If you’re like many freelance writers, the thought of asking an editor for more money is enough to make you wake up in a cold sweat. But, as intimidating as it is, the right approach to negotiations is crucial to building a relationship that’s beneficial to freelancer and client alike — and you don’t have to play hardball to get more money.
Sure, the rocky economy has depressed the freelance writing market noticeably. Ten years ago, freelance writer Beth D’Addono always asked for a little more than what she was offered — and often received it. “Now,” she says, “I’m finding that everybody is just so happy to have work that I’m less inclined to try to negotiate… I haven’t found editors to have the resources that they did before.”
Also on Mediabistro
But just as many writers say they still find it worthwhile to ask. “I think there’s almost always room for negotiation,” says Mir Kamin, a freelance writer and blogger who pens the Cornered Office blog on freelancing for the Web site Work It, Mom! “It’s very rare when someone comes to you with an offer so good you just go, ‘Yeah, that’s perfect.'”
Whether you dread talking money or you just want to perfect your game, here’s how to attack negotiations and come out ahead.
1. Do your research
The success of your negotiations will depend on the client’s willingness and ability to negotiate. So before you ask, do your homework, says freelance journalist and copywriter Pam George. “Find out how flexible the publication is, especially in this economy, when many publications are cutting their rates rather than increasing them. Ask around on online message boards or through friends who write for the publication,” George suggests.
It could also help to get a sense of what competing publications are paying their freelancers. “One thing that might help is to say, ‘This other publication is paying me this amount, and I’d really like it if you could match that,'” says Anne McSilver, managing editor at Via.
2. Take your relationship into account
While it’s important to stand up for yourself, it’s just as critical to protect your working relationship with an editor and the long-term value that relationship could offer.
“You have to keep in mind the realistic ability of the magazine to pay you, and not just this one time. You can’t look at freelancing as a one-time deal; you have to see it as forging a relationship with the magazine,” says Sabrina Rubin Erdely, contributing editor at Self and Rolling Stone. “That doesn’t mean selling yourself short, but it should be something that will pave the way for many articles and lead to a steady gig to make you both happy in the long term.”
Moe Tkacik, who freelances for The Nation, Columbia Journalism Review and New York, says proving yourself to an editor could earn you more leverage later. “Everybody’s disposable, everybody’s in the public consciousness one day and out the next. The only thing that can really, to me, help you in a negotiation situation is if you have an element of trust going on with your editor,” she says.
| “The most important ingredient headed into negotiations is knowing what you’re worth… If you’re not willing to walk away, you’ll lose some credibility.” |
3. Know where you stand, and be honest
“Coming in with an idea of what you want and a convincing reason for why that’s the right fee is the best advice I could give you,” says Wired managing editor Jacob Young.
Calculate your hourly rate, and if an editor can’t match it, be prepared to turn a job down, Kamin says. “I think the most important ingredient headed into negotiations is knowing what you’re worth,” she says. “If you’re not willing to walk away, you’ll lose some credibility.”
Whatever you do negotiate, be sure that you’re not devaluing your work. For Rubin Erdely, protecting her per-word rate is crucial; if necessary, she’ll work with editors on negotiating a flat fee for a given piece, rather than cutting her word rate. Even in a down economy, Kamin says, “It still doesn’t pay for me to take a job for less than I should be earning. Plus, what happens when the economy turns around?”
4. Weigh the unique situation
Especially on the Web, where writers often work for 10 or 25 cents per word, negotiating can veer into the realm of haggling, and that could sour a relationship.
“You don’t want to sound like you’re negotiating for something petty,” says Nick Catucci, articles editor for New York‘s Web site, NYMag.com. He admits that it can be off-putting if a first-time writer comes on too strongly in negotiations: “It could be worth it to take the $100 assignment rather than asking for $110, so that down the road you could ask for more.”
