Can freelance writers survive in this challenging economy?One of the best freelance book reviewers and podcasters in the business has put all his interviewing efforts on hold–rocked by shrinking book reviewing budgets at his favorite outlets.Read the …

It was brilliant, and some of the best interviewing I’ve ever heard. It should take you places.

I’m sorry to hear that the Bat has to fold up his wings for now. You created an amazing show that many people enjoyed and appreciated. Perhaps, a door will open for you along your way so that the bat can fly again. It seems to me that you have done everything possible to keep your show going. There can be no regrets that you failed to fight a mighty battle. You know, even Einstein had to work a patent job while he worked on that Relativity thing.

Love,

Aunt Laura

A year ago, when I set about to live the life I now lead, which essentially involved moving to New York and surviving on freelancing money (in hindsight, this was crazed folly that somehow worked out, at least for the last year), I felt that if I was going to live this life that I needed to use my skills, such as they are, to offer the kind of inquiry that you don’t see elsewhere. I tried to give authors who wouldn’t get the kind of exposure elsewhere a place to talk about their work. And I tried a different approach with more established authors, who, by and large, seemed to appreciate it.

With the freelancing, I was able to pay the rent (barely) and sustain a kind of existence that permitted lots of Segundo and progress on the fiction. I also enjoyed the freelancing and tried to make everything I wrote fun and engaging. Managed to persuade a few editors (including Ulin, who really has done a hell of a job over the last two years and is now in an extremely terrible position with the Zell craziness at the LATBR; Josh Getlin got axed, if you didn’t hear the news) to cover unusual or alternative titles, offering humor and a few mainstream cultural access points, along with text-based analysis.

But as the freelancing sources dried up, it became less possible to do this. The newspaper cuts, which have been quite recent, destroyed my ability to keep Segundo going. What you see here are economic consequences.

To address some of the ideas:

1. Public radio. There have been a few exchanges. One program director told me that Segundo was “too smart.” There was another possibility of offering edited versions of the interviews for another program, but, while one producer was hep, it was axed by another producer. And you folks may not know this, but, even if you CAN get your show into major markets, the money is slim. Jesse Thorn, host of “The Sound of Young America,” revealed some astonishing truths in this Metafilter thread:

http://www.metafilter.com/73304/Bryant-Park-Project-Deemed-a-Failure

He points out that, despite being distributed on WNYC and WHYY, he only gets $5-10K a year from syndication. Most stations don’t even pay at all. Thorn survives largely off of donations and underwriting. And while I think he complains a bit too much, considering he seems to have the money to fly around the country for promotional purposes (I certainly don’t), he does have very interesting thoughts on why public radio continues to play it safe. So is it possible? Maybe. If a few program directors can be persuaded. But even the Bryant Park Project people, who Thorn claims were “fighting the good fight,” apparently couldn’t get past some internecine bureaucracy and fixed ideas about demographics. The struggle, as a result, is a long and hard one that requires a considerable amount of work over many months, if not years.

2. Grants. I’ve thought about this too. But that would, in many cases, involve setting up a 501(c)(3). If there’s one thing I learned from reading Victor Navasky’s candid and very interesting memoir, A MATTER OF OPINION, if you want to be political under a 501(c)(3), you’re going to have problems under the tax code, which specifically prohibits this. Because we live in undeniably political times, I have felt it important to include a few political guests on the program to address particular issues. If Segundo reflects our present epoch, it must as a matter of course not be afraid to talk about politics. But since talking politics runs some risk of violating the tax code, this means avoiding a 501(c)(3).

Of course, I could always incorporate. But that would involve $500 and legal fees that I don’t have right now. (And did you know that the New York Times has received grants for some of its podcasts AND they get sponsors? Why? Because they’re a corporation.)

So let’s say that I do incorporate and apply for a NEA Radio & Television grant. Well, take a look at the 2008 grant recipients:

http://www.arts.gov/grants/recent/08grants/artv08.php

Observe who they are giving the grants to: programs that appear on public radio. Again, we find ourselves in a catch-22. The minute that I start dealing with public radio, I will then have to adjust Segundo to meet a specific demographic. Never mind that this is ostensibly PUBLIC radio. It may very will be a replay of the “good fight” that the Bryant Park Project people had to go through. Unless, of course, they think Segundo, as it currently exists, is in some sense stellar. But then I’d have to purchase new equipment to meet their understandable audio standards and possibly shift these interviews to a studio environment that might affect the unique answers and conversation you’ll find throughout these podcasts, which of course take place in natural locations (quite deliberately). The natural approach may work for Nardwuar and CBC. I’m not certain that this would work for NPR.

3. Sponsors and donations. This is probably the best short-term solution here. I tried things out with Bluberry, but they did nothing. And it’s a telling sign that Bluberry recently introduced a hosting profit model. I guess they’re done with looking out for podcasters.

Donations offer a short-term burst to keep things going. But let’s say we conduct a pledge drive. In a few months, I might very well be in the same position I’m in right now. And frankly, I owe some donors chapbooks that I promised from the last pledge drive, but that I haven’t yet made or sent. I feel very bad about this. Although in the grand scheme of things, we weren’t talking about significant sums, this remains my fault, but lack of time and resources on my part prevented me from fulfilling this, and I plan to atone for it someday to those who were kind enough to donate. My humble apologies.

I don’t know if Best Buy (or another sponsor) could be cajoled to offer the $30,000 they did to the Denver Post to sponsor their podcasts. And while some of the podcasts have received as many as 50,000 listeners, there are a few that have received listeners in the very low four figures. In defense of Bluberry, is this really enough to attract a sponsor? It’s a question I’ve wanted to pursue. But this likewise requires time and resources.

What I may very well need is a devoted person willing to look into this. Jason asked how much cash I would need. I’d say that if you could get me at least $30K a year, I could keep Segundo going at the same level of frequency and with the current bandwidth. (And bandwidth is another problem that, for the moment, I won’t go into.)

I hope I’ve summed up some of the problems here. It’s late, but if you have any jumping off points from this, feel free to weigh in. Again, I wish to reiterate that the world DOESN’T owe me a living and that it’s been a privilege to do this. Perhaps all this was really a fluke or a pipe dream and I somehow got lucky. But maybe in sharing some of these thoughts with you, we might be able to come up with a few solutions.

Incidentally, I’m not adverse to doing the occasional special or two if we can work it in. Doctor Who had four years and next year we get some specials. Perhaps we can do something similar with Segundo in the time being? I don’t know. Signing off for now.

I definitely second the public radio suggestion (if you would like to make the podcast a career).

Good luck!

Any chance someone would be interested in publishing selections?

Good luck Ed.