katakatica

I love these topics, though I think I only have a couple of goals this time round (haven't... really thought about them!) So, to start off (because everything I say needs the backstory), 2021 was basically the start of me as an actual full-time writer, so this year is my second year truly doing what I love (and sometimes suffering from it.) Because of that, these two years have been chaotic so far (both work-wise and just in general.) But work wise, I want to... 1. Take a couple of courses on other aspects of game designs (and just in general, work on more types of games.) 2. Earn at least twice as much as I did in 2021 - so far I've earned just about the same amount as I did last year, so I think that's a realistic goal. 3. Raise my prices one more time (I've been increasing them gradually, one last time will be 'it' for me at the moment. 4. Start working on personal stuff and just in general set up my portfolio/blog the way it should have been done ages ago (no progress on this one.) 5. Set up a few more game-focused gigs (working on it!) 6. Set up a more comfortable work-station (this will be carried out after holidays. Currently figuring out the logistics of bringing my chair out here but also looking into shared office spaces for some mixing and mingling as the freelancer life gets lonely!) I think these are mostly what I hope to do for now. Personal goals I have a ton as well, but they keep shifting because things are changing so quickly! One main thing would be... learning to sleep better when it's SO DANG LIGHT outside... or finding some better curtains!)

See, it's been very... quick and easy once I actually had the appointment, but it IS quite 'cold' (though I realise a lot of that is cultural.) But... I totally agree. I'm VERY glad that if something scary happens, I CAN get help and not end up in debt that will ruin me. (which, by the way, is just heartbreaking.)

No no, you've got it right! I feel like part of it is the fact that I'm moving from Hungary (and also, a lot of things are very different here, though they ARE digitalised.) I had to get a blood test done in the hospital like, three weeks back and they just... never called back about the results. I'd have tried contacting them, but it took me five days to get an appointment (so basically, it's tricky until you're all settled in. After that it WILL be much easier.) Will try to go back in soon though (I'm hoping it was just all the public holidays/etc. going on.) It's definitely weird when Nordic countries lag behind though. Everything else is so modern so it's kind of odd! (well, everything but the karaoke bar we went to. We had to go through actual BOOKS for the songs we wanted to sing. Crazy!)

No no, you've got it right! I feel like part of it is the fact that I'm moving from Hungary (and also, a lot of things are very different here, though they ARE digitalised.) I had to get a blood test done in the hospital like, three weeks back and they just... never called back about the results. I'd have tried contacting them, but it took me five days to get an appointment (so basically, it's tricky until you're all settled in. After that it WILL be much easier.) Will try to go back in soon though (I'm hoping it was just all the public holidays/etc. going on.) It's definitely weird when Nordic countries lag behind though. Everything else is so modern so it's kind of odd! (well, everything but the karaoke bar we went to. We had to go through actual BOOKS for the songs we wanted to sing. Crazy!)

Good luck on your exams! I don't miss studying to be honest (though I'm learning languges, it's nowhere near as bad as exams used to be!) Do you plan to do anything in July? Maybe hit the beach? As an expat... I can relate to this. Getting everything sorted here has been a nighmare (and still not done! AND I'm an adult! with all of my papers already sorted out!) Hope you manage to have some fun in Madrid, though! As for the cinema room though, that looks awesome! I'd love a cosy room for reading/movies (though the living room is pretty nice luckily. With most of the rain (hopefully) gone I hope to be outside a bit more though because I fear it'll go back to winter very quickly!

I know it's late, I was busy with my birthday last weekend and then... work happened! But... it's almost tradition now and with the summer here, I'm hoping for some fun answers! So, what's happening in June that has you excited/giddy? I'll start (as always.) For small things: I found a recipe for a curry we have in restaurants a lot - this week I'll try cooking it from scratch. Ah, and I got my coldbrew tea bottle from my old place, so I am looking forward to coldbrewing tea/coffee! (it's technically also a thing but I also downloaded the old Chip'n Dale game (for the NES) and I'm about to beat it... dropping it here to kickstart the conversation about games ha!) As for big things... (drumroll!) i'm taking a whole week off for Midsummer (which, by the way, means everything is closed here, apparently, I learned something new this week!) and then... leaving for Paris! It'll only be a few days but I can't wait to go back 'home' (and go to Disney for the second time in two years! (July has more fun stuff planned, like London, watching Hamilton but... JUNE IS PARIS!) So yeah... Are you going somewhere fun? Are you just going to rest by the water back at home? (or work for hours on no end?)

I don't think Fiverr really knows/cares - unless you qualify to be a pro seller. One thing is: anyone can say anything on the Internet. You and I could post the exact same gig, claim to have the same amount of experience... I know nothing about WordPress, while you seem to be good at it! You have to PROVE yourself by having good gigs set up (and, of course, eventually, delivering awesome work.) Fiverr does try to push new sellers a bit from what I know, but it's not a guarantee.

