The Writing Coach Blog

Where Freelance Writers Can Find Legal Help

It’s possible to go your entire career without ever needing a lawyer, but many freelance writers at some point will find themselves looking for legal advice. Whether you’re negotiating a book deal, wrangling content under fair use, or fighting a lawsuit, having an attorney on your side can make your job easier and lead to better outcomes. Retaining counsel, of course, can cost big bucks that many freelancers don’t have. Here are a few resources for obtaining free or reduced-cost representation and information.

Legal Representation

Lawyers for the Creative Arts offers free legal assistance to media professionals work for themselves or others. Based in Chicago, the group provides direct counseling and referrals to area attorneys. LCA also serves as an educational resource and answers legal questions via phone and email. Its expertise include: Copyright, rights clearance and fair use, contracts and negotiation, and rights of privacy and publicity. LCA does low-cost dispute resolution through its mediation service.

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts is a New York-based group of more than 1,200 volunteer attorneys. Like the LCA, it provides various services for creative professionals, including an advice hotline and pro bono representation for low-income artists and nonprofit arts organizations. Its Art Law Line fields calls from people seeking legal or business advice, referrals, and information; it’s staffed by law interns who help answer legal questions from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern on weekdays.

Online Media Legal Network is a legal referral service for online journalists, as in writers who work for digital media. Its lawyers can help freelancers in diverse matters, including copyright and fair use, access to government documents, pre-publication review of content, and business affairs. They even represent reporters in litigation. The service, run by the Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, is basically a database that sends writers’ requests out to a nationwide network of volunteer attorneys who flag which cases interest them. OMLN then helps determine who’s the best match. Reduced-cost and pro bono advice is available, based on the writer’s annual income.

Information and Financial Support

The Media Law Resource Center is a nonprofit information clearinghouse. It was set up in New York by media organizations to keep track of First Amendment-related issues nationwide. Its free public resources include answers to frequently asked questions about libel and slander, as well as links to helpful websites where writers can learn more about freedom of speech, information and the press — and related laws — in the U.S. and other countries.

The nonprofit Media Legal Defence Initiative, based in London, provides legal support to journalists and media outlets worldwide who seek to protect their right to freedom of expression. The group works to increase the resources available to the press in defending their rights through its global network of lawyers (and other partners). Among its varied services, MLDI can pay legal fees and assist writers in finding free legal advice.

The Society of Professional Journalists, based in Indianapolis, awards grants to help journalists defend the freedom of speech and the press. Writers can apply for financial support through the professional organization’s Legal Defense Fund if their case involves public access to U.S. government records and proceedings. SPJ prefers to fund cases that it believes will have far-reaching, positive impact.

The Arlington, Va.-based Student Press Law Center targets student-run publications, but its Virtual Lawyer tool on its website offers free basic information about copyright, censorship, advertising, libel, protecting sources, and other issues related to reporting. The site also features links to online legal research and other resources.

Contract Terms Every Freelance Writer Should Know

Whew! Landing that new client was a boon to your bottom line. However, now the editor is asking you to sign a freelance contract that’s packed with legal terms you’ve never seen before (or haven’t paid much attention to). To help you protect your business, we put together this short list of terms that every writer should know.

First North American serial rights

Magazines and newspapers often ask writers for the first North American serial rights. By agreeing to this, you’re promising first dibs on your story in the U.S. and Canada. Many publications (a.k.a. “serials”) now say these rights include their websites, too. In other words, they won’t pay you extra for putting your print story online, in the digital version of their periodical. Even so, with FNASR, you retain the copyright.

“It’s equally important to know what you’re not selling,” notes Moira Allen, editor of Writing-World.com. “You are not, for example, licensing a publisher to reprint your work in another format, such as an anthology. The publisher may not distribute the work outside North America; that would require a transfer of ‘international rights.’ …FNASR is an ‘exclusive’ right, which means you can’t transfer it more than once or to more than one publication.”

Electronic publishers often use the broad term “first rights,” without specifying how or where your work may be published. Before agreeing to this, consider whether you may want to pitch or sell the same article elsewhere. If so, request more specific language in your contract, such as “first electronic rights.”

All rights

Beware of this blanket term, which is often used by publishers who don’t want to buy additional rights (reprint, anthology, archival, etc.) later on. Once you’ve sold “all rights” to your article, you may never resell it—but the publisher can, without sharing the proceeds.

“All rights is usually a bad deal for writers,” advises author Marcia Yudkin, who specializes in creative marketing. “It means you sell the magazine the right to publish the article as many times as they like, to resell or to license the rights to a movie or computer database or audio publisher without paying you another dime, ever. If you’re asked to sell all rights, try to negotiate something better.”

