Online Jobs

A Holiday Present For Former Staffers

While I grew up on an island on the Pacific Rim (Alameda, California, in the SF Bay, to be exact) two of my distant island colleagues - Baron Sekiya, on Hawaii, and Tim Clayton on Austrailia (actually an island continent) have departed the field of staff photographer recently. Baron wrote about his experience - Life Beyond the Newspaper, while Tim wrote about his - Do I stay or do I go? Both talked about the struggles of making the break, and all that you have to do, which got me to thinking - what can I do to help those that are departing the comfort of the staff position to make the transition? I once was a staffer at a magazine, and abruptly lost my full-time status due to financial difficulties at the publication, only this was about 15 years ago. And, for me, so far, so good.

Which brings me to my free offer.

If you are someone who has left the comfort of a staff photography position from November 1st of this year, and through January 31st of 2009, I will send you a copy of my book for free.

Yes, free.

Here are the details:

You have to have either been laid off or opted to take a buyout in some form or another. If you got fired for stealing, or manipulating photos or that sort of thing, you're out of luck. You'll need to send me a link to a recent photo of yours at the paper (or magazine) online, and I am only giving it to you. If you already bought a copy, well, then you get my thanks, this offer isn't transferrable. I have no idea how many people will take me up on this, but if it gets over a hundred, I'm going to have to include the condition that this offer could end without further notice.

Where will I get the books? Amazon. I have already given away over 200 free copies since it came out, and so once I've confirmed you're a legit former staffer somewhere, you'll get an Amazon gift card via e-mail for the cost of the book. There'll be a lot of the honor-system going on here. One per customer, please. Once you get it, for a start turn to page 71, the section titled "Transitioning from a Salaried Staff Position to Freelance." Then, begin at the Introduction. If you are curious what I am talking about, hit this link and then enter in "71" in the search to see what I am referring to.

Why am I doing this? Because it might make a difference to someone who just feels like they got kicked in the teeth after 15+ years of commitment to a paper, and it might make them feel a bit better. Heck, it might help some amazingly talented photographer continue to contribute to this profession that I love so much, and to continue to be able to make a difference with their images.

Happy Holidays, friends.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.