Oooh, love the question. I speak Hungarian and English (native level), French and Italian (my writing is bleh but spoken skills are pretty good since I've lived in the countries), enough Mandarin to get by in China comfortably for the most part (and have conversations with locals!) and currently trying to study Korean and Swedish. (I can also understand Spanish for the most part but wouldn't be able to speak ha)

I'm Hungarian but living in Sweden (though Fiverr is confused and says I'm in Italy. CS said it'll revert on its own, but I've lived in 4 countries since then!) and get this quite a lot as well. I think people lying about their nationalities/whereabouts really does make it... complicated for expats (or people from different countries who HAPPEN to actually write well in English. But... I think the writers' section is so... messy that people still end up going for the few decent-looking ones. I've had a look around a couple of times and it's just not great, from copy-pasted profiles to EXPARTS... I like to think that this is working FOR us, but... I'm not 100% sure, to be honest. At least you were already re-placed! I got the email a good while ago (back in April) but still nothing. I haven't been in touch too much because I had a lot going on with moving around/work/life in general but would love to get back on track but I'm sticking to waiting around for a bit because...yeah. As for the actual topic: liars get found out but they still get orders from stupid people (read: sometimes me who sees the BEST in everyone and even gave a chance to someone who copied my work/gig to change it instead of reporting them off the bat.) People... do learn, though, but maybe not before getting a couple slaps on the wrists (or warnings, I guess.)

I'm very curious about the convo with CS on this, what was the reason that you asked for? I'm pretty certain that denying orders as is isn't against the TOS. (for example, I have to deny several if I'm overbooked or I'm not the best person for the job.) NEVER have I had to prove it to CS or anyone... (if you mean once an order has been placed and you want to cancel for very little reason, that I suppose is understandable.) Anyway, you could be right, I'm just... pretty concerned if this really is the case (since 'reasons' can vary quite a lot and CS might not accept all of them, etc.?)

So... I am currently debating raising my delivery times back (for some of my gigs.) See, I think it was around January that I made them shorter, I finally caught up with the bigger projects completely, and I also increased my prices (by quite a bit) at the time, so it felt like a good deal to everyone. For my biggest packages, I have them on 30 days or so (because for 20k words, I need the time to prepare/etc. - OR if I'm crazy, I can write just two pages a day for the project and have some extra time in case something goes wrong.) Now, this is nice and all, but... lately, I've been getting a LOT of inquires again (and many of them turn into future orders), but I often have to say 'come back in a week or so'. I want to be able to have a bit of a bigger queue, so by doing what you did (extending the delivery times, etc.) I'll likely be able to sleep a bit easier (I won't be in a rush with anything AND will get to work on EVERYTHING.) The other factor for me that often COMPLETELY messes this 'schedule' I'm trying to create though is... inspiration. Sometimes I get an order for 5000 words and in a day it'll be written and edited (even though I have like, 10 days or so for it.) I try to follow my heart when writing a lot, but of course that's not always the best idea.... That being said, a lot of things have changed in the past year or so (I started focusing fully on Fiverr towards the end of 2021), so I think delivery times/prices/etc. will still sort of change as I figure things out more and more.

Could Fiverr be blocking 'furry' as a keyword in titles? While I know it doesn't inherently mean anything 18+ a lot of the gigs that have it seem to be geared towards that kind of content (which, in terms of art at least might be against TOS.) I realise it's a popuar niche though. Other than that, I'm not sure what it could be.

Sometimes I go out during the week as well, but it's mostly for fika (a coffee break thing, Sweden has the BEST pastries I swear). I try to cook during the week (well, share the responsibilities), but during the weekend I like to not have to worry much about that. It's fairly easy to find tasty Asian food here, to be honest (though I've walked into a couple of traps before as well!) Oof on the taxes though, hope they don't take too long to get through!

Happy Sunday people! As a freelancer, one of the perks (and curses) of making our own schedules is that sometimes... we end up working over the weekends! While I don't take the them off completely, I always try to give myself some extra slack during them (and treat myself to some really nice food!) Yesterday we went out and had Indian food for dinner - I swear the food at that place is absolutely heavenly. It was really funny though because we go there so often that we got a bonus appetizer because we're regulars! Today is ramen time! Other than that, I make sure to take some time to walk around a bit outside, get some (Swedish, so sometimes non-existent) sun in, chat with friends and family... So, here's my question to you all: what do you do to make the weekends feel a bit more special?

