Blogger: Wendy Lawton
A generation ago we’d see want ads that promised to provide work from home. Most were scams where you would supposedly make a near fortune “stuffing envelopes.” What they didn’t tell you in all of these scams was that you would have to buy the materials for whatever home work they offered and then you’d have to find a market for the product or the stuffed envelopes or whatever.
But the thought of being able to make money and still work from home was enticing. Fast forward to the present day. According to Global Workplace Analytics 2.6% of the U.S. employee workforce (3.3 million people, not including the self-employed or unpaid volunteers) consider home their primary place of work. Your Books & Such agents fall into that statistic.
Wendy’s Office
Wendy’s Desk
I thought it would be fun today to show you where we work. I’ve shared photos of my office before but here are a couple more. My office is small by design. My husband has his office at home and it’s nearly twice the size of mine but I’ve found that I keep scrupulously organized in a smaller space. I had to close the shutters because of the light but if I could show you the outside, you’d see my herb garden and my husband’s workshop with the oh-so-popular hummingbird feeder.
Rachel’s Desk in the Main Office
Deck Outside of Rachel and Michelle’s Office
Janet’s Office
Janet Kobobel Grant, Rachel Kent and Michelle Ule all work at the Books & Such main office which happens to reside in the whole bottom floor of Janet’s home. Her house is perched on a hill overlooking a nature trail and a little further down, the famed wine country road, Highway 12. There are french doors in the main office leading to a massive deck that runs the entire length of the offices. You may be talking with Janet or Rachel on the phone but don’t be picturing them slaving away at a desk in a cubicle somewhere. They could very well be sitting out on the deck in the California sunshine watching Sonoma valley vineyards turning golden red with the advent of autumn. Rachel has a second office in her home for days she telecommutes.
Rachel’s Desk at Home
Mary’s Office
Mary Keeley runs our Chicago office out of her home. One of the nicest things for us is having this kind of cross country reach. Mary is very near Moody, Tyndale and our other midwest publishers. Before Etta Wilson retired, her office was in Nashville– another bastion of Christian publishing.
Rachelle’s Office
Rachelle Gardner’s office is in the newest mecca of Christian publishing, Colorado Springs. At the drop of a hat Rachelle is able to do the kind of important CBA publishing lunches that ABA agents have long done in New York. She’s our connection to the heartbeat of the Colorado publishing hub.
We love our work from home offices. Many of our clients and writer friends also work from home. Your turn. Let’s talk about the benefits and the drawbacks. (Yes, there are drawbacks– we tend to spend many more than forty hours at work when it’s all right there, don’t we?)
NOTE TO BLOG FRIENDS WHO WILL BE AT ACFW: If you are part of our blog community here (participants and those who regularly comment) I’d love to meet you in St. Louis. If you are free Saturday morning between 10:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M., I’ll be somewhere in the vicinity of the Starbucks. Please drop by and introduce yourself. It will be fun to put a face with a name.
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