The Freelance Writer’s Bill of Rights
I’m in the process of moving from New Hampshire to North Carolina, and things will be crazy around here until we get settled in. I’ll be running some oldie-but-goodie posts on the blog until I’m back to work. Enjoy!
1. You have the right to say no.
An editor asks you to write for exposure? “No.” A source asks to see your article before you turn it in? “No.” A friend keeps calling during your working hours because “you’re always free”? “No.” See how easy it is? You have the right to say no — and not feel guilty about it.
2. You have the right to ask for more.
If an editor approaches you with an assignment that doesn’t pay what you would need to make it work, or asks for all rights, or offers a pay-on-publication writing contract, you have the right to negotiate for something better. The first offer from an editor is not the end of the negotiation, it’s the beginning. If the pay isn’t enough, say “That seems a little low…can you offer me X?” If the contract stinks, know what you want instead (pay on acceptance? First North American Serial Rights? More pay for more rights?) and ask for it. The secret: Be ready to walk away if you can’t get what you want. If you’re not prepared to give up the assignment, you have no bargaining power.
3. You have the right to control your own time.
Sometimes, editors come to you six months after you turn in an assignment and say they need a total revise plus three new sidebars — by tomorrow. You have the right to determine whether that fits into your schedule and act accordingly. After all, you’re a businessperson. It’s not like you’re sitting by the phone for six months, schedule cleared in case your editor suddenly needs a revision done like yesterday. You have other work now, and you’ve arranged your schedule the way you need it to be in order to get your current work done. If you do have the time, try to cooperate with your editor. But if you have three deadlines this week and would have to pull an all-nighter to do the revisions, you have the right to say you can’t get the revisions done when the editor wants them. Then negotiate a better timeline for yourself.
4. You have the right to be treated fairly.
If you wrote an article on assignment and it was accepted, and then the magazine changed editorial direction and your article was killed, what’s fair — getting a kill fee or getting full pay? Full pay, of course, since you did the work according to the contract. If you pitch a detailed idea and the editor says she wants to give it to a staffer, you have the right to say no (and sell it somewhere else) or to ask for an idea fee. If a magazine leaves off your byline, you have the right to ask for a correction, and ask for a PDF file of the story with your name on it. In short: You have the right to be treated fairly and professionally. After all, you are a professional.
5. You have the right to be paid for your work.
Some writers feel they aren’t worth fair pay. They write over and over for no-pay magazines in order to amass enough clips to finally move up to the magazines that do pay fairly. But do you know how many clips you need to command pay? Zero. One of my e-course students broke into SELF magazine with a front-of-the-book piece. (That’s a $1.50/word market, people!) How many clips did she have? None. My first assignment paid $500, and I had no clips. What you need is a strong query letter, not a portfolio full of non-pay clips. You have the right to be paid for your work, just like your plumber and petsitter do (even newbie plumbers and petsitters!).
6. You have the right to look good.
When you write and fact check an article, you have the right to see it printed error-free. You don’t have the right to complain that the editor has changed your perfect prose (so don’t be a diva!) but you can expect that your sources’ names will be correct, your byline will be correct, and the facts in the article will be correct. If any of these things are incorrect, you have the right to ask for corrections. And if a magazine is notorious about messing things up, you have the right to ask to see a galley of the article before it goes to print.
7. You have the right to be paid in a timely manner.
Something scary is going on in the women’s magazine world: They’re hanging onto articles for months and months before “accepting” them, which means that you wait months and months to get paid. In other parts of the publishing world, magazines are running into budget problems and putting their freelancers last in line for payment. Remember: You are a professional. If the printer and the electric company get paid on time, you should too. Can you imagine a lawyer politely sending e-mails after six months of no pay? How about an accountant? Well, you’re a professional just like them, and you provided a service according to contract. If you fulfilled your end of the contract, then the magazine should, too. Don’t be afraid to contact the accounts payable department, send certified letters asking for overdue payment, and, finally, threaten legal action (and go through with it if you need to).
What other rights should be in the Freelance Writer’s Bill of Rights? [lf]
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Jun 16, 2011 Observations, Rants, Rules
This is brilliant advice.
Great to see this.
There was a debate on a writer’s forum not long agon about whether freelancers should have (or deserved) a bill of rights.
What strikes me about this — as you point out in the example of the lawyer, the electric bill and the accountant — is that none of those people need such a bill of rights. In freelance writing, so much of what is ordinary business standards get ignored. And part of that is due to freelancers who don’t stand up to being treated badly…
Great post. There are many great editors out there, but every so often you find a few who feel they are doing you a favor by allowing you to write for the publication. In those situations freelancers should stand firm and know they deserve to be treated professionally. Especially with #7!
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Actually, I wish I had said it. Too many people, not just writers, are willing to work for peanuts and their decision affects us all.
I really needed to see this. Thanks so much for posting it.
This is great! It takes guts to enforce this–we need to cowboy up, as they say in AZ.
Great post! I’m one of those writers that are scared to move up to the bigger markets. I’ve attempted to query a few and have not gotten any responses. But I haven’t called, only emailed. This has inspired me to keep trying!
