I use these services as just one of many tools in my arsenal to find expert and “real life” sources, but often I end up frustrated — and without usable sources. To be fair, sometimes my requests are kind of crazy — like I’m looking for a Hispanic woman in her 40s who lives in the Midwest and drives a Suburban. But many times, it’s the people who respond to queries that make a writer want to drive flaming daggers into her eyes.

Don’t get me wrong — I love and appreciate these services. They’re free to journalists, and I often find good sources through them, like the beautiful bridal entrepreneur-slash-cage fighter I ended up profiling for Fortune Small Business and later for Inc. But the successes are tempered by avalanches of off-point e-mails from PR reps and expert sources.

If you use these services as a PR rep or a source, here are some tips for boosting your chances of a reply when you respond to a writer’s query. (Yes, writers, these requests confusingly are called queries.) I’ll use some examples from recent queries I sent in.

1. Read the Freakin’ Query!

Lat week I sent out the following query:

Are We Detoxing Too Much?
I’m looking for experts such as MDs who can discuss whether the detoxing trend is going too far, in terms of detoxing our homes, our bodies, and our food. Magazines and books are telling us to purge everything from house dust to bleach to non-organic foods, and more and more people are going on fasts and detox diets. How do you know if you’re going too far? And how much do we REALLY need to detox? I do not need to hear from vendors about detoxing products.

You get it, right? I’m looking for information on the negative side of detoxing — how much is too much and how to know if you’ve gone too far. And yet, almost 100% of the responses I received were from medical professionals who offered to talk about why we need to go on detox diets and how to do it. It’s like they scanned the query, saw the word “detox,” and blasted off an e-mail about the wonders of detoxing. If you can’t (or won’t) read, how can we trust you as an expert?

So please…READ the query!

2. Sell Yourself

Every once in a while I get a response that says something like, “I can help you with your article. Call me.” Yeah, I’ll get right on that. Please, tell me who you are and what makes you an expert in the topic I queried.

3. Remember That Our Job Is Not to Sell Your Product

Of course, people who respond to writer queries have something to sell, whether it’s a product, a viewpoint, or something else. But you need to use some smarts to determine when it’s right to make a blatant product pitch. For example, here’s a query I sent out yesterday:

For a national health magazine, I’m looking for beauty news that’s NOT product-specific and that is backed by studies. For example, I don’t care that Jane’s Sun Kissed Skin Lotion was proven to prevent wrinkles, but I do care that a recent study published in the Journal of Dermatology concluded that the antioxidants in pistachios were proven to whiten teeth. Please, no product pitches.

I’m guessing you noticed that I did not want product-specific pitches. I mean, I made it pretty clear, right? So why do I get replies from people telling me, for example, that the FatBlaster Brand Laser Machine has been proven to reduce the look of cellulite? I guess the reps think, “Well, it can’t hurt to send it along anyway.” But guess what? It can hurt, because I’ll be sending very negative vibes your way, and I will remember you when you contact me again.

4. Don’t Add Us to Lists Unless We Ask You To

I can’t even count how many PR reps add my address to their press lists after harvesting it from a HARO or ProfNet query. I know this because I have a special e-mail address that I use only for queries on these services, so when I start getting press releases at that address, I know how I ended up on the list. Many people see I’m a writer — what type? who cares? — and decide that maybe I’d like to write about their clients who run a cracker factory in Boise. But even if a PR rep groks my specialties, I don’t want to be added to press lists unless I ask for it. Just because I wrote about safe web surfing in 2001 doesn’t mean that I want to receive press releases on that topic for the rest of my days. I get enough e-mail as it is.

Now HARO has a special feature that hides your e-mail address on your queries so this is less of an issue, but as soon as you respond to a PR rep they have your e-mail address and can add it to their press lists, so the problem hasn’t been completely eradicated.

5. Make Sure Your Client Is Available

It sucks when a PR rep responds to a HARO or ProfNet request with what sounds like the perfect source, but when you try to set up the interview the source goes AWOL. Check with your source to make sure he’s interested in doing the interview before you respond to a query.

