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Topic: When Can I Stop Working for Free or Little Pay?
| Author | Message |
| fmcgee | Posted – 12/4/2007 8:53:46 PM | show profile | email poster I have worked as a copy editor and journalist for about 4 years off and on while in graduate school getting my MFA in writing. I have worked for free writing up music reviews and events, written plenty of press releases, written book proposals charging 15 an hour, ghost writing for 10 and hour and now 12 an hour, writing for a local newspaper in Austin, and monthly articles for websites for 100. Am I getting screwed? Or paying my dues? When will I have enough on my resume to charge average rates? |
| Canadiana | Posted – 12/4/2007 9:09:41 PM | show profile Not to sound too new-agey here but...you will get paid more when you demand more. Don't get me wrong, I did a few free or low-paying gigs at first if I felt it was something that would look good on the ol' resume. However, as soon as I had two or three clips and strong professional references, I only applied for or sought-out decent paying gigs and, I got (some of) 'em! It sounds like you have plenty of great experience. Write up a professional writer's resume, toot your horn a little (without bragging) and create or pay for your own web site. After that, you should start pitching mags, applying to jobs posted on MB (most pay well) and other freelance sites, network, join associations etc. Good luck! |
| westsidestory | Posted – 12/4/2007 9:42:59 PM | show profile The future starts now, baby. Seriously, you're charging far too little for ghosting, press releases and book proposals. (My book proposal rate is $175 per hour, but that's NY prices). Double or triple your current rate for those. Local newspapers are generally cheap but worth the exposure; use your website experience to reach out to similar clients that might pay better. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 12/5/2007 12:34:52 AM | show profile Basically, you'll be able to charge average rates when you decide to charge them. If you are willing to write for free or low prices, you will have absolutely no trouble finding people willing to let you write for them for free or low prices. |
| webtastic | Posted – 12/5/2007 1:28:41 AM | show profile I agree with dribbledrive1. You should sit down and decide what your bottom line is. If someone won't pay you that amount, just walk away. I found that writing less for more money got me better clips and more money in the end. |
| HisGirlFriday | Posted – 12/5/2007 10:24:39 AM | show profile This is a frequent topic on this board. I'll chime in with the rest. Decide what your time is worth and then charge it. (Within reason, given your location, the publication, etc. The Podunk Gazette is not going to pay as much as Vanity Fair.) A few months ago I decided that my newspaper rate was at least X - one of my newspaper clients called and asked me to do an assignment for $150 less. I said I'd do it for my X rate and they met it. The same paper called me with some new assignments a few weeks ago _ and offered a rate $50 more than my X rate. You will get paid more when YOU decide you are worth it. |
| jcpatterson | Posted – 12/5/2007 12:05:05 PM | show profile Obviously, write for free as seldom as you can. Do it until you have enough clips to get paying work in a given area, and then don't do it again unless you have a compelling reason -- most of us have a pro bono client or two that we keep because we enjoy the organization or believe in its purpose, and that is fine. With your low-paying clients, I would suggest you phase them out. Try to get them to bump up your rates, and meanwhile try to find other clients at higher rates. When your plate is full with higher paying work, you can legitimately tell the low-payers that you can' t take on work at the low rate because you can sell your time for higher rates. Sometimes, this will encourage them to give you a bump when nothing else does. And if not, it won't hurt so much to drop them, and you will have done it gently for business reasons, so you won't have burned a bridge. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 12/5/2007 1:21:46 PM | show profile I think it goes even beyond figuring out your bottom line and what someone is willing to pay. Many, many writers -- like most small businesspeople -- dramatically undercharge for their services, especially if you are writing press releases and book proposals. Ask for what you think is a ridiculous amount just to see what happens. You'll lose some projects -- but you'll be surprised what some will pay. --I agree with dribbledrive1. You should sit down and decide what your bottom line is. If someone won't pay you that amount, just walk away. I found that writing less for more money got me better clips and more money in the end.-- |
