21 Comments

I've seen you talk about disability but didn't know it was Hashi's. Thyroid stuff is so debilitating! Mine wasn't autoimmune, it was hereditary, but I had no idea why my business was failing and severe brain fog left me unable to perform simple tasks. It made me get health insurance after 15 years without. I got tested, got meds and found a facebook group for men with the same. Things got much better, not great, but functional again.

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It runs in my family. People who don’t get the brain fog have NO IDEA.

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My family has a history of thyroid issues. I just googled Hashi's and well... I have a lot of stuff to talk to my doctor about next week. Sigh.

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Do it, you can get so much improvement

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I second Patch o'furr. Treatment - which for me is not really hard, but it does take awhile to find the right dose, and it is helpful to find a doctor who gets you in the optimal range, not the normal range - completely changed my life. And the medication only costs me $10 a month. I would be non-functional without it.

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Handy tip from the world of IT contracting.

Ask for an NDA from the people who want you to work for them.

If they won't or can't do this, this tells you immediately that some of these apply:

* You are dealing with someone who can't sign a binding contract

* You are dealing with someone who hasn't done this before

* They probably have no more than beer money to spend

If they do have an email address at a proper company, you're dealing with what we would call a "tyre kicker". Someone who is bored in the office on a Friday afternoon, has no budget or authority, and is playing around, wasting your time.

Like the chap who turns up at a car dealership, likes cars, but hasn't got the money to spend.

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Curious, what should the NDA stress?

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The person on the other side should know this, the important thing is that they have one!

Typically though it will forbid sharing knowledge of the project without written permission. Often emphasize the elements that are the intellectual property of the hirer.

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I totally relate. I recently got a phone call out of the blue by a guy I had never worked with before, who wanted storyboards for a pitch involving a previously successful IP he co-created. He was a bit all over the place, lots of ideas but no concrete brief yet. So I said he needed to develop a script/shot list and we could go from there. He sent me an email with some background info on a Friday after hours and I missed it. Next day (Saturday) he sent me another email and I took a bit long to get around to it, as it arrived in the middle of a work Zoom call. An hour after his second email, I received several texts telling me how rude I was, called me a fat idiot,a dumb Mauri (black person), and a stupid woman, and threatened to ruin my reputation. I was dumbfounded as I had been really nice on the phone, I just took a bit long to reply. The IP (I found out later) was legit, but honestly I think he is mentally ill. It was really awful and a touch scary. Thank goodness he lives in a different state. I can’t imagine being truly well known and fending off weirdos like you have had to do. Does this happen to men in the industry, I wonder??

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And BTW...that is freaking awful, and I'm so sorry.

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Yes, it does. I am not at liberty to relate, but there is one guy who has hounded multiple creators - men and women - just as you’ve described.

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Beautiful watercolour at the end!

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I’d like to offer an additional suggestion.

Some years ago, I hired a friend, a recent graduate from my art college, to teach at a private for profit college. She got a contract to do spot illustrations for a small book by a neophyte writer.

Within three weeks, she was inundated with demands for changes and more changes.

I asked my friend if she contracted for changes and for a kill fee.

She said, “what are those?”

You protect your time and your client’s by specifying the number of changes that are included in the job. And if the job goes south, a kill fee(usually 50% of the contract) is paid for your time and trouble.

Clients can still mess you up, but these little things let them know it’s a professional relationship.

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Yeah, I've written about kill fees here before, and a lot of people are wildly resistant to them. Not really related to, you know, mail, but even talking to some of the people who approach you can set off a bizarre chain of events. I can usually spot a wanker before they get past stage one.

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Artists or clients?

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Most artists don't ask for them, many clients refuse them. I wrote about an awful deal I got awhile back where the client had nebulous limits on changes in the work, and no clear payment for changes that went into mission creep territory.

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Thank you for writing about subjects that young artists, or for that matter anyone who uses social media, should think more about. I think that's why I enjoy your posts so much.

But in regards to being approached by phony baloney "big idea but small thinking" types, it definitely helps to use some qualifiers to fed off the fools. I've always used a basic online client intake form which is filled with questions that deadend the non-serious and asks things like budgets, timelines, scope estimates, artwork rights and the other nuts and bolts of the biz.

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Hi Colleen - just wanted to say thanks for this substack newsletter, it's so much more interesting and informative (about the industry and life) than the regular creators newsletter about their current project! As a wouldbe blogger I know this takes time out of your life that you could be spending doing other things, just wanted to make sure you know it is appreciated!

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I really appreciate your posting that. While the Substack makes a modest amount of money, most of my blogging is paid for via my Patreon. I truly appreciate your kind words.

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Well done to me!

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I appreciate your recounting these to us. Important reminders.

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