Writers, do you have any more tips for people who want to respond to writers’ queries on HARO and ProfNet? [lf]

The e-book is pretty inspiring, but when you get right down to it it’s a guide on how to start a blog on something that you’re passionate about and then make money selling information products like e-books and e-courses. The zero-hour workweek comes in because you love your job so much that it doesn’t feel like work. When you work, it feels like play — so can you really call it work?

I realized a couple of things while reading this e-book. First: I’m there! I love what I do so much that it feels like fun. Sure, there are times when I get burned out, but since I made my pact with myself last year to stop writing for markets that are a PITA, I’ve felt very energized towards my work. And while I say I cut my workweek down to two days, I’m not sure that’s accurate as what I do often doesn’t feel like “work.” I guess you could say instead that I spend two days per week teaching, and writing for clients who appreciate me and treat me (and pay me) well.

I love teaching my e-courses and doing mentoring. I love it when a student who was having problems coming up with a salable idea or crafting a query lede writes to me to say that my advice helped her, and when she writes to tell me she just landed her first assignment from a newsstand magazine. I also love when an editor thanks me for making her job easier. (Just got one of those today, in fact!) And of course, I love it when checks from magazines appear in my mailbox.

The second thing I realized is that I’ve fallen into a business area that can come across as kind of — well, scummy. I don’t know if this is new or if I’m just starting to notice it, but there are lots of people who try to make money by “creating value for others,” as the personal development-speak goes. People build blogs, call themselves experts, and promise readers riches. Coaches and e-courses abound, all promising to help you live your dreams or to make you a millionaire — usually by selling info products yourself. They kind of remind me of those envelope-stuffing scams: The scammers promise to show you how to make thousands of dollars working from home, and when you pay up, you get instructions on how to run your own envelope-stuffing ruse.

One thing I never notice is that these self-appointed gurus never mention how much they earn, but they give the impression that they make big bucks and you can, too.

(Okay, I can’t very well post that and not come clean myself. So here’s the big reveal: I make $70-80,000 per year (it varies), mainly by writing for magazines. I’ve written for more than 120 magazines over the last 13 years; you can see a list here.)

Selling information products like e-courses and coaching online is so easy that many people with dubious credentials are jumping on the bandwagon. One aspiring writer e-mailed me recently that she took an e-course in query writing from someone who claimed to be an experienced magazine writer, though she listed no credits on her website. (No, she didn’t tell me who the instructor was. I wish I knew!) The student was disappointed in the course, and decided to do a little sleuthing. She looked up my name on Infotrac, which is a database of magazine articles, and saw that I had about 240 articles in the database. (I believe it tracks only national magazines, though, as I know I’ve written more than that!) She then plugged the other writer’s name into Infotrac and came up with — get this — three articles, all for the same magazine. Yikes! Even taking into account that Infotrac doesn’t track local magazines, that’s a pretty skimpy number for someone charging money for her expertise.

I’ve also run across many self-proclaimed personal development experts who promise to help you live your dream. I have no idea if these people are credentialed, because what are the credentials for such a thing? These instructors are probably living their dreams, because their dreams are to make money coaching and selling e-books. And they can help you live your dream — if your dream is to build a blog and sell info products yourself. (And the cycle continues.)

I don’t mean to diss everyone who sells information products except yours truly. I regularly have sessions with a life coach who has helped me in many ways. I know very experienced writers who teach courses online and off. And lately I’ve been reading some really good productivity blogs written by people who also offer coaching, and I believe they have the chops. But the field seems to be exploding with — well, not scammers, but people who simply don’t have the credentials to be charging money for their coaching, e-courses, e-books, and so on.

So here I am, offering e-courses and mentoring! I’ve wondering lately if I give the same icky impression that I get from some of the coaches I’ve run across in the burgeoning personal development field, or some of the writing instructors who claim to be experts but have nothing to back it up.

But I like to think that I got in on the game early, when the Internet wasn’t crawling with coaches, and managed to set myself apart before coaching turned into a free-for-all.

So that’s my rant: I love what I do, but worry that I’m icky. I guess if there’s any take-home value to this post, it’s that you should give the third-degree to anyone you’re considering hiring as a coach or whose courses you’re considering taking — including me. Check their websites for credentials, and if they don’t list any, ask (not everyone feels the need to brag about their creds online!). Then check out their claims by doing a little sleuthing on your own, and be sure that their credentials line up with what you want to learn. (For example, I admit I can’t teach you how to break into The New Yorker because I don’t have the creds to do so!) Remember that the money you spend on information products should be a good investment in your career, so don’t be afraid to ask questions. [lf]

Here are some of the excuses I’ve heard from my mentoring and e-course clients — and how you can bust those limiting beliefs.

