive in another blog post.
So while I work on those, I want to share two areas I learned about and some takeaways from SOLO that I apply directly to my work.
On Work Ethics
Whether it is a hobby that one wishes to pursue or a full-time office job, everything requires showing up. I work in the IT industry as a Data Analyst and though I have the wonderful opportunity to work from home sometimes, that does not mean I do not adhere to a routine. Palle drives this point about discipline and work ethics home through his stories. He talks about the different settings in which he has worked as well as how the changes to routines have helped his creativity.
As much as networking seems like a break in habits, Palle highlights its importance. SOLO is sprinkled with Case Study sections that show his ideas in action, whether it was chance encounters with mentors at a comic con or working on a comic and trying to get it published.
Building careers, as well as habits, are multi-facet tasks and they require discipline. Talent helps but that will not sustain the milestones you might want to reach.
On Education
The society prescribes a set path to us – go to school and graduate around 18 years of age, do 3-4 years of college/university, find a job, making a living, and so on. You probably have a mental image for what a ‘job’ and ‘living’ look like. Some people are lucky to find the right careers for themselves. Others not so much. I have undertaken education multiple times to find a place where I want to be and, in this manner, have not stuck to the plans laid out for me.
Being a freelancer is no different. Being self-employed makes deviating from the societal plan and one has to be okay with doing it. Palle talks about his education and how much he gained from the Danish Film School.
When I took a master class in screenwriting at the Danish Film School (after more than a decade of making a living as a freelance writer and artist) it did wonders for my skill set and confidence as a story-teller. But at that time I was much older and more . grounded and I knew what I wanted to gain from the course.
Palle Schmidt in SOLO : Survival Guide for Creative Freelancers
It takes a lot of self-reflection to know what you want to achieve and what you wish to gain out of education, and employment, and life in general. If you are thoughtful and deliberate in outlining and specifying your goals, you will know the value of the education you are going for.
Takeaways for Me
As a bookblogger, I offer the service of reviewing books. I don’t charge for my services even though I am committed to bookblogging as a professional. Every month I set out to read certain books and write about them on my blog. I get requests to review all sorts of books and mostly I cannot say no because the synopsis sounds interesting and this is my way of being open to new experiences.
As I read SOLO, I often put on my bookblogger hat and wondered who my clients are and what I can do for them. Palle offered insights into the whole social media game and highlighted the necessity to prioritize to produce work, rather than worrying about what people think. As much as I would love people to read the books I recommend, I honestly I am here because I love reading and books. Bookblogging just happens to add fuel to that fire.
In Palle, I found a mentor in a unique way, and in SOLO : Survival Guide for Creative Freelancers, I found a guide I will be referring to again.
My bookblogger friend, Noly, at the Artsy Reader is also reading this book and I plan to talk more about our takeways for bookbloggers with her.
Overall, this is a fantastic book that I would highly recommend for you to read. I am thankful to Palle for reaching out to me and sharing his work with me. I will definitely be going back to this book in the near future and posting about it again.
SOLO : Survival Guide for Creative Freelancers is now out in stores so get a copy and let me know what you think! Let’s have a book-discussion!
Check out my interview with Palle Schmidt next! 🙂
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