Thursday, December 4, 2008

A Holiday Present For Former Staffers

While I grew up on an island on the Pacific Rim (Alameda, California, in the SF Bay, to be exact) two of my distant island colleagues - Baron Sekiya, on Hawaii, and Tim Clayton on Austrailia (actually an island continent) have departed the field of staff photographer recently. Baron wrote about his experience - Life Beyond the Newspaper, while Tim wrote about his - Do I stay or do I go? Both talked about the struggles of making the break, and all that you have to do, which got me to thinking - what can I do to help those that are departing the comfort of the staff position to make the transition? I once was a staffer at a magazine, and abruptly lost my full-time status due to financial difficulties at the publication, only this was about 15 years ago. And, for me, so far, so good.

Which brings me to my free offer.

(Continued after the Jump)

If you are someone who has left the comfort of a staff photography position from November 1st of this year, and through January 31st of 2009, I will send you a copy of my book for free.

Yes, free.

Here are the details:

You have to have either been laid off or opted to take a buyout in some form or another. If you got fired for stealing, or manipulating photos or that sort of thing, you're out of luck. You'll need to send me a link to a recent photo of yours at the paper (or magazine) online, and I am only giving it to you. If you already bought a copy, well, then you get my thanks, this offer isn't transferrable. I have no idea how many people will take me up on this, but if it gets over a hundred, I'm going to have to include the condition that this offer could end without further notice.

Where will I get the books? Amazon. I have already given away over 200 free copies since it came out, and so once I've confirmed you're a legit former staffer somewhere, you'll get an Amazon gift card via e-mail for the cost of the book. There'll be a lot of the honor-system going on here. One per customer, please. Once you get it, for a start turn to page 71, the section titled "Transitioning from a Salaried Staff Position to Freelance." Then, begin at the Introduction. If you are curious what I am talking about, hit this link and then enter in "71" in the search to see what I am referring to.

Why am I doing this? Because it might make a difference to someone who just feels like they got kicked in the teeth after 15+ years of commitment to a paper, and it might make them feel a bit better. Heck, it might help some amazingly talented photographer continue to contribute to this profession that I love so much, and to continue to be able to make a difference with their images.

Happy Holidays, friends.

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

24 comments:

ben said...

Hey John-
I was a staffer at Surfer Magazine, which is the largest surfing magazine in the world and just decided to go freelance based on their budgeting cutbacks, felt like I could make more selling the images to a variety of markets. I'd love a copy of your book, I'm at that point right now trying to figure out my next move. Thanks!

Ben DeCamp
bendecamp@gmail.com

John Harrington said...

Ben -

Confirmed former staffer.

DONE.

Gift card sent via Amazon, it should be in your inbox already.

Enjoy, and I wish you the best in your new future.

Best,
John

Anonymous said...

John,

I own your book. I just wanted to say that it is really cool that you are doing this for fellow photographers.

All the best,

Armando

Anonymous said...

John. That is a wonderful offer. A true gentlemanly act.
Regards. Patrick.

Anonymous said...

John

You got your MOJO back.

Good for you sir!!!!!

Now you are on track with your blog.

Happy Holidays and remember: pow-wow next year, no excuses.

Cameron

Anonymous said...

I really like your book. It's really a milestone for my job.
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

John,
Are you gonna send a copy of the book to your intern you recently fired for making the unforgivable mistake of dropping your laptop?

Anonymous said...

Hi John,

I was a staffer at the Reno Gazette-Journal for nine years and was cut yesterday due to Gannett's economic crisis. I also happen to be in the middle of a divorce with a three-year-old child, therefore, I am anchored to Reno which is awfully grim job wise. A fellow photog who was also cut altered me to your offer. I would love a copy. Below are examples of the work I truly find most rewarding, although, I retained the rights to all of it. The third link is to prove my position with RGJ. I hope to receive a copy of your book and thank you dearly for the offer.
Sincerely,
Candice Towell
www.ctowellphotos.com
1370 Gordon Ave.
Reno, NV 89509
775.742.5585
candicetowell@hotmail.com
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Dato=20080523&Kategori=SPECIAL03&Lopenr=105230002&Ref=AR
http://rgj.com/multimedia/20080723Maasailand/
http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=J7&Dato=20081127&Kategori=SPORT06&Lopenr=811270801&Ref=PH

Anonymous said...

hello,
My name is Julio Jimenez, I was part of a 142 people lay off at the East Valley Tribune in Mesa, AZ. I would like to take you up on your offer.

