Career change... er, addendum

After discussions with The Girlfriend, I've had to acknowledge that while my current job is probably the most fun job I'll ever have, it isn't the last job I'll ever have. I always knew that, but I guess it's one thing to know it and another to realize it. So I'm considering a career addendum. Not a change, but a supplement.

I love my job and want to take it as far as it will take me, but in the non-profit world, career growth is not always tied to financial growth. There is, however, a lucrative additional potential for income not at all related to my career, and totally related to my dusty college degree.

I've been arranging complete scores for Patrick Henry High School's marching band (or at least for their front ensemble) for the past three years. Prior to that, I arranged a full score for Indian High School in North Carolina. Do I get paid for these things? You bet. Could I be paid more? Surely (I've gotten better at arranging with each one). Can I expand my offerings to other schools? Abso-friggin-lutely.

I've done the math on it, and it looks like this. I can arrange a score for front ensemble in about three weeks. Variables such as instrumentation changes or mid-season tweaks can throw those figures off a bit, but three weeks is about what it takes for an eight or nine minute show. If I were to hire myself out for this, I could produce at least four scores each year for that year's season, probably more. Most marching bands don't go to camp until August, and most directors don't pick their music until March or April, so I'm figuring 12 weeks interim at three weeks per score. If a director picks his/her music early, there's no reason I can't get started sooner. For a conservative estimate, let's just say four scores per season.

I'm currently billing at $30.00/hour for this, and each score probably comes in at around 20 hours of work, so that's $600 per score, times four scores, and there's $2400 I could make in three months totally in my spare time.

Now, if I were to expand my offerings to concert and/or symphonic repetoire, I could stay busy year-round. I could work on commission, or I could just arrange things in my free time and have them published and collect the royalties as they may come. Win-win.

I'll have to think on this more, but I'm cautiously excited.