Q&A with Andrea Reider
Please welcome Andrea Reider to our Featured Author Q&A series at Writer’s Fun Zone. Enjoy!
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About Andrea Reider
Andrea Reider has been working as a book designer and layout artist/typesetter for authors and publishers since graduating from the University of Michigan in English in 1985 with a B.A in English. It was the year of the Macintosh computer and “desktop publishing,” and her first job was managing a typesetting shop in Ann Arbor that was converting from traditional phototypesetting to the much cheaper Macintosh desktop systems.
When Andrea moved to San Francisco a year later, her Macintosh skills were very much in demand. She began working as a freelancer for several book publishers and has been at it ever since. Her clients have included John Wiley & Sons, Addison Wesley Longman, McGraw Hill, Rowman & Littlefield, and hundreds of self-publishing authors.
When she’s not working on books, Andrea spends most of her time with family, including her beloved mother, sister, brother, and nieces and nephews. Andrea has been playing guitar since she was seven years old and credits her many great teachers with maintaining her interest and enabling her to increase her skills as a musician.
On to Our Interview!
Q. Tell us who you are and what inspires you to write
A. I was an avid reader as a child and young adult. Whenever I found an author that I loved I would try to read every book they had ever written. I was an English major in college, and thought I would become a full-time writer when I graduated.
However, I ended up falling in love with book design and typesetting and made a career as a freelancer running my own business. Working on books for other authors is very gratifying to me, but writing and publishing my own book is even better.
Q. How did you get to this place in your life? Share your story!
A. I graduated from the University of Michigan in 1985, which was the beginning of the desktop publishing revolution.
My first job out of school was managing a typesetting shop in Ann Arbor that was just switching over from traditional phototypesetting computers to Macintosh computers.
I typeset my first book using Microsoft Word version1.0. I moved to San Francisco a year later, and my Macintosh skills were in high demand. I landed my first freelance book typesetting job with Addison Wesley Publishers, and have been at it ever since.
Q. What are you most passionate about?
A. My passion for the past 30 years has been all about designing and formatting books. I truly love everything about working with books along with building my freelance business. I also love putting together jigsaw puzzles.
When I was a teenager I challenged myself to finish a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle in under 30 minutes. I sat there doing the same puzzle over and over again with my best speed coming in at 31 minutes.
Typesetting and formatting books has a lot in common with putting together jigsaw puzzles. Both require focus, visualization, and perseverance–keeping at it until the job is done.
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process, routine, and/or rituals around your writing?
A. To write “Staying Freelance,” I set myself the goal of writing at least 1,000 words per day and wrote as many as 2,000 words on some days. I did most of my writing in the early morning before I got busy with my freelance book design and typesetting work. I never know when I’m going to get in a new project to work on, but I’m always primed and ready for anything that happens.
I enjoyed writing “Staying Freelance” more than editing the book, but I pushed myself through many drafts before coming to a final manuscript that I could show to others.
Q. What are a few challenges you faced in creating, marketing, or publishing your creative work? And your solutions to them.
A. I’ve helped hundreds of authors publish their books, but working on my own book was another type of challenge. Writing a book about my freelance career was relatively easy for me, but the process of editing the book and preparing for publication involved many aspects that were quite new to me.
Unlike many of the successful writers I’ve known and met, I’m not comfortable with public speaking, which is one of the best ways to promote books. Instead, I’m doing my best to reach out to people through social media, blog posts–anywhere I can write about my book.
Q. What’s next for you in your creative work?
A. I plan to continue designing and typesetting books for as long as I have clients giving me work. And, like I write in my book, I will continue reaching out to new authors and publishers until the well completely runs dry.
The nature of my work is in itself creative, but I find that building and maintaining my freelance business (and income) requires all of the creativity and ingenuity that I can muster.
I also plan to write another book, but I haven’t completely settled on the topic. It will likely be nonfiction.
Q. Is there anything else you wished I’d asked? Please share!
A. My purpose in writing “Staying Freelance” was to share my story with other freelancers and inspire people to take the steps necessary for long-term success. I had written other versions of the book that included a lot more personal information and much more about my life outside of the world of book design and typesetting. I really tried to focus on how I developed the skills required for my industry and on the many things I’ve done to promote and maintain my freelance business.
Staying Freelance by Andrea Reider
Developing the skills to have entrepreneurial success as a book publishing professional is often the easiest part of working with authors and publishers as a long-term freelance book designer and typesetter. Successful freelancers can spend more time marketing their skills and looking for new clients than they do working on paid jobs and projects.
Staying Freelance is a candid look into the many things Andrea Reider did to establish, grow, and maintain her freelance book design and typesetting business over the course of 30-plus years. One of the main takeaways is that it’s more important that you try out new ways to find clients than overthinking and coming up with a single master plan.
The most important factor in finding new clients is timing-,-finding companies that are open to new freelancers because they are growing or have recently lost a valued employee or other freelancer. The best way to have good timing is to reach out to as many people as possible and hope to connect with the right person at the right time.
Loving the work you do goes a long way toward dealing with and surviving the inevitable downtimes that always seem to be right around the corner. Staying Freelance offers many thoughts and ideas on how to achieve success, overcome the dreaded feast-or-famine cycle, and maintain a steady business for the long-term.
Website: http://www.reiderbooks.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreareiderdesign
Twitter @andreareider11
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/andrea.reider
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-reider-6967908