Freelance Limbo: Do You Know How You'll Go?

A couple of weeks ago I posted about an offer of several assignments from a (potential) client new to me. Want to know the rest of the story? 

My potential client assigned me four blog posts, with specific topics, and gave me a word count of 500 words for each; she then asked what I would charge for them. Deadline was four days. I expected each to take several hours, and emailed to tell her I'd be happy to do them for $200/each. 

That was too high for her; she countered with $50/each, for a total of $200. I offered to go as low as $150/post, but said that that's as low as I'm willing to go for original content. 

She never responded. 

So, I'm out of a $200 assignment, for 2,000 words--of original content. For $0.10/word? Well, I'm okay with ditching that bullet.  

In the meantime, I accepted three new assignments. One is for 700 words, $1,050, and will require some background reporting and three interviews. The second is for 2,000 words, pays $1,000 and will require significantly more reporting and legwork-but I'm willing to do it for $0.50/word. (Do I wish this market paid a higher rate? Of course, but I can't always control what a market will pay me.) And the third is a short piece, 350 words, for $650, about $1.85/word. It also has a tight deadline and will require some legwork, but I've already starting to pull the research and line up the experts I'll need. 

(For the record, I don't always get assignments that pay so well per-word. One of my regular clients pays about $0.35/word. Another pays about $0.30/word. But I know how long those assignments will take and can usually make close to my $100/hour rate regardless. And with ghostwriting projects, I'm usually paid per-project, not per-word.)  

So, I can't control how high (or low) a market will go. What I can control is how low I will go. And $0.10/word for original content? That's too low--at least for me, right now. 

My advice? Know how low you will go--and stick to it. Because if you're saying "yes" to poorly-paying work, you have less time to pursue the better-paying markets--and that will hurt you in the long run. 

**Want to know more about how to make more money as a freelancer? Check out Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, Second Edition, a freelancing classic that helps both new and experienced writers boost their bottom line. 
My newest  book,Goodbye Byline, Hello Big Bucks: Make Money Ghostwriting Books, Articles, Blogs and More, Second Edition, shows writers how to break into the ghostwriting/content marketing field. And if you're brand-new to freelancing, I recommend Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets. 

Blast from the Past: Dollars/Word Versus Dollars/Hour

Hi, readers--I'm in the midst of the project that will not end. If I was charging by the hour, this would be good news--I'd be making more and more money. However, I'm being paid a set fee (or a project fee), which means my hourly rate is plummeting. It also means that I have close to zero free time, which is why this week's post features a "blast from the past"--one of my most popular posts--about a semantic difference that many freelancers ignore to their peril.  

So, let's talk about what you're making per-word for the articles you write. Is it $1/word? $2/word? $0.40/word? $0.25/word? Even less? 

You may be surprised that I've taken on assignments that pay $0.40/word, even $0.25/word, and yes, even less than that. I don't care about the per-word rate as much as I care about what I make per-hour.

Per-word rates are the norm in the freelance world. This figure, multiplied by word count, tells you how much you’ll make for writing a particular story. But it may not tell you whether it’s worth it to take it on. The real question is how much time the story will take. The assignment amount, divided by the number of hours you put into it, gives you your hourly rate for the piece.

Knowing how much time an article (or any other project, for that matter) will take gives you a concrete idea of the return on your time. And those $1/word and up assignments can be mighty misleading. Sure, it’s a bigger check than writing for a market that pays a lower per-word rate. But are you really making more money?

For example, let’s say I do a 1,000-word story for a national magazine that pays $1.50/word. Fair enough—I’m getting paid $1,500 for my work. But what happens if between researching and writing the query, writing an outline (per my editor), researching the article, finding sources, doing interviews, transcribing interviews, writing the piece, turning in the piece, revising the piece (per my editor’s request), finding new sources (per my editor), interviewing those sources, turning in the final revision, submitting my backup material, answering additional questions from the editor (say, nine months later…it happens), I’ve put 25 hours into my story? That means I’ve made $60/hour on that story.

Not bad, but here’s the thing—compare that to a 1,000-word piece on the same topic for a smaller magazine that pays only $0.35/word. Yet I know the editor and my query is just a short paragraph. The story requires some background research and several interviews, and takes me a total of five hours to write. (No revisions requested! Yay!) That a total of $350, for five hours’ worth of work—or $70/hour.

At first glance, the $1,500 piece looks like a better assignment—and it is a bigger check. But my experience has been that national markets (and I’ve written for more than 60 of them) expect a lot more work from you to earn that higher rate. In many cases, I’ve found that regional magazines, trade publications, websites, and specialty magazines actually pay better per-hour than big national pubs. And that makes them worthwhile markets for me.

