Five Good Reasons--to Sell Reprints

According to my survey of fulltime freelancers earlier this year, only 2 percent of respondents are selling reprints to their work. I find that surprising and hope to convert some of the other 98 percent.

Sure, many writers say that selling reprints isn't worth the time or effort. I say, think again--and consider these five excellent reasons to jump on the reprint train:

1. Great per-hour rate. Let me give you an example--I have a local magazine that buys a reprint from me four times a year. She emails me, asking if I have something relevant, I send her the story, and she sends me a check. Total time invested? Maybe 15 minutes. Payoff? $75. That's a $300/hour rate...not bad at all.
2. Bigger platform. I've sold reprints to markets throughout the country, which helps build my platform both as a writer as a fitness/health expert. (In addition to freelancing, I'm an ACE-certified personal trainer and public speaker on topics including healthy habits and stress management, so I want my name "out there" as much as possible. And the bigger my platform, the better chance I have of selling my next book to a publisher, too.)
3. More book sales. When I sell a reprint about a health topic, I include a bionote ("Kelly James-Enger is the author of books including Small Changes, Big Results: A 12-Week Action Plan to a Better Life, with Ellie Krieger, R.D.). If it's a piece on infertility or parenting, I'll mention my book, The Belated Baby, which is for parents who experienced infertility. Not every reprint market will provide a bionote, but when they do, I get some free publicity.
4. More assignments. I just finished two original articles for a reprint market after the editor asked me if I was willing to write new pieces for her. The per-word rate wasn't as high as I'm paid by national magazines, but each story only took a few interviews and several hours to write, which made it worthwhile. And editors coming to me with work means I spend less time marketing.
5. Multiple sales--and free money. Sure, reprint markets may not pay that much--I have steady markets that pay only $35 or $50 for one-time reprint rights per story. Paltry, right? But almost all of those "low-paying" markets buy more than one story from me, often at once. One regional women's magazine requested about twenty stories from me earlier this year. I sent them in several batches so she could select the ones she wanted to use. So far, she's purchased eight of them, for a total of $520--and I haven't had to do any more work. I just find a check in the mail for $60 or $70 every month or so. That kind of "free" money is my favorite kind to get.

Of course to sell reprints, you need to retain reprint rights to your work. Next post, we'll talk about how to negotiate more writer-friendly contracts.

The State of Freelance Income, Take Two

Long-time readers of my blog will recall that I started a poll about the state of fulltime freelancers' annual income back in the spring. Well, I'm continuing to receive responses and will report on the latest figures soon. (I'm also planning a follow-up survey in January, 2011 so we can see how 2010 turned out compared to 2009. As of June, 2010, 55 percent of respondents expected to make more in 2010 than in 2009 and 30 percent expected to make about the same; only 15 percent expected to make less than they did in 2009.)

Already participated in the survey? Great--thank you! If you haven't, though, and you're a fulltime freelancer, please visit my Freelance Income Survey to share your data. (Tell your freelancing buddies, too.) It will take you less than 3 minutes, is completely anonymous and will give all of us more info about the state of the market these days.

The State of Freelance Income: A Continuing Look

I'm happy to report that freelancers are still contributing to my ongoing survey of freelance income. I'd love to collect more responses (the more responses, the more accurate the survey), so if you haven't done so already, please visit http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=KNMIOF_cdf53ce4&UID=2614948357 to share your data. And please ask other fulltime freelancers to do so! It will take you 3 minutes or less, is completely anonymous and will give freelancers more info about the state of the market these days. And if you've already participated (or are about to do it this minute!), thank you! :)

The State of Fulltime Freelancers' Income

Over the last few weeks, I’ve asked fulltime freelance writers to come forward and share something rather personal—the amount of money they’re making. (Don't worry--it was anonymous.) Specifically, I asked 100 self-employed writers what they made in 2009, how long they’ve been freelancing, what kind of work they do, and—very telling—whether they expect to make more money in 2010 than 2009.

The 100 respondents (yes, this is an admittedly small sample) were relatively new to the fulltime freelancing business. Five percent had been freelancing fulltime for less than a year; another 29 percent, for one to three years; and 24 percent for four to six years. Fourteen percent have self-employed scribes for 7 to 10 years; 15 percent, for 11 to 15 years; and 13 percent have been doing it for 16 years or more. That means that more than half of respondents (58 percent) have been freelancing for six years or fewer, and in my opinion, are still building their businesses.

