Take Me, I'm Yours

Writer Seeks Adventure and Profit

Well, it’s that time of year again. As the summer gets itself into full swing and the vacation-minded go on vacation, client work here at my mountaintop hideaway has once again started growing a bit thin.

As I gaze ahead to an autumn that threatens to be tragically bereft of life-giving necessities and insurances, I take comfort in the fact that freelancers always live on a knife’s edge, and that this is a normal part of the rhythm of life. It’s time to commence, once again, looking for gigs so we can keep the dream alive up here at the far end of nowhere, and I give good value for money.

So, while you may have gotten a general idea of my team’s capabilities through reading this column, let me lay it out for you in one place. I may just have a trick up my sleeve that you, or someone you know, has a burning need for.

Mentorship, Tutoring, and Editing

As you may have gathered from the serialization of my book Reclaiming Your Mind: An Autodidact’s Bible, I have a deep and enduring interest in learning, education, strategy, and psychology. To that end, I’ve written four pairs of discipline specific how-to books (which you can find here, here, and here—the fourth pair is publishing later this year), and hosted numerous podcasts, including a nearly ten-year stint running The Every Day Novelist.

From time to time, I’ve also mentored youngsters as well as adult creatives in the various subjects in which I’ve developed expertise—history, art, creativity, philosophy, the art of careful thinking, psychology, game theory, problem solving, audio production, writing, photography, storytelling, and designing control systems for enhancing productivity and consistency (not coincidentally, these are many of the same subjects I cover in this Substack column).

I have also done extensive editing work for other writers and people in the public policy space. Previous clients include other popular Substackers, a handful of bestselling novelists, theology and history professors, small publishers, tech startups in Silicon Valley, and clients who set me on bulletproofing policy research proposals have been discussed in US Presidential Cabinet meetings. In doing such work I concentrated primarily on clarity of thought and consistency of voice, with an eye towards intended audience effect.

“Dan’s knowledge base is immensely broad and deep and he is as curious about the world and the people in it as one can be (this includes you…his potential future client). He has a genuine interest in helping clients find their voice and create meaningful work. I have found Dan to be fun, flexible, honest, and to conduct himself with integrity. I highly recommend him as a resource and invite you to catch his infectious enthusiasm for craft of all kind.”

-Sarah Morris, Mentorship Client

I currently have some open slots for anyone looking for help in any of these areas. I’m happy to do one-on-one mentorship or address small groups who are looking to study specific subjects, and I have a couple decades of curricular materials built up to that end.

Research, Fact Checking, Strategy, and Consulting

As you might expect from a fairly prolific writer of mystery novels, I love a puzzle, I love a treasure hunt, and I love learning things (a subject I’m currently waxing endlessly on in my serial of Reclaiming Your Mind).

This is the passion that unites the different phases of my career, which has taken me from managing logistics and operations at a courier company, to managing the school at an INS contract foster-placement facility, to running a media production company, to managing real-world projects ranging from feature films to interstate moves (for both families and for companies) to corporate takeovers to hostage extractions.

In my freelance work, I regularly take on jobs involving research and strategy. Sometimes I serve as primary point man for formulating the plan of action, more often I serve as the backstop and fact-checker: making sure that all the ducks are in a row for a corporate presentation, taking apart a policy proposal or book project to make sure that the arguments hold water (both objectively and for the intended audience).

My expertise in communication frequently comes into play as much in this work as it does in the editing and mentorship work I detailed in the previous section—it’s a rare project that doesn’t require a communication product tailored to a particular audience, or that needs to be packaged so as to anticipate and pre-defuse the objections that audience is likely to make. When researching, fact-checking, and formulating strategy for my clients, I work with an eye towards strengthening the end-product as much as possible.

As an habitual off-axis thinker to the American political/ideological paradigm, I am happy to put these skills to use for members of any political tribe. As a believer in the American tradition of vigorous debate, I consider it a win anytime someone can put forth their ideas with a robust factual and rhetorical backing, and I likewise consider it a win anytime a creative and courageous person figures out how to kick ass on their pet project.

"When I was writing about politics, I always knew that, being heterodox (neither lefty enough for the left nor conservative enough for the right) I needed solid receipts to back up all the main points of my arguments. But doing the research myself would often take time I didn't have. I hired Dan to do research several times, and his work was always thorough with a fast turn-around. He has also provided invaluable help on several of the more successful pieces of my Substack -- sometimes full-on editing, but often just reading and giving me strategic feedback for how to improve my argument, presentation, and flow. I trust him implicitly and recommend his services highly."

—Substack Bestseller Holly Math Nerd

Media Production

My bread and butter for many years has been media related.

I’ve shot and/or recorded concerts for people ranging from Starship to Brass Farthing.

I’ve done Director of Photography duties on a dozen short films and several feature-length indie and corporate projects.

I’ve done portrait and figure photography (Follow links for galleries. Figure gallery contains nudity).

I’ve narrated audiobooks and directed films, radio dramas, and full-cast audiobooks.

My team and I have created internal curricula and video-guided surveys for clients ranging from small law firms to Goodwill Industries.

I’ve also written copy for radio and internet advertising spots. Below are a couple I’ve done for projects I’ve helmed (because that’s what I have the rights to).

And, just for fun, a fairly obscene blooper reel from the full-cast audio production of a children’s book:

Commercial Artwork

My team and I have done a good deal of graphic design work for local small businesses and nonprofits over the years. In more recent years, we’ve mostly concentrated on book cover art, book layout, and logo design for makers and for authors such as Gail Carriger, Nathan Lowell, Edward J. Knight, and myself.

All design is done by hand. We do not use generative AI as part of our design or layout process.

You can see a selection of our work in this gallery:

Forge Goods

And, most recently, I’ve expanded my blacksmithing hobby into doing commissions for clients, some of whom came to me because they are regular readers of this column. I’ve done hair pins, knives, pendants and other jewelry, sculptures, hooks, drawer hardware, and specialized tools such as custom-made chisels, punches, files, and small-scale farm equipment.

I’m interested in any challenge you can throw at me that will help me grow as a smith, so throw your dream project my way!

You can see a smattering of my best work (so far) here:

Knives and sculptures and jewelry, oh my!

How to Find Me

So if you’ve got a need for anything I do, drop me a line as a private message here on Substack, or email me at dan at jdsawyer dot net.

If you want to help out, but don’t have a need for any of these services, please consider sharing this post to your followers and friends, upgrading to a paid subscription to this stack (and get access to all my paywalled content), or picking up one of my books.

Thanks for reading to the end. I hope I hear from you soon!