What about you? Are you tracking your time…or just your dollars?

**Readers, I'm working on a list of topics to cover for the rest of the winter. What questions do you have about freelancing? Comment here and I'll be happy to consider them. In the meantime, if  you're serious about turning your passion for writing into profits, check out Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets. Already making money as a freelancer, but want to take your career to the next level? Then you need Six-Figure Freelancing, Second Edition: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money. 

When That Big Project Falls Through...Six Ways to Get Back on Track

I heard from another writer last week who just had a big project fall through. She asked me to keep her in mind for any work I might be unable to take on. In the meantime, she's stressed and scrambling to make up the work she'd planned on.  

This scenario is one of the drawbacks of "big gigs," or work that takes more than a few days to complete. When I started freelancing, all of my work was short pieces, primarily articles for newspapers and magazines. I also did some work for small local companies. I had a lot of deadlines to juggle--typically at least eight to twelve articles, along with corporate assignments, at a time--but each assignment took only a few days to report and write. 

But when I segued into writing books, I had to commit to longer-term work. Writing a book proposal, for example, takes me several weeks. To ghostwrite or write a book, I will set aside anywhere from three to six months, and during that time I don't take on other major projects. (I have written two books simultaneously in the past, but that made me a little crazy. And with a part-time work schedule, I can't commit to that these days.) Setting aside that time means I'm committed--and if my client backs out or the deal falls through (it happens), then I'm the one scrambling for new work. 

So what can do you when this happens to you?

1. Avoid the all-the-eggs scenario. I always have multiple assignments on my desk at any given time. Even if I'm working on a book, I like having the "quick hits" of shorter pieces. They're much faster to write and complete, and they help smooth out my cash flow. Sure, I'd rather get a check for several thousand dollars from a ghostwriting client, but those $450 and $800 checks add up, too. So make sure you have a selection of work eggs--even though some may be much more valuable--in your basket. 

2. Reach out to your current and former clients. This is the time to hit them up for work, but don't come right out and say, "I have no work! I'm desperate!" Instead, I'd write something like: 

Hi, Susan!

I hope you're having a great summer, first off. I'm wrapping up a couple of big projects and wanted to touch base to see if you're looking for any story ideas or have any assignments that might be right for me. Let me know if there are any areas you'd like to receive pitches on, and I will be in touch! 

Thanks and have a great day!
Kelly 

I always want to present the impression of being busy and in demand--even when I'm neither. It's all about perceptions. :) 

3. Consider old pitches. When I need to get the work pipeline moving, I'll go back to old queries and see which ones I could re-pitch with minimal work. I'll also look at recent stories I've done to look for new angles for other markets--what I call reslanting. These pitches take less time to write than a completely new pitch, and make my marketing time more efficient. 

4. Reach out to other writers. I will also email a handful of writers I know who work in the same subject areas as me with the same kind of email I might send to a former or current client to let them know I'm available if they're overwhelmed.  

5. Revisit personal priorities. Yes, my initial response to a no-work crisis is to get my butt in gear to line up more work. But I also use some of the time to address my own projects. For example, when I'm slow work-wise right now, I use the time to market Improvise Press and look for speaking gigs. This kind of work may not pay off in the very short-term, but it does have long-term benefits. 

6. Embrace the downtime. As a freelancer, you have more control over your career than the average wage slave. But nothing is entirely in your control. So roll with it. As I write this, my current ghostwriting client is behind, which means I have a lot less to to today than expected (at least until she gets the latest chapter back to me for editing/rewriting.) 

I've already adjusted my schedule to address this change. Instead of spending all day ghostwriting, today I'll finish an article (about a month ahead of deadline!) and get that off my desk. I'll get my usual Monday blog post up. I'll write some queries, reach out to some of my regular clients, and follow up on some reprint markets. I'll also contact some libraries about speaking there this fall. And then? I'll knock off work early, and take kids to the pool. This kind of "found time" doesn't happen often, so I'll enjoy it,--and get back to work tomorrow! 

***My latest special offer for readers continues. I sell more books on Kindle than on any other e-platform, so I'm offering this $0.99 special offer comes in. For a limited time, three of my most popular ebooks on Kindle are priced at only $0.99! 