Julio Jimenez
8126 W. Sweetwater Ave.
Peoria, AZ 85381

links:
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/122326

http://varsity.evtrib.com/story/131672

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/page/slideshow/1561

John Harrington said...

Candace --

Your gift certificate should be in your in box.

Julio - I need your e-mail address to send it to you. You can e-mail me with it directly, at john@johnharrington.com.

John

Anonymous said...

"Anonymous said...

John,
Are you gonna send a copy of the book to your intern you recently fired for making the unforgivable mistake of dropping your laptop?"

Like you wouldn't have given her the boot.....

I'm in a giving mood this holiday myself; Anon give me your e-mail address and I'll send you a picture of my ass.

Anonymous said...

John,

John just so you know, I am not trying to double dip but I initially sent this email to your work email instead of posting here. I am photographer with the Reno Gazette-Journal that was told that my position would be eliminated at the end of December when they stopped publishing the weekly I was hired to staff. The funny thing is I do most of my work for the daily and have not had a shot in that weekly for the past three weeks except for a few prep sports shots I shot for the Daily. Oh well. I would love a copy of your book and I think it very generous and kind of you to offer that. I have a bad feeling that many will contact you and that is sad.

Here is a link to my last gallery
http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=J7&Dato=20081128&Kategori=PREPSPORTS&Lopenr=811290802&Ref=PH

And my listing on their contact page under Carson staff:
http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=CARSON

photo@wpatrickcummings.com

Thanks,
Patrick

Anonymous said...

Hi!
I was laid off from Singleton's Bay Area News Group in the Bay Area- yep, the publisher of the Oakland Tribune, after almost a decade of service. They let four of us photogs go in this round, the third one this year, counting the 100 people who took a buyout in March. Here's a link to the farewell blog a reporter wrote: http://www.ibabuzz.com/tricitybeat/2008/11/23/goodbye-van/
and here's my multimedia archive, I couldn't find any news photos still up:
http://www.ibabuzz.com/multimedia/category/by-author/bea-ahbeck/

This is so sweet of you! It really touched me. Thank you.

Bea

bea@beaahbeckphotography.com

Eric Schmiedl said...

John,
As someone who owns your book, I can appreciate the power of this offer. Thanks.

John Harrington said...

Patrick and Bea -

Check your e-mail, and look for a message from Amazon.

Enjoy the read!

John

Anonymous said...

Please tell me you're going to chime in on what's up on Strobist today... something to do with business practices...

John Harrington said...

Right now, I am SPEECHLESS about what appeared on Strobist and Chase Jarvis' sites. I am trying to collect myself and my thoughts. Rest assured, I will be commenting...

-- John

Skookum Blog said...

John-
A 27-year staff photographer at the Anchorage Daily News, I took a buyout recently and would love a copy of your book. Here's a link to the last 2 pages of photos my (former) newspaper did on my career. (Check out the video link on that page of my final opus...) Thanks for the generosity.

http://www.adn.com/arts/story/606307.html

Jim Lavrakas
Anchorage, AK
jlav@gci.net

John Harrington said...

Jim --

Confirmed and Sent. Enjoy the read!

-- John

Anonymous said...

John,

I got my book yesterday. Thanks, I will put it to good use.

Patrick

Anonymous said...

John,

I was laid off October 24 from BELO. I use to work for Al Dia, a Spanish publication published by the Dallas Morning News, now I am a full-time freelance photographer. This book would really help me out. A friend owns the book and says I should get it! I recently did a shoot for the Dallas Morning News. Here is a slideshow link.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/pt/slideshows/2008/11/pho11272008turkeytrot/

I'm currently working on a website but I do have work on lightstalkers.

Ben Torres
Dallas, TX
btorres9@yahoo.com
www.lightstalkers.org/bentorres

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's an astonishing gesture and one that the fortunate recipients will truly appreciate after receiving the book.
I own a copy that you signed for me at PhotoPlus Expo two years ago and I can attest that there is a tremendous amount of valuable information in Best Business Practices for Photographers.
It would be great if you could add some up to date content from your recent talks about Search Engine Optimization and related web strategies to the companion website.

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