You Ask, We Answer: If I have so much work, why don’t I have any money?
Kristen writes: I have 23 articles due between now (August 21) and August 31. My total pay for those articles will be around $2,300. I quit my staff writing job after 10 years in January and, out of fear of never eating again, lined up many local paper and magazine assignments. They’re fun and easy and when I figure my hourly pay it’s not bad (usually around $35-$40), but I have so many interviews to do and so much to write that I’m not pursuing the national pubs and I’m mean to my children.
My credit card debt is high so I don’t know how to say no to any work.
Do you have any advice for me — besides divorcing my good husband and finding a sugar daddy?
If you want to get out of debt and you don’t want to find a sugar daddy, you have to turn down work. Specifically, you have to say no to those assignments that pay $100 per article. You can try to justify such low pay by insisting that you’re a fast writer, but consider this: How much would you be making if you could whip out 23 articles in ten days that paid five times as much? Getting assignments that pay more takes time and effort, but if you don’t concentrate on raising your rates by targeting higher-paying clients, you’ll be grinding away at low-paying articles forever, and struggling to pay the credit card bill. Those cheap-o magazine editors know a good deal when they see one, and they’ll never give you the time to work on increasing your income!
Also: $35 to $40 per hour might sound like a fine rate when you compare it to some staff jobs, but don’t forget that when you work on staff, someone else is paying for your benefits and their overhead. As a freelancer, you’re paying for 100 percent of your health insurance, you have higher employment taxes (when you’re on staff, your employer pays half), and you’re paying for your utilities, office supplies, and office equipment. Your income needs to cover all that as well as give you a good living wage.
It’s time to do some calculating to find out how much you need to be making per billable hour to meet your goals, and then ditch those assignments that don’t hit that mark. Freelance writer Erik Sherman has a free e-book on his site that takes you through the steps of planning your business and setting your rates. Download it here; this is a PDF file.
I know it’s hard to turn down work: It’s flattering when editors come to you, and you’re also afraid that this feast of work may be your last. But I learned the hard way recently that if you don’t turn down work that doesn’t help you meet your goals, you’ll burn out — and not reach your goals. I’ve been freelancing for 10 years now, and every slow time has been followed by a busy period. Despite my fears that each busy period might be the last, I’ve never been without enough work.
I haven’t calculated my hourly income needs, but I do turn down all work that is below a certain per-word rate and/or above a certain PITA level. Through trial and error, I’ve determined what kind of balance between money and time works for me. I’d love to hear from others how they calculated their rates and what the results have been. Please post your tips in the Comments section!
Got a question for the Renegade Writers? Send it to us at questions [at] therenegadewriter [dot] com. [lf]
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Aug 23, 2007 Advice, Ass, You Ask, We Answer
I’ve been in this position before, and recently — I just turned down a book deal because the per/hour rate was lower than what I’d be making if I were writing articles. I don’t have those articles lined up just yet, but I know that my time is better spent chasing those assignments than going with a locked in deal that was terrible and would have driven me nuts.
Usually when I say no to a low paying project, or drop a client that’s giving me hell, something else comes along. Call it karma, call it what you will, but I’m still able to pay my mortgage.
Thanks for the heads up. With no writing clips and just a wheelbarrow full of determination how would you advise a new writer to evaluate the freelance assignments they get? Is there a magic financial formula you use? Also, what is PITA? That’s not a familiar term.
I have to admit that now that I’m an aging, existential hippie chick I understand those bits of wisdom that I have gleaned along the way. One of which is – “Would you rather be a Rolex or a Timex?” I think that applies to the Freelance Writing life. There are plenty of Editors out there that will be happy to pay you next-to-nothing for a great article. It may take a little more effort, and a bigger wheelbarrow, but we need to shout it out to the world, “I am a Rolex!”
Thanks again for a great post.
blessings,
julia
http://juliaward.typepad.com/a_blinding_heart/
tips, resources, and links for writers
Julia –
PITA=Pain in the A$$
If you have no clips, personally, I would write for next to nothing to gain some. Then move up from there. But that’s me. At the same time, I hear stories of folks landing assignments in major magazines with no clips. So, why don’t you do both? Query some low-paying pubs and high-paying and see what pans out. But get some writing samples – in print.
