Last year’s “Black Wednesday” was a dark day for publishing, and plenty of dark days have followed. But with the challenge has come opportunity, and some of those who found themselves out of office jobs suddenly had the chance to recognize dreams of working for themselves.
“It was the first time I’d ever been laid off,” says Kara LaReau, who was let go from her position as an executive editor at Scholastic and has formed Bluebird Works Creative Consulting. “It was important for me to have that experience, not that I’d wish it on anyone, but it gave me the opportunity to do some soul-searching.”
“I’d always had side projects going on, and now I’m noticing that the side projects are my work,” says Leslie Jonath, who was at Chronicle for eighteen years and is now an independent multimedia packager. “You have to figure out what you’re doing for love and what you’re doing for money, and where you can make those things overlap. The chance to get back to what I loved doing has been really great.”Of course, leaving the corporate world doesn’t mean leaving behind budgets and other everyday headaches; in fact, it means taking on new fiscal concerns. “The first priority is to understand your financial situation,” says Tim Cooper, former SVP of Strategy and Business Development at Harcourt Trade and Founder of The Consulting Garage for businesses and the Publishing Bay of the Consulting Garage for printers and publishers. “If you do not have enough cushion to be patient and survive during some lean times—for at least a year or so—then I wouldn’t recommend starting your own venture. The other important things are small business accounting and tax issues. There are attractive policies for small businesses, and you need to take advantage of them to be profitable. And you need to make sure you know what your local business laws are so you can get properly licensed or registered, which is especially helpful with tax filings.” Interviewees recommend lining up good lawyers and accountants. Still, everyone we spoke with is glad they had that chance to act on what Cooper calls “a combination of circumstances and desire.” Here’s what they’re doing now.
- The Publishers: Colin Robinson and John Oakes
- The Translator: Siobhan O’Leary
- The Social Media Consultant: Cindy Ratzlaff
- The Publicist: Barb Burg
- The Editor: Juliet Ulman
