The Sokanu Blog

By Jeremy Newcombe

Working Together For Success

Almost a year ago, I left a job that I found was making me unhappy. It wasn’t a bad job per se, but I found it unsatisfactory, exhausting, and requiring a disproportionate amount of my energy compared to how it made me feel and what I earned. I decided to go back to school to learn the skills I would need to do something I actually enjoyed and had passion for.

Now, my situation is possibly a little bit different than most. Many people would love to be able to step out of their job and learn to go do what they love, but there are unfortunately many roadblocks along the way. I can tell you, I don’t think I would have been able to do this without the help and support of my wonderful wife. We were married last October, but for the years we’ve been together she has always been extremely compassionate and helpful in helping me find what I want to do in life. This post is about how our support and care for each other makes it possible to do what we enjoy.

What We Do

My wife works a nine-to-five in for a good company in a field she truly enjoys. Seeing her get satisfaction out of going to work is something I’ve always admired about her—she knows what she wants to do, she’s taken the necessary steps and worked hard to get there. On top of that, she’s very good at what she does, which makes her work all the more appealing to her. Personally, I find it very encouraging to see someone who works so hard be rewarded in this way, and watching someone work at a job that they enjoy is incredibly uplifting.

Of course, like any job, hers has its challenges. So does my schooling, for that matter, no matter how much I enjoy and learn from it. There are always hard days at the office, or exams to prepare for, and sometimes even doing what you love can make you feel beat. But this is where it fits together so well—our support for each other makes it possible for us to pursue our goals. My wife helps me in ways I can’t begin to describe, and I do whatever I can to make her life even just a bit easier.

How We Do It

For instance, I go to school at night. That gives me the day to prepare our meals, so that when she gets home (albeit always after I’ve had to leave for class) she has food ready for her. Conversely, while I have the time to do the cooking, I have a significantly hampered income while I’m back at school, so she ends up paying most of our grocery bills. This takes monetary stress off of me and allows her to ease up on her already busy work schedule. This kind of symbiotic relationship is incredibly helpful, and allows us to both live a little better (and eat better, for that matter. I have a feeling that without working together we’d both be living on a diet of Kraft Dinner and frozen perogies).

Of course, she isn’t just a sugar momma. I really don’t want to give that impression! Her love and support is not tied to her (or my) financial situation. The point to be taken from that example is how our strengths can compliment the strengths of the other. We work together very well, which is, after all, the reason I fell in love and married her. 

I know I’m very lucky. I’ve been very fortunate to have such a fantastic support network—of whom my wife is a key member—that have let me go back to school to study and leave a job I wasn’t happy in. Through the support we give each other we’ve been able to spur each other on to live better and happier lives. I hope that anyone reading this can find the same in their friends and loved ones. 

Patricia Anderson 

What do you do?

I am a freelance editor and literary consultant with a background as a book author and scholar of history and publishing studies. Through my business, HelpingYouGetPublished.com, I assist emerging and mid-career authors with the development and publication of their books. My work for clients includes manuscript evaluation, editing, proofreading, book market research, proposal and query preparation, book trailer production, writing press releases, and creating other material for author media kits and websites. I am also writing a book that I believe will be a definitive guide to getting published and distinguish itself from the competition in this genre.

How did you get there?

I have long believed that even when you feel that you are on the wrong career path, the best strategy is to keep moving forward, because one thing leads to another in unpredictable and productive ways.  My own career is an example.

I knew that I wanted to go to university and did indeed enrol immediately following high school. But I was about halfway through a degree in education, when I realized that this was not the best career direction for me. The problem was that I did not know what else to do and, in the end, decided that the wrong degree was better than no degree. A brief stint as a high school teacher later confirmed my belief that teaching English was not the right career for me.