Excuse #1: “I have to pay my dues.”

Many writers believe they can’t write for magazines that pay a decent fee until they “pay their dues” by writing for markets that pay peanuts. But who decides what constitutes paying your dues, how long you need to do it for, and even that you have to do it at all? The term “paying your dues” is meaningless, because no one has defined exactly what it is and when it ends.

When I hear someone say they have to pay their dues before pitching the magazines they really want to write for, I know it’s a stalling tactic. I never hear a writer say, “Well, now I’ve paid my dues and it’s time for me to get cracking on my dream markets.” Because there’s no defined limit to paying your dues, writers just keep toiling away at sure-thing markets instead of risking rejection by the big guys. It’s the perfect excuse for not making the leap to better markets.

I’ve never heard an editor, when approached by a writer with a brilliant query and stellar writing, say, “I can’t possibly accept this — this writer hasn’t paid her dues.” In fact, consider this:

* I have a friend whose very first clip was for Cosmopolitan. She went on to have a successful freelance writing career and even write books on freelancing.

* Last year one of my students landed an assignment to write a short for SELF magazine. She had not a single clip before that. Now, she’s working on an assignment for Parenting that’s worth $1,300. She’s had only two assignments and she’s never worked for less than $1.50 per word.

* I recently had a mentoring client who kept “paying her dues” by writing for exposure and wondering why she wasn’t making more money. I convinced her to stop writing for free and cheap, and within ten days she had an assignment that was worth twenty assignments from one of her el-cheapo clients.

* My very first assignment, based on my very first query back in 1996, paid $500. I never paid a dime of dues.

Look: Paying your dues is just an excuse. No one is tracking what you do and judging whether you have written for enough peanuts-paying clients to start pitching your dream markets. If you have a great idea and you present it well, no one will care whether you slogged your way up from the bottom or just burst onto the scene.

Excuse #2: “I need to learn more.”

I hate to say this since I teach e-courses of my own, but some writers take every writing course they can find yet never feel like they know enough to actually get started pitching markets. “I can’t get started because I don’t know every single thing there is to know about query writing.” “Well, now I know how to write a query, but what happens when I get an assignment? I’d better take a course on that.” “I’m not so good on the business side of things. I wonder if there’s a class that can help me.” And on and on and on.

What’s great about freelancing is that there are no major barriers to entry. You don’t have to have a degree or certificate, and you don’t need to have 100% complete knowledge of every aspect of the business to get started. Heck, when I started I didn’t know even one other freelancer, there were no writers’ online networking groups (that I knew of, anyway), and I had one book on freelancing. I made mistakes, but I learned as I went along. In fact, some of my early queries were real doozies. But the “uneducated” writer who takes action has a much higher chance at success than the writer who learns and learns and learns — but never dares to send out a pitch.

Don’t use this excuse to put off pursuing your writing dreams. You’ll never know everything there is to know about freelancing, so don’t even try. There’s so much information online and on bookstore shelves that if you ever do get stuck, help is just a few clicks or pages away.

Of course, I’m not saying you shouldn’t educate yourself by reading books, taking classes, and reading educational websites — just that you shouldn’t get so bogged down in gathering information that you never actually pitch markets.

Excuse #3: “I don’t deserve it.”

I’m guilty of this one. Three of my family members work in retail, and one just retired from a corporate job he hated after 42 years. I always think, “This relative of mine works eight hours a day for $13 per hour doing a job she can’t stand. I work two days per week doing a job I love, and make more money. Who am I to have such luck?” Then the guilt sets in.

I told my life coach about this, and she asked who would be served if I held back so as not to be more successful than anyone I knew. The answer was, of course, that it would do no one any good if I worked for less money doing a job I didn’t enjoy. She also pointed out that I worked hard and invested in my writing career for years before reaching the point where I could cut my hours and still earn the same income. Not only that, but by making a living doing what I love, I can help inspire others to do the same.