• Dollars and Deadlines' 10 Most Popular, Proven Ways to Make Money as a Freelance Writer
• Dollars and Deadlines' Guide to Selling Your First Article
• Dollars and Deadlines' 10 Essential Freelance Templates 

And if you're ready for the whole kit and kaboodle, check out my full-length books, Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets and Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, second edition. If you prefer print (like I do), order directly from ImprovisePress.com. Use the discount code, IMPROVISEPRESS (all caps/no breaks) for 20 percent off of your order!

Talking Freelance Money: Per-Hour Versus Per-Word

Hi, readers! Today's post is a flashback of sorts--an updated version of one of my first, and also one of my most popular. It encompasses one of my freelancing philosophies--that it's more important to pay attention to what you're making per-word than per-hour. 

Per-word rates are the norm in the freelance world. You may be paid $2/word for a national print magazine, $0.25/word for an online publication, or, say, $200 for a blog post of about 600 words. The per-word figure, multiplied by word count, tells you how much you’ll make for writing a particular article. story. But it may not tell you whether it’s really worth it to take it on. To know the answer to that, you must also consider how much time the piece will take to pitch, research, and write--and possibly rewrite. Divide your assignment fee by the number of hours you put into an assignment, and you'll have its hourly rate. 

Knowing how much time an article (or any other project, for that matter) will take gives you a concrete idea of the return on your time. Because those $1/word and up assignments can be mighty misleading. Sure, it’s a bigger check than writing for a market that pays a lower per-word rate. But does a higher per-word rate mean you're making more money if you were to write for a market that pays less? 

For example, let’s say I do a 1,000-word story for a national magazine that pays $1.50/word. Fair enough—I’m getting paid $1,500 for my work. But what happens if between researching and writing the query, writing an outline (per my editor), researching the article, finding sources, doing interviews, transcribing interviews, writing the piece, turning in the piece, revising the piece (per my editor’s request), finding new sources (per my editor), interviewing those sources, turning in the final revision, submitting my backup material, answering additional questions from the editor (say, nine months later…it happens), I’ve put 25 hours into my story? That means I’ve made $60/hour on that story.

Not bad, but here’s the thing—compare that to a 1,000-word piece on the same topic for a smaller magazine that pays only $0.35/word. Yet I know the editor and my query is just a short paragraph. The story requires some background research and several interviews, and takes me a total of five hours to write. (No revisions requested! Yay!) That a total of $350, for five hours’ worth of work—or $70/hour.

At first glance, the $1,500 piece appears to be a more lucrative assignment—and it is a bigger check. But my experience has been that national markets (and I’ve written for more than 60 of them during the last 16 years) expect a lot more work from you to earn that higher rate. In many cases, I’ve found that regional magazines, trade publications, custom magazines, and websites pay more per-hour than their national counterparts. And that makes them worthwhile markets, at least for me. 

Another example? I sell reprints to a variety of markets. No, the rates aren't high--and may be as low as $40/story, but last week I got a request for an article of mine. It took me less than 15 minutes to locate the story on my hard drive and email it to her along with an invoice--an hourly rate of $160. That number puts a new perspective on selling reprints, huh? 

To know your hourly rate, you have to know how much time each assignment takes, and thats's why I recommend using a time sheet, especially if you're a new writer. As you gain experience, you'll find you can more easily estimate how long a piece will take and have a better feel for what its hourly rate--its true value--will be. 

**Looking for more advice on writing for money? Check out my latest two books, Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets, and Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, Second Edition. 

You'll save money by buying them direct through www.improvisepress.com, my newly-launched publishing company. Use the discount code, IMPROVISEPRESS (all caps, no breaks) for 20 percent off of your order--and let me know if you'd like a signed copy for yourself or a friend! 

The Sell-Your-First-Article Series: The Final Steps

Welcome back to the Sell-your-First-Article series. (You'll find step 1, steps 2 through 5, step 6  and steps 7 and 8 here. At this stage, you've done most of the heavy lifting--the article has been pitched, sold, researched, and written. So what happens next?

Step 8: Turn the story in.
I turned in the story along with Dr. Jensen’s contact information and a copy of the study itself. This is called “backup,” or “fact-checking” material. Some publications don’t require backup, but I suggest you always have it on hand just in case. That will include the names and contact information of anyone you interview; copies of journal articles; Websites that you pulled information from (e.g., a page from the Centers for Disease Control that you cite in the article.) For longer stories that include more than one source, you typically turn in an additional, annotated copy of the story that indicates which sources provided the information in the story. 

Step 9: Get paid!
In this case, my editor was happy with the piece, so I didn’t need to do any revisions, which eliminated the need to rewrite/rework the piece (normally step #10). She put payment through without needing an invoice (normally step #11), and I received my check for $225 (normally step #13) four weeks later.