Three cheers for reminding people of these things. The National Writer’s Union has this and other such advice in its book on Freelance Rates and Standards; it even has a contract it suggests people send out.
Sunehra mentions moving up to bigger markets–which I encourage, but I always remind people that bigger isn’t always better. It can take forever to get one story published in Good Housekeeping (or whatever your dream publication is) and in the same amount of time you might get two, three or five assignments from a lesser-known publisher. The odds are you’ll make as much from the latter in the long run (plus you’re more likely to see repeat assignments). It’s a key piece of advice I’ve been giving for more than a decade in a class I teach called “Succeeding as a Magazine Writer” . ( I see Renegade Writer has a trade magazine writing class, which I’m sure echoes this advice–and more.)
Oh…and I’d add one suggestion for this list. For those of us who do more than magazine work, perhaps working via contract with a company, another right we should have is the same benefits as our staff colleagues. For years writers have been working at either the same 40 hours as staffers, or–to deliberately deny us benefits–being classified as “not really full-time” because we “only” work 30-something hours. I think we should start demanding full rights and find help in getting those demands met.
[...] The Renegade Writer A blog of freelance best-practices from the authors of the book by the same name. The must read post? “The Freelance Writer’s Bill of Rights.” [...]
Exceptional post! Do you mind if I pass this along to others? I know I’m printing it and tacking it to my bulletin board
RE: Writing for “exposure”
If I’m ever asked to write for “exposure”, I’ll remind them that depending on the context, people either die of exposure or get arrested for it, neither of which I’m interested in at this time.
Fantastic post, thank you.
When I started writing I thought that I wasn’t good enough for the magazines and they would never contact me. When I actually gave them a go, I was proved wrong and got a paid assignment with no clips. With the right story idea and a great query letter even the beginning freelancer can land a paid assignment.
Thank you for reminding me that it’s important to learn to say ‘no’ even to our loved ones, and be compensated for the work we do.
Amen!
On the contract topic:
I came to like the whole contract idea from my last article…and with a new article with a different magazine I asked for a contract right away as soon as they offered me a price for my article. $400 for 400 words–fair enough.
After I finished the article they reformatted the magazine, put in a larger photo layout and cut my article down considerably (to around 200-300 words). BUT since I had contracted for $400, they had to pay me $400. And they had no qualms doing that.
Yay for contracts!!!
This is all true! However, as an editor I recently had an experience with a new freelancer who wanted to be paid more because, in her words, I know knew her work. She was professional and hit deadlines, but I didn’t feel that after one assignment she was right to ask for more money. We have set writers fees — which are very fair and one of the best in the state when it comes to compensation — and they don’t change. We have freelancers who have written for us for years that have been getting the same compensation. We are a small publication and in this economy, struggling to stay afloat.
If you are going to ask for more money make sure you aren’t going to offend anyone. Tact and timing is everything.
Good point, Mimi!
[...] Renegade Writer Blog: General biz tips for the freelancer, and this great article about the Freelancer’s Bill of Rights. Offers classes and [...]
Great post! I especially loved your examples of when it’s okay to say “no!” I wish more writers would get comfortable with that word.
[...] found this post at one of my must-check sites and thought it to be brilliant. Allow me to [...]
[...] niche I have to offer link love today to The Renegade Writer Blog for their recent post on the rights of a freelance writer. The post is a must read; do check it out. Comments [...]
Mostly, you have the right to ask for what you want. (yes, you can ask for that, too). You should be ready for the answer of “no.”
God, I love this. It’s common sense, but it’s sorely needed common sense. And you’re hitting the balance just right with this advice; it isn’t about being difficult or demanding, it’s about expecting the rules of business to apply to ourselves. Thanks for the post.
How about, “You have the right to approve all revisions?” It’s frustrating when an article is edited by the client only to see the client make grammar or spelling mistakes.
Celeste, I can absolutely get behind that one! I was recently gutted when I received the issue of a magazine I’d written for. They had apparently changed their spatial allotments and rather than have me rewrite my article, just hacked it to bits to make it fit their word count. It read *horribly* and left me looking like an incompetent fool.
Definitely can’t use that one in my clips file, now! Hrmph.
Thanks so much for sharing this!
The day this was posted I received an email from my editor, for whom I’ve written several articles, that the piece they solicited me to write, then asked for a rewrite on, would not be used. I’ve never had a contract with them, and get paid only on publication. I am furious I went to all the work and now they don’t want it. With no contract, I’m afraid I’m screwed.
My favorite part: the right to say “no.” I have trouble with this sometimes because I’m eager to please, but I think this is key to moving up in any sort of freelance profession. It’s not all about income, it’s also about opportunity cost—if you can’t say no, you’ll end up wasting a lot of time that could be put to better use elsewhere.
Brilliant article! Thank you! I have a little trouble with the writing for free part. I’ve been getting published in online poetry and short story forums, and the market isn’t always a paying one. For me, it’s a toss up between wanting to get my work out there, and wanting to get paid.
My late husband always said, “No is a complete sentence.” While I’ve done some freebies, I’ve also turned down a bunch of “opportunities.”
Thanks for an excellent article. I’ve marked it as a favorite.