True, some people will never get over the fact that you’re more successful than they are. I actually had a writer friend “break up with” me when I landed the Renegade Writer book deal because — and I quote — “You’re always so successful while I always seem to be struggling.” But you know what? A friend who is sad because you’re doing well isn’t a true friend.

So…do you feel guilty about the idea of becoming a successful freelance writer because your aspiring writer friends might resent it if you’re suddenly writing for the big names while they slog away for markets that pay them in exposure? Think of it this way: Once you’ve reached your goals, you can help your friends do the same. [lf]

Last week a writer friend forwarded me a press trip invite she’d received (and declined) and wondered if I’d be interested in following up with the host since I had some interest in the locale. I gave the invitation a quick read. It seemed like a personal invitation, and the trip host claimed there was only one space left available for a journalist. However, when I asked my friend if she’d ever worked with the PR agency, she said she’d never even heard of them before. Double hmmm. That’s when I moved the invite into my trash folder.

I get maybe a half-dozen of these trip invites each year and rarely do I ever follow up on them. Because I don’t know the PR agency inviting me, nor do I have any confidence they’ve researched me, I just figure they’re trolling for a warm body — the most well-qualified warm body especially if there’s only one spot left on the trip. The way I figure it, they’re probably sending this invite to dozens of journalists, and if they’re lucky, six of them will volunteer the spot. The PR agent will ask each journalist to produce “assignment letters” (letters from a magazine and/or newspaper editors affirming that the writer will produce a story relating to the trip’s destination). Then the agent can sift through those assignment letters and pick the journalist who’ll the best press for the client. The remaining writers get the “Sorry, we’ve already selected someone else,” which is very unfortunate if you’ve pitched and sold some ideas to magazines based on the trip. Since this has happened to a couple writers I know, I suppose that’s why I’m so suspicious of such invitations.

I wondered, though, if my deep suspicion was warranted, so last week I informally surveyed some of my writer buddies who focus mainly on travel stories. Do they get such invites? How many per year? Do they treat them with suspicion or have such invites paid off for them? All of them said that yes, they get these types of invites. One writer says she ignores them. Another writer treats them with less suspicion, although she says that yes, she realizes the invite is going out to a number of writers. Her take is that a writer has probably dropped out of the trip and the PR person is willing to give the space to the first journalist with credentials who responds. Only a couple times has she run into the “may the best man/woman win” scenario. One friend who’s a well-published travel writer noted that PR agents often have a difficult time filling spaces on trips, simply because fewer writers today have viable outlets. (Now that’s depressing.)

I’ve readjusted my cynicism about these invites, but will continue to ask myself these questions when one of them appears in my inbox:

• Do I know the PR agent/organization inviting me? If not, can I discern how they got my name?
• How personal is the invite? Meaning, is there anything in there that gives me the indication that the inviter has done research on the type of stories I cover? For example, if I get an invite to attend the National Bullfighting Championship, that’s a pretty good indicator the inviter has no idea what kind of topics interest me.
• Do I have any interest covering this locale/event? Look, it’s lovely to get invited to cool places around the globe, but if you’re a career freelancer who has to make income to pay the bills, it won’t make any financial sense going on these trips just for the fun of them. (Plus, they’re not all that much fun, as you’ll quickly find out.) When I got the forwarded invite from my friend, yes, I loved the locale, but I had to be honest with myself — I didn’t have much interest in the event the PR agency was repping.
• Will I be “competing” with other writers for a place on the trip? You can answer this by picking up the phone and talking to the person who invited you. If he or she is cagey on the answer, you might want to give serious thought before you start pitching possible stories to your editors without the assurance you’re truly on board for the trip. On the other hand, you may find out the agency is delighted to host you based on your credentials.

Lastly, check out the PR agency/host with fellow writers. Just as PR people blacklist insane writers from future press trips, writers have their own horror stories about poorly organized press trips. [db -- follow me on Twitter]

A couple of things happened today that inspired this post. First, someone posted on a forum for professional writers asking for tips on how to get started as a freelancer. This, of course, caused many pro writers to become PO’d. (Why expect professionals to spend hours giving you advice that you can find in countless books and websites?)