Kara
My god…I do some articles for $20 a pop. My excuse is that I am bulking out my portfolio page on my website. Is this still too low? I do find myself consistently struggling against time and for money.
Dear Kristen, You could try adding some corporate or PR work into your mix — writing press releases, brochures, or annual reports for companies or universities. Often this type of work can pay more than journalism. Your experience writing for newspapers and magazines is a plus, and if you have an area of expertise such as healthcare or fashion or food, you could target those sorts of companies.
Good luck! Angela
Low-paying assignments only work for you if they have value far beyond the $ itself. Bulking up the portfolio doesn’t count past the first few articles, and it’s easy to make that an excuse for not succeeding. I accepted a recent podcast assignment (low paying for the time involved) just to try out that medium, but I won’t take another low-payer in that medium now that I’ve opened that envelope. That said, the podcast was on attractions in my hometown, so I was able to keep research time in check.
Raise the bar every 6 months or so (or even more often). If you’re writing $20 assignments, up that to $50, and keep doubling. Regional? target national pubs. Don’t wait for that feeling of “I’m ready now” — it doesn’t descend on you from on high! Just press forward despite shyness, inexperience, etc. You’ll be amazed at how much you’ll accomplish in a year.
Ciara, you don’t need to bulk out your portfolio page with low-paying work. One great clip is all you need before you go off in search of higher-paying markets. (And sometimes you can break in with no clips at all.) As Julia says, you need to consider yourself a Rolex before editors will. And Kara’s suggestion to write for cheaper markets while pitching the big guys is a good one…you never know when you’ll hit the big time, but you never will if you don’t try.
My very first article assignment, which was from a minority career magazine, was for $500. It’s not all-or-nothing, meaning it’s not all $20 articles or $2 per word plum assignments. There’s a lot in between.
I also agree with Angela on adding corp writing. It’s always good to diversify — for example, I write for magazines but I also teach an e-course, write books, and do the occasional corp writing gig. Corporate writing tends to pay more, and in my experience it’s fun to do.
Jen, I know what you mean about the writing karma! If you ditch a PITA client, it seems a new one will always be there to jump into that newly opened spot.
I am inching my way into freelance (travel) writing by way of a 15 year freelance marketing career. Now most of my work is project management/marketing stuff for a company that does marketing in the education sector. They pay $75 to $100 an hour for writers. The work is sporadic, but steady. You may want to check out marketing consulting groups in general in your area if you want to get that sort of corporate work.
For me, the very steady income from this one agency lets me put in basically half time hours for full-time pay, and I get to devote the remaining time to working on the travel writing.
By the way, I read all the stuff about starting small, getting clips, etc., but when I was (finally) ready to submit my first query I skipped all that and went straight to a regional magazine, wrote an article on spec, and haven’t looked back. All my (still limited) work has been for regional and national publications. If you write well and manage yourself professionally, I just don’t believe you have to “pay your dues.” I’ve been paying my dues for 25 years – now it’s time to earn something on my investment
This is a very useful thread – and timely, for me.
I decided right at the start that I wouldn’t write for free, and I’ve had numerous features in some fairly nice pubs. But today I’m trying to gear myself up to query a couple of absolutely OMG top-notch magazines. Surprisingly queasy-making! Jen’s notion of “making excuses for not succeeding” really struck home.
Thanks, y’all!
Very interesting thread. I’d like to ask how to go about breaking into corporate/PR work. I’ve been writing magzine articles for several years, but have never found my way into corporate work – what’s your advice?
Treeandleaf and others interested in corporate/PR work – I *highly* recommend Peter Bowerman’s “The Well-Fed Writer” as well as his follow-up book to that one (“Back for Seconds,” I believe). They’re a great way to get started in what can be a very lucrative writing niche and outline how to go about getting clients, building up a corporate writing portfolio, etc.
The journalism writing’s my first love, but it’s fun (and nice on the checking account) to throw in a couple corporate writing assignments here and there.