J.K. Rowling wins copyright infringement suit

A while back I blogged about a lawsuit J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, had brought against the publishers of a Potter encyclopedia. Yesterday NPR reported that Rowling won the case against the publisher of The Harry Potter Lexicon.

I found this story on NPR particularly interesting:

Harry Potter Encyclopedia Barred from Publication

An expert on the show discusses what qualifies as fair use and takes some questions from listeners. Apparently the judge in the case was careful to specify that this book qualifies as copyright infringement because of material it takes verbatim from J.K. Rowling's books. In other words, the ruling does not ban reference guides and literary commentary as a whole — it simply draws the line on how much your guide can depend on the intellectual property of the original author.

2008 third quarter estimated taxes due

This is just a friendly reminder that 2008 third quarter estimated taxes are due on Monday, September 15, 2008.

Remember, if you are going to owe more than $1,000 in taxes at the end of the year, you are required to make quarterly estimated tax payments. As long as you make your estimated tax payments on time and pay the same amount you paid last year, you won't be penalized come tax time if your estimate was off. However, if you don't make payments and you owe more than $1,000 at the end of the year, you will also have to pay penalties on what you owe.

I don't know about you, but it always seems to me like the months when estimated taxes are due are always the tightest — even before you figure in the tax bill. For instance, this month I had the unexpected expense of moving my horse to a new home on short notice.

Do you also find that the IRS has the worst possible timing?

New clip: WHY Magazine

With everything that happened last weekend, I completely forgot to let everyone know that I have an essay in the new issue of WHY Magazine. The essay is "Stable Condition," and it's about how having a horse has helped me become a better writer and work-at-homer.

Re: On Freelance Contracts

A good freelance friend and fellow blogger, Kathy Kehrli, blogged the other day on freelance contracts. She wants to know where her fellow freelancers stand on the subject. Although I left a relatively long (three paragraph) response in the comments, I had to rewrite it four times in order to make it comment-length, so I figured I would elaborate on my own blog.

The classic advice that most freelancers get (and give) is to never work without a contract. As a newbie I followed that rule pretty religiously, but I have to admit that I don't anymore. Here's what I do instead, and why.

1) Discuss everything via email. A written agreement is a written agreement, whether it's a contract or an email trail. And even if you have a contract, if you go to court chances are you'll be using emails to prove changes, additional requests, or even just that the client accepted the work. In other words, emails are considered proof, too.

Partly to maintain this paper trail, I typically refuse to discuss project specifics, payment, or anything else work-related via phone. Clients communicate with me via email. Period.

2) Require half payment up front for new clients, before I begin work on the project. Personally, I think a client paying half the money up front is more indicative of intention to pay than signing a contract. And even if you have that contract, it's not going to make it any easier to collect — you'll still have to jump through all the hoops (filing complaints, taking them to small claims court, garnishing wages if they still won't pay, etc.). At least if someone skips out on me, I have half the money already.

3) Follow my gut on whether to work with clients. Like I said, a contract isn't a guarantee that the client will follow through. It's just another piece of paper that claims they will. Since my approach is prevention rather than proof, I'll decline to work with any client who gives me a bad feeling. In general, I avoid clients who do things like:

* Wanting to discuss everything via phone (presumably so that there's no paper trail)
* Balking at paying half up front
* Producing an unfair contract, and then balking at renegotiating the terms
* Having no contact information other than email (i.e. WHOIS, business address, office phone number, etc.)
* Having a poor business plan (i.e. no evidence of income from which to pay me)
* Being really demanding
* Just giving me a bad feeling in general

All of this being said, I do recommend that newbie freelance writers work with a contract whenever possible. When I was still new at this, I almost always requested a contract. There is a certain type of "client" who preys on inexperienced writers, and you can ward most of them off by insisting on a contract. Also, it takes time to develop a sense of who will be a good client and who is out to screw you — so until you've gained experience and feel confident in your ability to sniff out scumbags, stick to using contracts!

Yay, I accomplished something!

I am so pleased — I actually accomplished something yesterday.

I blogged yesterday about my two unplanned days off. Well, it took me almost twice as long as it should have, but I did manage to write the article I've had on my to-do list all week. I feel much better having accomplished something, and hopeful that I'll be able to ease myself back into a normal (i.e. pre-stall mucking) work schedule.

I'm also planning on getting back into a regular blogging routine. I used to blog almost daily, but this summer my blogs have really suffered — first just because summer is a busy time for me, and then because I started mucking stalls on top of everything else. But I'm resolved — I will not neglect my blogs any longer!

In fact, I am off right now to update one of my most neglected blogs — Livre du Jour, my book blog. I have almost a dozen books to catch up on, so stay tuned!

Unplanned days off

After blogging on Tuesday about my rough weekend, I have to confess I didn't get to work, after all. Instead, I took two unplanned days off.

Part of this is probably that I knew ahead of time that this week would be slow — in other words, I knew I could afford to take a couple of days off. I can't let the pattern continue, though, so today I intend to get back to work — even if all I accomplish is one assignment.

I do have a theory about my depression stemming from a sudden reduction in exercise now that I'm no longer mucking stalls. But even if less exercise is a factor, I have to admit that my strategy of reading, taking naps, spending time with my horse, and watching movies with my husband seemed to work: I am feeling a little less depressed now.

Hopefully getting back to work will finish the job and jumpstart my mood back to normal.

Working again after a rough weekend

This weekend was supposed to be really good. For the first time in a while, I didn't have any work to do over the weekend, and I was planning on going for several trail rides.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out the way I expected at all. In fact, some major changes took place, and I am having a difficult time bouncing back.

Remember how I said I was working off my board at the barn? Well, the new manager (with whom I had the arrangement) and I had been having some problems. That all came to a head on Sunday, when she gave me six hours to get my horse out. You can read more about it on my Pony Tales Blog.

I felt relieved and pleased Sunday evening and yesterday, knowing Panama was safe in a new, if temporary, home. Today, though, my mood matches the sudden change in weather, which is overcast after a warm, mostly sunny weekend. I'm starting to miss the routines and the friends Panama and I had at the old barn, and in general just feeling down.

It'll be hard to get to work today. I really don't feel like doing anything other than spending some time with my horse, and maybe reading for a little while. Unfortunately, I do have one assignment that needs to be done today, so maybe I'll compromise by allowing myself to take my time getting to it.

Have you ever had days like today, where significantly upsetting things in your life interfere with your productivity and your enjoyment of your work?