I swear I'll give it another try! My controller skills have gotten much better with Hades (and Hollow Knight) but I still refuse to buy it, so I'm going to have to wait a bit (as my boyfriend has it but he's still traumatized from the way I played before...) Now THIS I want to play! It looks awesome (and sounds like the type of story I'd love, to be honest! This also sounds very interesting to be honest (though it DOES seem to be stuck in early access, which is a bit of a shame. If I hit my writing goal this week (a bit of motivation) I'll be picking up some escape room board games from the fancy book/game store this weekend (which could probably end up being similar-ish. Unfortunately the next three-four weekends are full though, so I have no idea when I'll be able to play o.o

I remember there was a similar topic ages ago, but as I fall down the rabbit hole of gaming more and more, I can't help but wonder (mostly because I want to play new stuff, but...!) Recently, I finally finished Hollow Knight (yes, I'm playing years-old games!) and got really into Hades. I tried Elden Ring and gave up immediately... I also found an odd but fun gem, Dandy Ace (but honestly, it's not as good as Hades.) As for board games, I'm finishing up one of the Arkham Horror extensions, right in time for a new one to be arriving! We only have... 2 more to play before that! So yeah, when you have the time, what do you play?

Okay, that sounds really fun! My hair was red before this (also dyed) and the roots dark brown, so... dying my hair for me is not easy haha. But now that it's bleached I'll be switching out some colours as well (mostly the ones that will fade quickly.) I'm probably going to go for more pink/purples next time. (honestly though, your white hair is like, super pretty! I could never pull off that colour, too pale for it!)

Hey all! I miss random casual conversation (and just killing time for a bit!) so... given recent events, I've gotten curious about other freelancers'.... hair, yes. I've always felt like since I freelance, it's been easier to dress/go crazy with my hair and stuff, so last week I booked an appointment and... yeah, now I have the Northern lights on my head! Still figuring out a way to make a new profile picture (that fits the business profile requirements) but also shows off my new 'crown' but I felt like I might as well show it off here. (might have had a similar topic ages ago, but with the panini and all, I feel like things might have changed!) So yeah, what's the craziest hair you've ever gotten? Or are you planning on ever doing something 'odd'? (and, out of curiosity, do people give you odd looks for crazier colours where you live? I definitely got some weird looks when they were taking photos of my hair outside of the salon, but otherwise it's been pretty good, I'm just curious.) (attached the hair in question, of course.)

TRS are selected manually - just because you reach the requirements it doesn't guarantee that you'll ever get the badge. It is also written quite clearly on the analytics page if you seek more info about that (I also qualify for months now but haven't been picked.) As for cash advance, really not sure to be honest since I haven't gotten the feature either so!

Personally, I wish there was someone sitting at my desk telling me to work: so for me, having a schedule that's not set in stone is a bit of a con when it comes to freelancing (but that's a very personal thing.) I can go without work for a couple days, grind for 3 days after that without stopping and then burn out... THAT being said, being able to walk away from the laptop whenever things get 'too much' IS a pro in a way as well. I can alter my schedule in a way that I work whenever I want to, which is great when you live abroad and want a social life (or have to fly home for whatever reason.) The main pro for me though is being able to do what I like AND get paid for it. I don't think I'd ever be able to do it here (here being my home country, not my current 'base'). I love the fact that I get to write, even if it's not always 'fun' work.

I'm not sure why this struck me so hard - I've had lots of ups and downs since I'd started writing (and just... living, lol) but it still takes me a while to understand that it's OK to be human and have...bad days. Or make a mistake. Cookies, on the hand are a habit I'd love to indulge in more often. I'm hoping to start baking when I get my own place, so... (I can also relate to this one. Being a former nanny/teacher sure comes in handy...)

I got one of these a while back and it was completely unrelated to what I write (some sort of medical eBook thing?) I do think I still have the eBook / ghostwriting on my profile but no gigs that advertise any of that so I was a tad confused. Not sure I like the feature as it is either though - it doesn't feel much more advanced that BR to me at the moment (which I thought it would to be honest.)

I - admittedly - did make a new gig that I never expected to take off the way it did sometime in December... But yes I agree. Quality, and just in general demand has a huge influence on things. I also started working less but in better 'conditions' and to me the difference between when I was writing 24/7 and now is... Pretty big.

Honestly? January was the best selling month I had (quantity and $$) ever. There'll always be ups and downs though - some fields are just overcrowded to start with so even a small bump on the road (bad private review, late delivery, etc.) could make things bad for a while - or so I guess. It's also still Holiday season in some places, which could also influence it.

Fiverr hasn't changed. As a new seller, you get a boost (as far as I know) but it depends on YOU to keep it. If your gigs aren't interesting or if for some reason people don't want to order from you, I personally can see why your gigs would 'wither' (lose impressions and so on.) (not saying that your gigs aren't good, I didn't check them, I'm just trying to explain what - could - be happening. Think about your gigs and the service you provide. Are your gigs good enough? Are you good enough? Are your clients happy? Feeling sad/hopeless isn't really the solution. Trying to change things is. (it's still OK to vent, to be fair.)