As well, you’ll have to consider what an article is worth to you: Does it involve a lot of time-intensive research? Is the publication a place where you’re eager to get a clip? “I find that people often don’t even ask about fees until after the piece is published, and that shows that people’s motivations are often to get their foot in the door or to get a good story published,” Catucci says.
| “Once an editor gets an idea and is really excited about that, there’s more basis to ask for more money — because once you want something, you want it.” |
5. Pick the right time to ask
There are pros and cons to trying to negotiate during your first assignment with a given editor. Some editors warned that they’re less inclined to negotiate with new writers, but others say it always fair game.
“I’d hope that somebody would always ask for more money, so I wouldn’t be offended,” says Ashley Primis, food and lifestyle editor at Philadelphia. But, she suggests waiting until the editor is truly sold on your idea. “Once an editor gets an idea and is really excited about that, there’s more basis to ask for more money — because once you want something, you want it.”
Kamin says she’s tried both tactics, and now prefers to negotiate for a better fee on her first assignment. “Usually, I’m more worried about damage to an existing relationship,” she says. “As well, there’s the danger if you walk into a relationship at a low rate, then you’re setting yourself up for problems.”
6. Ask nicely
McSilver recommends asking politely, acknowledging that budgets may be tight, and asking if there’s any flexibility. “It’s better to say, ‘What can you do to help me out?’ than to put it in the form of an ultimatum,” McSilver says.
Finally, as much you may hate to, do it over the phone if you can, Rubin Erdely says. “Be professional but friendly. I’ve always found that being direct really helps… I think my editors appreciate my bringing it up, because no one ever wants to talk about money. It’s an uncomfortable thing, but I introduce it without apologies or discomfort.”
7. Make your case
If you’re asking for more money, McSilver says, “put forth the basic economics of the situation.” If it’s your first time working with an editor, estimate how long the story will take, calculate your hourly rate, and go from there. And if you’ve worked with an editor before, tell them how long the last story took or what kind of expenses you accrued to back up your request.
As well, if there’s a premium on your time, find a way to let the editor know. “The more experience you have, the more clips you have, the more right you have to ask for more money,” Primis says.
“Writers can be their own best advocates by knowing what their value has been determined to be in the past,” Catucci says.
That said, if you’ve agreed to a fee, and then a story becomes more involved than you anticipated, you may want to wait until a story is filed to reopen negotiations. “You don’t want to give the editor a sense that you’re in over your head,” Catucci says. “And then, every editor wants to feel like the first priority is the story, because from the editor’s perspective the fee you’re paid is a detail.”
8. Get creative
“There are new rules right now. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to negotiate on non-monetary aspects of the story,” D’Addono says. If an editor can’t offer more money, ask if you can write a bit shorter.
As well, says Tkacik, you can negotiate on rights. Or, she says, “If you’re starting a regular relationship with an Internet property, you might think of trying to get a page view bonus, so that if you write something that breaks out and gets a lot of attention you can get a piece of that.”
For magazine articles, she adds, try to collect your kill fee as soon as the story is submitted. “It can take over a year to retrieve kill fees — and that’s money you’re owed no matter what. As well, it puts you in a better position, if they kill an article late in the process, to ask for more money.”
In fact, some editors are recognizing that the way writers get paid may be due for an overhaul. “Increasingly we’re getting away from the whole idea of a per word rate,” Young says. “We think that doesn’t have a lot of resonance in the way we’re putting together stories. Doing a story for Wired is much more than emailing a manuscript. There’s fact-checking, there are a couple layers of editing, most of our stories have sidebars that we negotiate in advance or carve out as we go along, and then there are digital elements… We’re looking more at story fees because we just don’t think the word rate reflects what journalism is really about these days.”
Finally and most importantly, Kamin says, don’t undervalue your work: “A lot of people end up diluting the salary pool by taking these low-paying jobs, and the only difference between them and me is that I have the confidence to ask for more.”
Samantha Melamed is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She blogs about vegetarian cooking at SeitanWorship.wordpress.com.
Topics:
Mediabistro Archive