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Letter from Boston

Freelancing

By MASAKO YAMADA


フリーランスで仕事をする

経済情報誌『エコノミスト』の夏の研修に応募して、最終選考で落ちた雅子さん。ですが、フリーランスで働く道もあると聞いて、再度、同誌の編集者に連絡を取りました。まず、編集部の欲しい記事について情報を仕入れ、それからネタ探しに入ります…。

A few months ago, I applied for a summer internship at the magazine "The Economist" and was rejected in the final round. Since this was the only job for which I'd applied this summer, and I'd put a lot of effort into preparing the application, I was obviously disappointed. However, the editor told me that he'd be happy to hear from me if I had any stories I could sell as a freelance writer. After letting the idea sit for a couple of months, I finally wrote him an E-mail. He replied very quickly and kindly and gave me the specifics of what he wanted. I was ready to roll.

Of course, in order to sell an article, I needed to have access to newsworthy topics. The editor told me that he gets press releases even before articles hit the newsstands, so I knew that I had to go directly to the source of new activity. I figured there were no better people to ask than my friends who are researchers. I already had some idea of the difficulties I'd face, since one of my friends at MIT had been required to sign lots of non-disclosure forms. I casually asked another friend a computer science student at Harvard whether he was working on anything interesting. He told me, "Yes, but it's my baby, so I'm not going to let you write about it." He said that if he sold his idea to a company he could possibly earn millions in royalties; I told him that I wouldn't ask for more information, since the amount I would've gotten for writing about the idea was minuscule in comparison.

I then wrote to my physics advisor asking for interesting topics. He told me that he'd be happy to help me out, so I went to his office to speak to him and his graduate students. I made a list of questions and brought my laptop to his office to take notes. Since he's an ambitious researcher, I thought he'd be happy to have free publicity in a prestigious magazine. However, I found out that it's considered far more desirable to publish in exclusive science journals first. I realized that well-timed articles are prepared while the research is taking place and released with precise timing after they are published in academic journals and before they are published elsewhere.

Time is an important concept in the land of freelancing. I'd expected freelance writing for a magazine to be a flexible job but the company pays you to perform a specific job on time, so what often ends up happening is that everything else must be put on hold until that task is done. Companies don't have to pay a salary and benefits (like health insurance and pensions) to freelancers. It's an over-the-table transaction with the result that you can't count on getting called at a certain time or getting paid for working extra hours. On the other hand, the companies can't rely on the workers always being there, either.

Although I've taken on various freelance writing and translating jobs, there is not enough stability in freelancing for me to be able to rely on it as primary income. My primary income is my graduate school scholarship. I use my freelance earnings for luxuries such as clothes, piano lessons and restaurant meals. Some of my other grad student friends do technical or computer consulting in order to earn a little extra money.

The Internet seems to be a prime area for freelance work. I think this is partly because much of the work can be done at home, at one's own leisure. I know computer science students who set up Web sites, art students who design the artwork, and music students who set it to music. It seems that another popular freelance job involves translating Web pages. I've been asked by a friend whether I want to translate Web pages with mature, adult content; I don't quite know what the job really entails. I think I'll just keep my ears open for news while I snoop around the labs. Maybe I'll strike something big and maybe I'll strike it at the right time.


Shukan ST: July 25, 1997

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