Second, someone e-mailed me today asking for a list I compiled of magazines that assign health articles, which I mentioned on a different forum (the list was part of a handout for Diana’s and my Canyon Ranch presentation). When I sent her the list, which included about 30 magazines with their snail mail addresses, URLs, phone numbers, and e-mail formats, she wrote back lamenting that the list didn’t include editor names. (Oh, I’m sorry that the free information that I provided was not up to your exacting standards.)

Most of the people who write to me asking for help and advice are professional and polite. I don’t mind answering a brief question or two, and the asker often writes back later to let me know how he fared using my advice (which is gratifying). Everybody wins! But based on these two situations today, I think some writers need a lesson in how to ask for advice.

1. Let the writer know that you respect her time.

A little groveling never hurt anyone. Some aspiring writers start their e-mails by saying, “I know you’re busy, but I was wondering if you had a minute to answer my question.” Others launch into a list of questions without acknowledging that they’re asking the writer to spend her otherwise billable time helping out a stranger. Guess which ones get answered?

2. Keep it short.

Try to distill your question down to just a few sentences. This is good practice for all kinds of writing, and is also more likely to generate a response than a rambling recounting of your life as a writer.

3. Be specific.

A question like “How do I write a query?” would take the writer hours to answer; after all, there are entire books on the subject. Keep your questions as specific as possible.

4. Don’t poach.

Many professional writers have writing books or e-books or offer writing e-courses. Don’t ask a bunch of questions that the writer answers in her book or course. For example, don’t write to Jenna Glatzer, author of The Street Smart Writer, asking “How can I avoid writing scams?” Don’t write to Kelly James-Enger, author of Six Figure Freelancing, to ask how to boost your writing income. Most writers hate to say “Buy my book” but — buy their books! (I’m using Jenna and Kelly as hypothetical examples here; they haven’t expressed any grievances to me about writers asking for advice, and this tip applies to all authors.)

5. Do your research.

If you post on a forum (or e-mail a writer) to ask “How do I get started?” you might as well wear a flashing sign that says, “Flame Me!” Read the forum archives, do a Google search, pick up some writing books at the bookstore or library, and read magazines like Writer’s Digest and The Writer. Lurk on forums until you have a good idea of what kinds of posts are and aren’t acceptable.

6. Remember that you get what you pay for.

When you’re asking for free advice or information, don’t get upset if the writer doesn’t spend hours pondering and answering your questions, or if the information isn’t everything you had hoped for. If your question is broad or the writer is swamped with work, she may reply with a quick list of resources for you to check out or books for you to read. Instead of pitching a hissy because the writer didn’t carefully answer each of your questions herself, appreciate the fact that she took the time to compile a list for you…then go and read the resources she recommended.

7. Say thanks.

Be sure to thank the writer for her advice; I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written long, thoughtful answers to writers’ questions and never received a thank-you. Professional writers also love to know how you fared with their advice, so do write back later to let her know. For example, I got an e-mail yesterday from a writer who said that she followed my advice and landed her first national assignment. That’s nice to hear!

8. Return the favor.

Many writers I help return the favor by alerting me of new magazines and sites they think I’d be interested in, recommending my e-course to others, or sharing editor names with me when they break into a new pub. Sharing with others generates good writer karma.

9. Pay it forward.

When you’re a famous, wealthy writer, remember the help you got from professional writers when you were starting out and “pay it forward” by helping others land their big break.

Fast forward to yesterday. A friend of mine who writes for the same magazine told me that she heard from this same writer asking for information on who to pitch.

There are two ways Jack could handle the situation of not knowing who to pitch:

1. He could go to 123custompublishing.com, get their phone number, call, and ask for the name of the editor at X magazine. He could then call or e-mail the editor to introduce himself. Time elapsed: 10 minutes.

2. He could ignore the valuable information I shared, wait three weeks, and then contact another writer for the magazine, hoping that since I failed him, this writer would be able to hand him the editor’s contact info on a silver platter. Time elapsed: Three weeks.

If he had chosen course #1, Jack might have had an assignment by now. But since he chose course #2 (and my writer friend also didn’t know the name of the new editor), he wasted three weeks, still has zero information, and will need to either contact yet another writer from the masthead or simply give up.

