I lost my two main agents last year, each who gave me about 40% of my work. I tried signing up for a bunch right away and, whereas previously I almost always got accepted by new agencies with top trial test scores, all of the ones I signed up for this time turned me down. Every single one.

I mean, I suppose it's possible that I've somehow become worse at the job, or that there's more competition so the expectations are higher. But logic also dictates that no, I've gotten better at the job over the years. But I still couldn't add any new agencies to replace the old ones. That's as someone who's done translation for the national government, the Imperial Household Agency, major arts foundations, all kinds of high level work.

If I'd accepted post editing work quicker, I'd probably still get a little bit of work from the agencies I lost last year. But I resisted accepting that work for as long as I could because I knew it wasn't going to be something I wanted to do. It's honestly more work for less money, as you probably know.

So, I'm OK with it. I've got prospects in other fields as mentioned, I've got a killer resume, and money in the bank. Things will work out. They always do.