That “something better” could be first rights of the type you specify or perhaps “exclusive rights” for a limited period of time, such as 60 days after submission or publication. That essentially means you reserve the right to resell the piece after the agreed upon period ends.

Work (made) for hire

This is like “all rights,” except that you’re giving up any claim to copyright. Most work for hire is done by full-time staffers — as in, the company owns all of what they produce — but some publications want freelancers to agree to this, too. If you do, you are allowing the publisher to use your work however they see fit, including under someone else’s byline. You can’t safely reuse the reporting you did, either, because any similar material you use could “infringe” upon the copyright, which you no longer own!

“In most cases, work-made-for-hire and all-rights contracts are a rotten deal for writers. If publishers want additional rights beyond first print rights—exclusive or non-exclusive — they should pay for them,” says the American Society of Journalists and Authors in a position paper on the topic. “In only a very few situations do we acknowledge that such arrangements may be acceptable: a book ‘written to order’ as a promotional vehicle for a company and/or its products, for example … or certain kinds of corporate writing.”

In some cases, such as when you foresee no real potential reusing or reselling the material, this may be fine. Think: technical and users’ manuals, corporate press releases, or marketing materials. But, in general, avoid “work for hire” contracts whenever possible.

Payment on delivery, acceptance or publication

Beyond your rights, make sure any contract includes terms of payment. “Payment on delivery” means that your fee is due as soon as you turn in your story (and an invoice, if requested). “Payment on acceptance” is pretty much the same thing, unless you’re submitting an article that wasn’t commissioned: You’re sending in original work so an editor may review it, at which time they may or may not decide to use it. “Payment on publication” means that your invoice won’t get processed until after your story is published.

Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen, who writes a “Quips and Tips” column for her blog, The Adventurous Writer, recommends establishing a deadline for “payment on publication” offers. “If you agree to accept the editor’s payment on publication offer, ask for a light at the end of the tunnel. For instance: ‘Payable upon publication or six months from date of acceptance, whichever is sooner.’ That way, you’re not sitting around for years, waiting for the editor or publisher to pay you for your writing.”

Kill fee

Last, but not least, you’ll want your contract to include language that ensures you’ll get paid for assigned work if your story never runs (or “gets killed”), for whatever reason, usually having nothing to do with the writer or the quality of the writing. “Publications die. Editors have a change of heart. Insist that a kill-fee clause is part of any contract you negotiate or sign,” Jeffery D. Zbar advises in Writer’s Digest. “Ask for 50 percent; settle for no less than 30 percent. If the magazine demands to pay less, you may be dealing with a substandard publication—and be inviting trouble.”

Freelance Writing: Do What You Love — and Pay the Bills

By Rebecca Smith Hurd

Q. How do I balance making money with fulfilling my passion as a writer?

A. “Balance” can be defined and achieved in so many ways that if you ask three veteran freelance writers this question, you’ll get three different answers. What works well for one scribe may fail miserably for another, because their talents, goals, interests, circumstances and financial needs vary. Some freelancers rely on non-writing jobs or supplementary income to help meet their bottom lines, while others earn a living exclusively as writers.

The beauty of freelancing is that you can choose to do whatever best suits you, your life and your business at any given time. The only universal truth seems to be that writers who are passionate about their work make putting words to the page a priority. After all, you can’t make money writing if you don’t write!

Writer #1: Passion Pays

Patrick Di Justo is a full-time writer whose work appears in Wired, Scientific American, and The New York Times. Prior to his freelance career, Di Justo programmed robots for the federal government and ran a planetarium in suburban New York. He says he “literally can’t remember” the last time he took a job he hated just for money.

“I am the luckiest writer on the planet, because I spend all my time writing articles I love,” says Di Justo, whose book The Science of Battlestar Galactica is due out in October from Wiley.

Di Justo, who last summer celebrated his 10-year anniversary of “Working With No Pants,” says that over the past decade he has occasionally done other paid work. This includes teaching science classes for the American Museum of Natural History and occasionally fixing computers for his neighbors. But the lion’s share of his income comes from writing.

“I have always lived a very simple lifestyle—I don’t feel the need to take extravagant vacations, or to have the latest cars and gadgets, or even to try every new restaurant,” he says. “Because of that, I can have a very enjoyable life on the money I make from writing.”

Writer #2: Stories on the Side

In contrast to Di Justo, children’s book author Chris Barton says he spends most of his working hours not writing. The Austin, Texas-based scribe, who supports a family of four, fits in bursts of creativity whenever he can.

