• Guest please check The Index before starting a thread.

EBSCO Information Services (formerly EBSCO Publishing)

rihannsu

Mrs. Bruce Wayne
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 19, 2007
Messages
146
Reaction score
11
Location
Austin, TX
I'm wondering if any other freelancers have had issues getting assignments from EBSCO's Business Book Summaries Division.

I started writing book summaries for them in January, and when the editor Jennifer Aparo first sent me the project details, it sounded like a "work as much and as long as you want to" opportunity.

Now, I'm as much of a realist as anyone else, and I know that divisions scale back and sometimes there isn't as much work for freelancers as an editor would hope. I've offered to write a steady stream of summaries for Ms. Aparo, and encouraged her to send as much work my way as she could manage.

I've only had two books to summarize, and in fairness to EBSCO, their payment process is fast and completely professional. The problem is getting an assignment.

Currently, I've been waiting for almost two months to receive a new book to review. Although I've been in regular contact with Ms. Aparo, I've yet to make any headway. Twice, she has emailed me to tell me that "I'm putting a book in the mail this afternoon," and when I check back a week later, there is no book and I can't get an answer from her why it never arrived.

I even suggested that she assign me a title, I would download it as an ebook and then invoice the company for the cost of the book. But a week after I suggested this to make her life easier, I still haven't heard back about an assignment. I've done all I can on my end to make her job easier, and I'm beginning to wonder if I'm being played as the kids say.

Does anyone have any inside knowledge about how things are going at EBSCO? Are they having trouble financially? Are they about to cut the number of available work and this is just trickling down to freelancers?

I'm really in the dark here. I've tried my best to be patient, understanding and professional. But if I just go based on the communication I've had with Ms. Aparo, I'm being led around and told I will have upcoming work to later find out that I won't. I can't run a freelancing business like this.
 

JournoWriter

Just the facts, please
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Messages
591
Reaction score
38
Unless you have a contract, pretty much all freelancing is assignment-to-assignment. You can't guarantee a particular source of income. A "regular" freelancing gig is never "work as much as you want to" - it's always "work as much as we want you to."

My fiancée manages a stable of freelancers in her current job, and it can be feast or famine. Assignments can be sporadic, just depending on what else comes down the pipeline. If they have enough copy banked, they may not need to commission more for a while.