What am I good at? I've been pondering this question for days as I start feeling the onset of panic over no money coming in. My design clients have all but deserted me, and I need to figure out what to do. At least my husband still has a job, but the pittance he gets isn't enough to pay all the bills.
Unfortunately, I have a skill set that's not in demand right now. I specialize in creative communication, especially the visual sort, as in advertising and publication design. I've been at it for 30 years, so I have a solid foundation of experience. But if no one needs it, no one needs my expertise.
I've designed a few websites in the past, but it's not something I like to do, and I never had the time to hone that particular craft. I have the time now, so maybe I'll explore it more. When it comes to the graphics and photoshop end of it, I'm an expert, but it's the interactive stuff that holds me back. I never learned the programming end of it.
I opened a new WordPress blog and I'm going to use that to create my online portfolio. If I had the money to pay for web hosting, I'd create a design website through WordPress, but the site I have for my writing is all I can afford. This new one will be for my visual art. Now it's just a matter of buckling down to get it done. I'm also going to create a custom background for my twitter profile.
I've been exploring book trailer production for the past couple of years, but there again I never had the time before to practice creating them. So I plan to work on a couple of trailers for my own books and see where it takes me. I've been wanting to experiment with iMovie on my new and bigger Mac, and now I have the chance. I spent this morning gathering images for Mystic Taxi and downloaded the perfect music score. I hope it's something I can do well, and if I can, it's a service I can offer other authors.
It would be great if my books sold, because then I could focus more on my writing to augment my other creative endeavors. I'll slog along with what I can for now and hope for the best. The economy has to turn around at some point, doesn't it?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hey Karen,
It's too bad you're not that into websites. But book trailers sound cool. I confess that I've fiddled with them based on my own books, and they're so much fun to make. Plus they're on the rise right now. I hope it works for you!
-CA
Post a Comment