Dear Santa:

I’ve been nice all year. I turned in work on deadline….most of the time. I tracked down headshots when requested, did re-writes without complaining and always included source lists.

So, if you’re wondering what to get me, here’s what’s on this freelancer’s Christmas wish list:

1. A new computer and monitor, and the time to transfer all my important data from the old one to the new one.

2. A week off of anything related to work between Christmas and New Year’s, including checking email.

3. Inspiration, to keep coming up with ideas for stories and this blog that editors and readers will like.

4. More time in 2012 to work on a few pet projects.

5. That all the publications I write for switch to direct deposit.

6. That all my assignments in 2012 pay $2 or more a word (hey, a girl can dream).

7. That all my current clients renew their contracts next year.

Fellow writers and freelancers, what’s on your Christmas wish list?

Portland gets white just in time for Christmas

WordCount is busy celebrating the season and playing in the snow. Beginning  Monday, Dec. 29, I’ll spend a week rerunning some of the year’s most popular posts on freelancing, digital media and the news business. Until then, Merry Christmas!

That’s the question I posed to writers on LinkedIn a couple weeks ago. The answers I got were as varied as the writing businesses of the people who replied.

Many freelance writers are upgrading faster computers or smarter phones next year, while others say they’ll spend whatever money they can set aside to take classes or attend conferences to brush up on skills or explore new markets. For still others, No. 1 on their list is getting more help around the office.

Ghostwriter, podcast producer/trainer and blogger Sallie Goetsch says her current “obscure object of desire” is an Eee PC S101, an ultra lightweight notebook computer she says she’d use in all of her businesses.

Editor and communications consultant Anthony Armstrong has a new laptop at the top of his wish list too, one with “a 17″ screen, 4GB RAM, 512 MB cache and Adobe’s CS4 Suite.” He’s also like an official Red Ryder carbine action 200 shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock. Hmmm, where have we heard that before?

Karen Opas-Lanouette, a Canadian SEO content writer and ghostwriter, didn’t wait for Christmas. When the CardScan business card reader she’d been coveting went on sale recently, she got one. “Love the access from anywhere feature and no more typing in contact data from business cards,” she says.

Tucson, Arizona, freelancer Vera Marie Badertscher says she won’t start thinking about spending money on her business until she lands a few assignments. If and when that happens, she’ll sign up for a blogging class and “hire a typist, a map maker and an indexer for the book I’m working on.”

Texan Kendra Crispin, currently working on a first novel, also expects to spend money on continuing education in 2009. She’s signed up for a blogging class this month and will attend the Writer’s League of Texas Agents and Editors Conference in June.

No. 1 on the wish list of Canadian writer-photographer Ceci-Flanagan-Snow is developing a business plan. “For years I have had too many eggs in one proverbial basket and it’s time for a change,” she says. Nice, and it doesn’t cost much either. Flanagan-Snow does plan to spend on networking – in person and online. But she draws the line unnecessary tech toys. “It’s too easy to be a gadget freak,” she says.

Some independent writers and editors desire more intangible things for 2009 – like LA’s Sarah Daniels, whose only wish is “fewer 16 hour days and more vacations. Seriously.”

But still, as a working parent, it’s a challenge to juggle the work with decorating, holiday shopping, gift wrapping, card sending, entertaining and everything else that needs to get done this time of year.

So in the spirit of giving, here are my 10 top secrets for meeting deadlines during the holidays:

10. Plan ahead. Make a list of what needs to get done – at work and home – and check it twice. A couple years back I created a “Christmas Plan” with exact instructions for things like how we set up the outdoor lights, where I stashed the Advent wreath, how many holiday cards I bought, and anything else I wanted to remind myself about after the holiday. I keep my Christmas Plan on a Note in Microsoft Outlook and read it when the season starts.

9. Be an opportunistic shopper. The next time you’re at an ATM machine buy stamps for Christmas cards (lots of bank ATMs dispense them). When you’re at the grocery store, check out what gift cards they carry. Last night I had to get an electronic gizmo at Circuit City and bought gifts for three people on my list (see tip #10) in 20 minutes.

8. Shop online. After using an online grocery shopping service for the past year, I am a true believer. I figure it cuts 2 hours from my twice monthly shopping expeditions, time I now use to work. I generally buy enough to qualify for free  delivery, so I’m not paying anything extra for the service – and it cuts down on impulse buys.

7. Go virtual. This could be the year we email Christmas cards. Or better yet, post our Christmas letter and family photos on the family blog my husband set up and then just email alerts to friends and family to see our card on the blog. Impersonal? Yes. But it beats not doing anything at all, which is what I did in 2007 when I got too busy to send cards and then felt too guilty sending them in January.

6. Share the load. It’s not my holiday, it’s everybody’s who lives in my house, so everybody helps. My son has taken over the job of hanging outside lights. Both sons helped pick out trees. When my daughter comes home from college she makes gingerbread cookies that we give to neighbors along with other goodies. My husband isn’t a shopper, but last year he ventured out with me on a last-minute gift buying expedition that was so fun I’m hoping we make it an annual event.

5. Do less. Ever since we moved to Oregon we’ve gone to a tree farm and chopped down not one tree but two, one for our entry way and another for the living room or kitchen. This year I’m strongly advocating for one tree – half the decorations, half the time to put it up and take it down.

4. Don’t aim for perfection. It’s hard to be a type A personality and not do everything just so. But around now, I’ll settle for just getting it done. If the ornaments aren’t on the tree exactly the way I’d hang them, oh well. The tree’s done and I’ve got extra time to write. However, this rule doesn’t apply to work: on that I don’t lower the bar.

3. Get up early. It’s amazing what you can accomplish in an hour or two before anyone else in the house is awake.

2. Negotiate. Got multiple work deadlines before Dec. 25? Talk to your editor(s) to see if you can get any additional time. I was able to extend a deadline on one upcoming story by 10 days just by asking – and since I’ve worked for that publication several times before, the editor knows the work will be in when it’s supposed to be.

1. Prioritize. What’s really important, work or family? If spending time with family means skipping an assignment, so be it. Work will be there come Jan. 2.

Got your own secrets for getting work done when you’d rather be baking cookies, sipping cider or holiday shopping? Let’s hear them.