“I’ve got a full-time office job, so that relegates my weekday writing time to an early-morning window (usually between 5 and 6:30 a.m.) and my lunch hours,” says Barton, a business analyst at Hoover’s. “I get in some additional hours on the weekends, mainly before my children wake up, and if I’m on deadline I can often summon the energy for a little more writing after my kids are in bed.”

All of those piecemeal hours can add up to some good work, says Barton, whose Shark vs. Train is on the New York Times best-seller list. “For me, the biggest benefit of the office job has been allowing my writing career to flourish without the pressure of having to provide for the mortgage and our health-care premiums.”

Barton also does paid visits to schools, which is not only financially rewarding but “a whole lot of fun.” Just as with his office job, though, there’s a trade-off: Time spent soliciting visits, preparing presentations, traveling to and from schools, and visiting the schools is time spent not writing, he says. It’s also time away from his office job, which means using his vacation time or making up the hours on other days.

Writer #3: Labor of Love

Meanwhile, Sue Fagalde Lick says she’s having difficulty balancing making money with writing, in part because she’s caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s. “I don’t mind if you mention my situation,” she says. “In fact, it is totally relevant, in that freelancers have no safety net when it comes to major family events such as illness or death. Such things make it hard to work, and there’s no paid time off.”

Lick, a former newspaper reporter and editor, is currently focused on writing her fifth book—and relies on other income to make ends meet. “Right now, my ‘day job’ is as a music director at our church. It’s hard work and definitely takes time from my writing, but it also gets me out of my office and around people and feeds my passion for music,” says Lick, who’s based in South Beach, Ore. “I also do some editing and teaching, and I have passive income from selling the books I have already published. If I didn’t have a portion of my husband’s pension to live on, I would have to get a full-time job.”

Lick doesn’t yet have a publisher, but she’s passionate about the topic and is confident that her efforts will pay off. “[The book] addresses the lives of women like me who do not have children because their mates were unwilling or unable to have children with them,” she explains. “If it doesn’t sell, I will definitely self-publish it because I know there’s a market out there: I get lots of hits at my website and my Childless by Marriage blog.”

Balancing making money and art is always a challenge, she adds. “Do you focus on the things that pay at the expense of those projects about which you feel passionate, or do you risk investing all your energy in something that might or might not pay off. I spent many years writing articles about whatever I could sell, but I have reached an age where I feel I can’t [spend] any more time on writing that doesn’t have long-term value. Life is too short.”

Do you have a question about freelancing? Ask Writing Coach.

When a Freelance Writer Should Work for Free

By Rebecca Smith Hurd

Yes, you read that headline right. There are, in fact, moments in every freelance writer's career that warrant working for free, at least according to panelists who spoke during the recent Future of Freelancing conference at Stanford University. Working for low or no wages can actually benefit your business, if you choose assignments and negotiate non-monetary compensation wisely.

Michelle Goodman, author of My So-Called Freelance Life, said that "a good exposure situation" can pay off in spades when it comes to activities like selling books, building your name recognition, and keeping up various platforms. Think: marketing. It's OK to take on the occasional non-lucrative project if it promises to boost a personal product or brand. "You really need to be discerning," she cautioned, clarifying that working for free "has nothing to do with volunteering. I'm talking about the people who don't want to pay you."

For example, I rarely volunteer my services. But I recently started a travel website, AllAboutPuebla.com, in an effort to provide people who don’t speak Spanish access to reliable information about the city of Puebla, Mexico. A colleague asked me to contribute to an e-book that he plans to publish this fall about Latin America. My 300-word essay about Mexico would be featured alongside contributions from scores of other writers/bloggers in the region. In exchange for my unpaid submission, the editor promised me free publicity. “Below your entry in the e-book will be your name and a short description of your [site] and a link,” he wrote. “You’ll receive a copy of the e-book and may you distribute it as you wish.”

Three hundred words seemed like small price to pay for a book with enormous potential to reach a very targeted audience. Rationale: Other contributors are bound to tout and distribute the book to their readers, too, which for me means that my entry could be read by hundreds or thousands of people who I may never otherwise reach. So I took on the assignment.

Before you accept an assignment for little or no money, try to negotiate other things to your advantage. Ask your editor questions like:

• Where, exactly, will my story appear on the publication's website?
• Will my story be featured or promoted anywhere?
• Where else do you plan to run the piece?
• Will you link to my website, blog, Amazon.com page, etc.?

When you turn in your story, gently remind the editor of the terms you agreed to — and provide the appropriate supplementary information, such as the URLs you'd like linked.