The writers who win assignments are those who are willing to show a little initiative and research ability to get them — that is, the ability to look up information online and pick up the phone. For example, a few months ago I wanted to pitch a custom health publication I saw at a friend’s house. The only contact information listed on the masthead was the editor-in-chief’s phone number. I called her and introduced myself, and she asked for clips, which I sent. I forgot all about this exchange, and then last week the editor called out of the blue to offer me a $1,000 assignment. All because I had picked up the phone. Would I have gotten an assignment if I had relied on other people to hand me the information I needed (and ignored the clues they did provide)?

Now, I’m not saying you should never ask other writers for editors’ contact information, but it should be a last resort after you used your research skills to try to find that information yourself. I know that it’s scary to call an editor or a magazine’s editorial department, but for us writers who have something to sell, the ability to fight the fear and go after the sale is a worthwhile skill to develop.

C’mon, fess up — are you a lazy writer? Or have you had a run-in with someone who is? Let us know in the Comments section below. [lf]

Sometimes I feel like a dinosaur for insisting that writers be paid fairly for their time, effort, and skill. It seems the new way to make money is to churn out hundreds of online articles that pay a few dollars apiece.

Let me set one thing straight: I do not believe that writers who work for cheap are depressing the rates for professional writers. Sites that pay writers $4 per article are not going to suddenly pony up $1 per word or more because they can’t find writers willing to work for peanuts. That just ain’t gonna happen. If by some miracle these sites were no longer able to afford writers, they would probably simply go belly-up. And markets that pay $1, $2, and more per word are not going to start offering $4 per article “just because they can,” because they can see from these content mills the kind of quality that payrate buys. It’s like saying that McDonald’s grill-jockeys are depressing the rates for master chefs.

But I do believe that writers deserve to be paid a decent rate, whether they’re writing for online or print markets. And I believe it’s wrong for hobbyists and inexperienced writers to tell skilled newbies that all they can expect for their work is pennies.

Here are some of the arguments the cheap writers (and content mills looking for cheap writing) offer:

Get with it — print is dying, and these content mills and other cheap online markets are the wave of the future. True, there are a lot of changes happening in print media these days. Also true, some big-name magazines have been shuttering. But I write mainly for print markets, and even in this slow economy, my income has remained steady. (And I support my family nicely on this income.) I think writers see a few big mags shutting down, and they panic. But there are many, many more magazines than those you see on the newsstands. There are literally thousands of trade and custom publications that pay well and that are thriving. These days much of my income comes from custom publishers, and they all pay at least $1 per word.

$25 for 1,000 words is the standard rate for online writing. According to who? According to the content mills that pay that much, maybe. But early in my career a good portion of my income came from maybe a dozen online magazines, all of which paid at least $1 per word. And most recently, I had a blogging gig that paid $2,000 per month for four blog posts of any length I chose. On the LinkedIn discussion I mentioned above, a dozen writers chimed in with online markets they write for now that pay very well.

I write for these low rates to build up a clip file so I can break into better-paying markets. First, you don’t need a whole file of clips to break into paying markets — all you need is one. Second, your first clip doesn’t have to come from a market that pays cheap or not at all. One of the students in my latest Write for Magazines e-course broke into SELF — without a single clip to her name. She was paid $400 for 400 words. My very first clip paid $500, and I know other writers whose first clips came from well-paying markets. Third, take my word for it — no editor of a market with decent rates is going to take a clip from a content mill seriously. There are no barriers to entry — practically anyone can post their writing — and even if you write a stellar article (which I’m sure you will), it will be surrounded by lazy reporting, bad writing, and unprofessional presentation.

Writing for content mills will give me a ton of exposure I can parlay into high-paying gigs. A good friend of mine says, “People die of exposure.” Editors of high-paying markets aren’t dredging through the dreck in content mills looking for that one fabulous writer; they have writers coming to them with ideas, and writers in their stables that they assign in-house ideas to. Better to spend your time pitching markets that pay, both online and off. If you’re hell-bent on exposure, you’ll get a lot more of it –and it will be better quality — in publications that pay. A friend of mine, for example, just landed an agent who saw an article she wrote in a national magazine.

