I'm a grumble Bumble

[gwyn]

 I've been waiting for the magazine I work for, my longest-standing client since I went freelance full-time ten years ago, and didn't have anything on my plate this season like I have for many years (that client, whose publishing cycle was in Nov-Dec and then Apr-May-June, has disappeared, meh). Which was great because then I could devote most of my time to working on Yuletide and other stuff like the Stucky AU Big Bang fic, and then when it came in for proofing I could push it through super fast.

But of course they dicked around and dicked around until right when there's a super crunch of holiday stuff, Yuletide, and everything else, and then are like "can you finish it by Tuesday?" I want to kill them. AND THEN it turns out there were two stories in the issue that I did not copyedit. He could have sent them to me weeks ago, I've been free for over a month, but NO. He expected me to actually copyedit these disastrous messes in Acrobat in the laid out issue.

I love the magazine, it's music focused and there's nothing cooler than getting to work on all these stories about musicians and makers and stuff like sunburst Fenders and shit like that. But they are such flakes. It took me well over two months to get my payment for the last issue because he kept thinking he'd sent it out and discovered it on the floor or whatever. The artist takes fooooreeeever to design the issues. The advertisers are like "come on, guys." ISTG men. Men are just, as Rita Rudner once said, bears with furniture. They can't do anything. The publisher kind of wants me to become the managing editor, which I don't want to do, but I'm starting to think I might have to just so I can get them to function better.

So now I'm stressed to the max about editing my inadvertently long Yuletide fic and doing the issue. I guess there won't be Christmas Stucky this year, but I can't imagine there's anyone who cares about that so I suppose in the long run it mattered only to me.

I owe many comments and I will get to them ASAP. 

Also, also, thanks again, to all the people who've thrown a ko-fi my way. You are all amazing and I love you. Blues has been up and down, but mostly okay.

Comments

[mackiemesser]

From a purely pragmatic standpoint: would becoming managing editor mean better insurance and pay? More stress on one level but maybe less on another?

(I am turning into my parents when it comes to jobs, it feels like.)

[batwrangler]

Ugh. How frustrating. My sympathies.

[anelith]

That is really annoying. You would think they would schedule things better for their own self-interest, if not for consideration of others (you).

I like that quote from Rita Rudner.

[umadoshi]

He expected me to actually copyedit these disastrous messes in Acrobat in the laid out issue.

*shudders*

[st_aurafina]

Oh, man. Rita Rudner nailed it.

*sends you all the hugs*

[sperrywink]

Good luck getting everything done. If managing editor came with benefits, maybe?