So I spent about a year and a half writing copy for a well-known national company that shall remain unnamed. I liked the job, and even referred other freelancers to it. It was easy money and challenged me writing-wise. But then, over time, it started getting really crappy and I started dreading it.

First, I had probably 6-7 different editors in the 18-month period that I worked there. It made it difficult to know who to get in touch with, and often I wouldn't get any assignments while they were "transitioning." Then I started having issues getting paid. It took three months for me to get my April check, all the while being told that it was on its way (lie) or being totally ignored altogether (at one point, my editor just stopped responding to my emails). I moved, and changed my address and they kept sending money to my old house. It took three months to get it worked out.

And then I would notice, like all the time, that all my copy was being changed, often dramatically. That pissed me off and made me feel useless. Like, why are they even paying me if they don't like what I'm doing? But they said over and over they couldn't give feedback because they had too many writers, so to just pay attention to why it was being changed. But usually it didn't seem like there was a reason -- I would follow rules and write witty copy with a theme, and then the theme would just get changed, essentially because the editor (or client) liked their own idea better (is what I assumed). Sometimes I understood why it was being changed. Other times I didn't.

So finally I decided it was more hassle than it was worth. I talked to DH and decided the extra $400/month until the baby comes, wouldn't be a big loss. I was going to quit once LO is born in February anyway.

The last straw was that I went out of town for a week. I told my editor ahead of time, and then kept getting assignments while I was gone. I emailed him on a couple of them, and he said oops sorry, by the way I now have a new editor (shocker) and he'd be the one assigning me deals once I got back from vacation.

Well, I get back, and I get no assignments. I decide to wait it out, and for a whole week, nothing. This is a place where I get assignments every day. Sometimes two.

So I send the old editor and the new editor an email politely resigning. And I never even hear back from either of them! No like, sorry to see you go, thanks for all the hard work you've done over the past almost 2 years. And nothing on like, make sure you get your August invoice in by this date (they always tell you when to get your monthly invoices in, but they're also transitioning to a direct deposit system that was supposed to kick in this month, so I just have no idea if I'm supposed to automatically get my last paycheck, or what). So I email the new editor after a week goes by of no recognition of my resignation, and I just say I'm not sure if you got my email that I am resigning, but I just wanted to know if I need to send you an invoice. And all he says is, "No, send xxx your invoice," (my former editor. So I do that, and I hear nothing back from him, either. Not, "Sorry to see you go," not, "Thanks, I'll make sure this gets processed," nothing. At all. So basically I won't hold my breath on getting that last paycheck.

DH thinks I'm overblowing it and joked with me that I probably just want them to beg me to come back. But I don't. I guess I just hoped that quitting would be cathartic, and it is, but it also made me feel really crappy about myself like, they don't really give a shit what I do, leave, don't leave, who cares.

Anyway, I just needed to get that off my chest. It was an experience that is a good resume-builder, that started off awesome, and ended up not so awesome. Oh well!