Sure, these articles pay only $10 apiece, but I can write four of them an hour, meaning I make $40 per hour. Not bad. I cringe when I hear this. What kind of researching, reporting, and writing can you possibly be doing if you can write an article in 15 minutes? Maybe this isn’t your concern, and that’s understandable if your main goal in life is to write for content mills. But I hate to break it to you — $40 per hour is not as great as it sounds (especially if you need to write four articles each hour to get that amount!). If you’re a freelancer or aiming to be one, you base your minimum per-hour pay on a number of factors; for example, you need to be able to cover your own health insurance costs, pay more employment taxes than 9-5ers, shell out for your own office equipment and supplies, and so on. That can really chip away at your hourly rate. Whether I’m writing for a print or online market, I typically earn from $150 to $300 per hour. By earning such rates I’m able to make a full-time income working only part-time. I’m sure many writers earn even more per hour, and they don’t have to churn out four articles per hour to do it.

I almost want to say, “Hey, if someone wants to write for $10 per article, that leaves more decent-paying work for me.” But I can’t do that. I’m all about helping writers reach their dreams of supporting themselves through their writing. If your career goal is to write articles at $10 per, that’s fine…but please don’t tell aspiring professional writers that this is all they can expect. I’m friends with dozens of writers who make a great living writing for online and print markets, and if they (and I) can do it, anyone can. It takes time, skill, and persistence, but it is absolutely doable. Value your talents, and others will value them too. [lf]

When I got the project, I was coming off of a four-month famine, and I needed the dough. So I ignored the red flags. First, the expert co-author took so long playing hardball with the publisher that the deadlines were crunched. Then, she insisted on being the point of contact with the publisher, even though she had never written a book for a publisher before. (With this type of project, the writer is usually the point of contact.) Finally, she set deadlines for the chapters that were way earlier than the publisher’s deadlines — and even wanted Eric and me (my husband was also on the project) to write five chapters within 10 days — when we didn’t even have a finalized table of contents from the publisher.

But the lure of money was strong, and I thought, “I can do anything for three months.” Thereafter followed a month of what can only be called hell. I won’t even get into it here.

I spent last Tuesday evening on the verge of tears, and suddenly I decided: I quit! I’m done. This project is over. I sent our agent an e-mail (it was after hours so I couldn’t call and I wanted to do it right away), and that was it.

I should also mention that while I was working on this project, I got a ton of other work…probably more than 10 magazine assignments. Three of them paid more than one-fifth of what the entire book was to pay, and these articles were only one-hundredth the length of the book.

Before you start throwing things at me, let me say that I’ve reformed. I had a goal meeting with two writer friends the day after I quit the book project, and one of them convinced me that from now on, I’ll take on only projects that I love — and that pay well. I’m currently working on a proposal with my life coach for a book I would actually want to buy myself.

This writer friend also reminded me that I’ve been writing full-time for 12 years, and that I’m a pro. I don’t need to scrape the bottom of the writerly barrel for money. Even though I have famine periods like everyone else, the assignments generally come flowing in without my even having to query anymore.

So: Have you ever ignored red flags and taken on an assignment because you needed the money? What happened? Please share your experiences in the Comments section below! [lf]

I plan to either not write for [magazine] again or to ask what we can do to make sure I don’t go through another experience like I am right now, when [editor's] boss decided he wanted the article to have a completely different slant — and he wanted me to do it over the holiday weekend and with no extra pay. Ugh.

I must have forgotten those words of wisdom, because this past week, for the first time, I turned down an assignment from this magazine due to the insane number of revisions the editors make me go through. Hey, it only took me two years!

It’s difficult for us freelancers to turn down work because we never know if it’s going to be the last assignment we ever get for the rest of our lives. Even if we have too much work, it’s tempting to squeeze in more, because who knows how long the famine will last once the feast is over?

Some writers say it’s necessary to turn down work that doesn’t fit our goals in order to make room for better opportunities to come through. Well, twenty minutes after I said no to this assignment, I received an e-mail from the owner of a social media marketing firm asking for a meeting to discuss working together. I’ve been wanting to do more work in blogging, Twitter, etc., so this is a great opportunity. Would I have been able to say yes to a half-day meeting if I had been busy turning around the article for the PITA client (which had a short deadline)? I don’t think so.

Next time, I won’t endure two years of PITA-ness before scratching a client from my list.

Have you ever turned down work? WHy did you turn it down? How did it make you feel? Did you get better offers afterward? [lf]

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]