In fact, I had always harboured secret ambitions to have a literary or academic career and now, because I had earned one degree, the opportunity was there. I returned to university and, after a few years, earned an MA and PhD. My time in graduate school pointed me in new directions and, while I studied, I found opportunities to write and publish articles and book reviews, and to gain experience editing both books and scholarly articles. Though I occasionally taught writing and publishing in university and adult education programs, I now set my sights mainly on a literary career. I researched the book market carefully, learned how to prepare and submit a manuscript in a professional way, managed to interest a New York agent, and got three books published by major houses in England, the US, and Canada.  Through it all, I also did occasional contract book editing.

Meanwhile, the book trade was undergoing major changes, brought on in part by competition from other media, the popularization of the Internet, and the advent of print-on-demand book publishing. I decided that there was a niche for me and that I could help authors understand the business and marketing side, as well as the creative and stylistic aspects, of book writing. I went online with HelpingYouGetPublished.com in 1999 and never looked back. A lot has changed since then, and there are constant challenges in sustaining an online freelance career. I keep moving forward, however, and continue to see the Internet as an open frontier for pursuing innovative business and literary directions. One thing leads to another …

Why do you like it?

I enjoy freelance editing and consulting because of the variety of projects I can undertake, the range of interesting clients that I meet, the freedom to work on my own schedule, and the luxury of working at home instead of wasting time and energy commuting. Above all, I like editorial freelancing because it allows me to help get far more stories, ideas, and information out into the world than I could ever do on my own. As one who is an author and scholar, as well as an editor, I find this to be most gratifying.  

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I was always a bookworm and, at about the age of nine, figured that I should be a novelist. I wrote a couple of chapters of a bad mystery novel, which I illustrated using pencil crayons and water colour paints. The characters had such improbable names as Algernon and Leticia, and luckily for both me and the profession of fiction writing, I soon abandoned both them and the novel. A couple of years later, for reasons that I cannot recall, I decided that it would be a good idea to get a PhD, even though I was vague about what this was and how to acquire it. Sometime in my teen years, I thought of becoming a book editor, because I had the notion that this would get me invited to some glamorous cocktail parties attended by handsome and wealthy men, possibly with names like Algernon.

Not surprisingly, my real career did not exactly follow the course I had mapped out in my childhood and adolescent fantasies. On the other hand, one thing did lead to another.

 Follow Patricia on Twitter or visit her Website! 

Photo credit to David Middleton

By Renee Masur

Everywhere people are grunting and hacking; gripping their chests and throats, glassey-eyed, slothing around town. And everyone else is trying to stay away. Is this the zombie apocalypse? 

No, it’s flu season. 

So far the sickness has taken down half of the team at Sokanu, including myself. Slowly, we are all recovering. And while there always seems to be an endless amount of emails, meetings, and work, when you are sick, there is only one thing on your list: go home. 

1. Nobody Wants What You’ve Got

Let’s face it. You sound terrible. You look awful, and everyone can see it. You’re touching everything and germing up the place. It won’t do anyone any good to get sick from you. I’m sure you are awesome when you’re healthy. So head home, and go get awesome. 

2. You’re Brain Wants a Break

Your body is shutting down and your brain is going down with it. When you feel sick, there are constant interruptions in your mind. 

“My throat feels awful”….cough….sneeze…..cough…..”have to blow my nose”…this hurts….”ok, focus”…COUGH.  Your body needs time to heal, and with that, comes the third reason you need to go home:

3. You Know You Want That Nap

It just feels so good. If only for the sweet relief of your magma-burned throat and leaky nose, a nap is a quiet escape from the pain of your sickness. It gives your body the time it needs to fight the raging war in your body. And really, don’t we all really love sneaking in a nap during the day?

4. Your Job Wants You To 

Pushing yourself to suffer through your sickness while working will only cause a kind of resentment that you don’t want associated with your job. A friend of mine told me, “Don’t be a hero. When you are sick, go home. That’s the best thing you can do for your job.” Come back when you are feeling alive again and do your work with energy and passion. 

Go home, sickie! And feel better.