And you know what? There is some bad news. Out of 100 respondents, 27 percent made less than $20,000 last year. Another 22 percent made between $20,000 and $40,000 in 2009, and 24 percent made between $40,001 and $60,000. If you’re keeping track, that accounts for 73 percent of respondents.

But there's some good news, too. Another 9 percent of respondents made $60,001 to $80,000; 7 percent, $80,001 to $100,000; and 11 percent made more than $100,001 in 2009, a very challenging year for just about everyone. That's one in ten respondents--not bad at all.

I find that inspiring and encouraging—especially as I didn’t hit those kind of numbers last year. (Of course I work part-time by choice, and a number of respondents pointed out that they too work fewer than “full-time” hours, which means these figures may skew a bit lower than they could be.)

Perhaps the best news is what we’re expecting for the future. More than half of respondents (55 percent) say they’re on track to make more in 2010, and another 30 percent expect to make about the same amount of money. Just 15 percent say they’ll make less.

What does this mean for you? That no matter what you’re making, you’re in good company—and if you aspire to make more, there are plenty of other freelancers already doing it. So why not set a more challenging income goal--and go for it?

Share your Fulltime Freelance Income...Anonymously, of Course

Good news...I've already received 84 responses on my freelance income survey; if you haven't done so already, please visit http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=KNMIOF_cdf53ce4&UID=2614948357 to share your data. And please ask other fulltime freelancers to do so as well. It will take you 3 minutes or less, is completely anonymous and will give freelancers more info about the state of the market these days. And if you've already participated (or are about to do it this minute!), thank you! :)

Tune in for the results next week. You may be surprised at the results!

Happy Friday! :)

More Talk about Money...How Much are you Making?

Let’s talk money some more. How much are you making this year? How does it compare to last year?

Here’s the thing—I talk about money. Maybe it's a character flaw, but I think other writers should, too. There’s a perception (a misconception, in my opinion) that freelancing is a good way to starve. But for me, and thousands of other successful self-employed writers, freelancing more than pays the bills. So why isn’t that info getting out there?

Sure, plenty of writers are making little money. But are they going where the money is—in other words, writing for clients who pay reasonably well? Are they writing what people want to pay for, not what they particularly feel like writing that day? Hey, I would love to be a fulltime novelist—and I already have two published novels under my belt. But I can’t make a living writing fiction…unless I can figure out how to live on $7,500/year, which is what I got as the advance for each of those novels. (Insert dejected sigh here.)

Anyway, there isn’t a lot of info out there about what freelancers are making money-wise today. Writer’s Market includes an annual roundup of going rates for different kinds of work, and if you’re a member of ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors), you have access to Paycheck, where members anonymously report what they’re paid by different publishers. But what are we making annually these days?

When I was working on Six-Figure Freelancing, I found only two surveys about freelancer's income. One was a 2003 survey of 369 ASJA members. At that time, 41% made more than $50,000 a year, including 12% grossing more than $100,000 annually. Another survey of nearly 500 freelancers conducted by Doreesa Banning in 2004 found that while nearly 68.9% of respondents made less than $50,000 a year, more than 30% made more than that, including 7% who made more than $100,000 annually. (Visit http://www.asja.org/pubtips/050324a.php for more about the survey.)

What about you? Where do you fall on the income bell curve? I’ll tell you that in 2009, I grossed about $52,000 last year, working an average of 15 hours/week. In 2008, I made $57,500, working about 18 hours/week. However, this year I’m on target to make significantly less than that, which means it’s time for me to market myself much more aggressively.

Still, I’m curious about what other freelancers are making and thought about asking for feedback here. Then reality interceded; after all, I do realize not everyone is as willing to share their annual income in a public forum. So I’ve set up an anonymous survey to report on the current state of what we're making as freelancers. Please visit http://www.kwiksurveys.com/?s=KNMIOF_cdf53ce4 to participate in the survey (it will take you 3 minutes or less!) and I’ll report on the results by the end of June. After all, more information about money=more power for freelancers. And that is an excellent thing.