Step 10: The final step. Get the clip and notify my sources.
Five months later, the piece ran in Fitness. I made a copy for my portfolio, and notified Dr. Jensen about the piece, thanking him again for his help. If it would have appeared in a trade or custom publication that’s hard to locate, I would have sent him a copy of the article, but in this case, I simply told him the name and issue of the magazine, and the page number of the story (and his quote). Usually this will be step #14, but every story is different, and some require fewer steps to complete. 

Get the idea? A short piece like this isn’t complicated to pitch, research, and write—once you understand the steps to take. 
***Have you found this series of posts helpful? They were drawn from Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets. You'll find real-life examples of another eleven articles pitched, researched, and written for markets to make it easy for you to launch your own article-writing career as well.   

The Sell-Your-First-Article Series, Steps 7 and 8

Welcome back to the Sell-your-First-Article series. (You'll find step 1, steps 2 through 5, and step 6 here.  Today we'll talk about what is often the hardest part of freelancing--the actual writing. Which brings us to step 7: 

Step 7: Write the piece.

To write the piece, I considered the following two questions:

1. What made the study interesting or surprising?

2. What “take-away” message was there for Fitness readers?

Obviously this was a short article, so I didn’t have a lot of space. This story was relatively easy to write, both because it was short, and because the subject matter was fairly simple. The challenge was “writing tight,” or keeping my story succinct while adequately covering the topic. I kept my lead short, described the research, and included a quote from Dr. Jensen. It took me several drafts to get my original version, which was more than 250 words, cut to within word count. It had been assigned at 150 words and I wrote a 163-word piece. My rule of thumb is to get as close to word count as you can, but stay within 10 percent of assigned word count no matter what.

The finished piece I turned in is below, with my comments in brackets. Note that my name, address and contact information are in the upper left-hand corner. The word count and rights being sold are included in the upper right-hand corner. Then the title of the piece and the byline are centered below that, before the story starts. You should single-space this information and double-space the piece itself.

Kelly James-Enger                                                   163 words 

[street address]                                                       Rights per written contract

[city, state, zip]

[phone]

[email]

Fidgeting Fat Away?

by

Kelly James-Enger

Maybe those enviably skinny people who can eat anything without gaining weight simply can’t sit still. [Very short lead—this is a very short piece, remember?]

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic’s Endocrine Research Unit fed sixteen volunteers 1,000 extra calories a day for eight weeks while strictly monitoring their activities. While all participants gained weight, on average they burned off about half of those extra calories through increased non-exercise activity thermogenesis (“NEAT”), which includes fidgeting, maintaining posture, shifting position, and other spontaneous physical activities. The range varied significantly—participants whose NEAT kicked into high gear expended more calories and gained less weight while others—with smaller NEAT increases—expended fewer calories, putting on more weight.  [Here’s the heart of the piece—explaining what the study revealed.]

“It looks like NEAT can be dramatically and rapidly induced in some people by eating too much,” says researcher Michael Jensen, Ph.D. We’re not recommending fidgeting as a weight-loss technique, but the study suggests that even minor physical activities—like stretching when you’re watching TV or crossing and uncrossing your legs during a marathon meeting—can add up. [Live quote from one of the researchers, and a short closing statement.]

-30-

[The number 30, or ###, indicates the end of the piece.]

Step 8: Turn the story in.

                I turned in the story along with Dr. Jensen’s contact information and a copy of the study itself. This is called “backup,” or “fact-checking” material. Some publications don’t require backup, but I suggest you always have it on hand just in case. That will include the names and contact information of anyone you interview; copies of journal articles; websites that you pulled information from (e.g., a page from the Centers for Disease Control that you cite in the article.) For longer stories that include more than one source, you typically turn in an additional, annotated copy of the story that indicates which sources provided the information in the story. 
               What comes next? Biting my nails and waiting to hear from my editor. Stay tuned for the remaining steps in the process. And don't forget about my free teleseminar with Rochelle Melander on Wednesday! 
                **In the next post, we'll talk about how to start researching this short piece. In the meantime, Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets, from which this post is drawn, in now in print. (Prefer the Kindle edition?) 
               If you're interested in writing articles, be sure to sign up for the Write Now! Mastermind class on Wednesday, March 27, at noon central time. Rochelle Melander will be interviewing me for How To Pitch And Sell Articles To A Variety Of Freelance Markets. The call is free, but you need to sign up at http://www.writenowcoach.com/resources/write-now-mastermind.html. I hope to "see" you on the call!