Be careful not to overload your schedule with pro bono commitments. Limit yourself every month to the number of free and non-monetary projects you're willing to take on, advised freelancer Matt Villano, whose clients include GQ, TravelChannel.com and The New York Times. Paid work should always be your top priority. "Writing at ten cents a word at some point is offensive to us," he said.

Indeed, working for free is not an effective long-term business model and should be entertained only when the anticipated benefits (e.g., free marketing) outweigh the costs (e.g., not meeting your bottom line).

"It's important that we don't devalue our work," said Damon Brown, who contributes to publications as diverse as Playboy, Family Circle and AARP. Brown says he always weighs how badly he wants a job versus coming in with a bid that's too cheap. "Err on the high side. If they want to hire somebody of Craigslist at a nickel a word, then [let them] go for it."

Freelance Writers: The Future Is in Your Hands

By Rebecca Smith Hurd

Forget all the "sky is falling" talk about the death of print media. Freelance writers working today have an opportunity to reinvent and re-create themselves with more independence and autonomy than we could before, Jim Bettinger, director of the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships, said during his opening remarks at the first Future of Freelancing conference. "It feels like we're back on offense again," he said.

The gathering of mid-career professionals, held June 18 and 19 at Stanford University in Northern California, featured panel discussions about everything from entrepreneurship and investigative reporting to social media and the digital revolution. The general consensus among speakers, who represented newspapers, magazines, books, websites, blogs, and related businesses, was that now more than ever writers can control their own professional destinies.

After all, Bettinger noted, quoting either French playwright Molière or American computer scientist Alan Kay: "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Here are few tips gleaned from the conference on how to go about doing just that.

Collaborate for leverage Whether you're looking for office space, health insurance or new clients, joining forces with others can really pay off: Collective bargaining power tends to drive prices down and the odds up across the board. Brett Levy, a former L.A. Times editor who co-founded the Journalism Shop, helps experienced reporters and editors get freelance work. His site recently partnered with eByline, which connects news organizations with writers to buy, sell, and distribute stories. The service lets writers "hang their shingle" for free and then either pitch stories or wait to be contacted by participating publishers, many of which are mid-sized newspapers. Writers can negotiate exclusive or nonexclusive contracts, and groups like the Journalism Shop can shop around its writers. Levy believes content platforms like Ebyline, Publish2 and Seed "may become the hottest area" in freelancing-if enough writers and publishers get onboard.

Promote yourself (and your brand) Although writers are rarely obligated to maintain a blog, a Twitter account or a Facebook page, having a strong online presence is likely to increase your success as a freelancer exponentially. This particularly applies to aspiring authors. If you can show a literary agent, an editor or a book publisher that there's an existing market for your idea, that you already have an audience, they are more likely to consider buying your book, said Dawn Davis, editorial director of Amistad, a HarperCollins imprint. And, the more legwork you do to promote yourself, the easier it is for your editor to convince the publisher to spend more on doing even more. Writers should think of the marketing process as a collaboration, she said.

Publish yourself

Technology has made do-it-yourself an economic reality for freelance writers of all kinds. The costs of starting a blog or producing an e-book, or even a printed book, are relatively low. Many blogs, like Grammar Girl and Sh*t My Dad Says, have evolved into successful books-and self-published works sometimes get picked up for reprint by larger publishers. Various panelists also noted that a finished story, project or book is often just the beginning of a dialog with readers-and that a follow-up pieces, speaking engagements, consulting gigs, and various add-on services can drive up the value of your information.

Provide extras (for extra pay)Speaking of add-ons, some magazines now pay writers extra for supplying additional content to accompany their well-crafted prose. For example, Wired will occasionally pony up cash for everything from "deep captions" to voiceover scripts, says articles editor Mark Robinson. Audio and video recordings can prove valuable, too. What doesn't get used online can make the fact-checker's job easier and even help you, the writer, remember details for the narrative that aren't in your notes.

If all that sounds like a whole lot of extra work for freelance writers, well, maybe it is. But veterans in the field promise the effort will pay off. "There's more opportunity out there than there has been in years," said Scott Robson, vice president, new movie initiatives for MTV. "You can actually earn a decent amount of money if you're willing to put in time and energy. Not Vanity Fair or New Yorker rates, but you can put food on the table."

How to Keep the Freelance Fire Going

"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire." —Reggie Leach

by Maya Payne Smart

For years, that quotation was taped to the screen of the computer I used to hammer out articles that explained everything from the aluminum-market outlook to the best ways to organize your home. The legendary hockey player's words were a constant reminder that self-motivation is key to victory in the competitive field of freelance writing. Unlike staff reporters, who even on slow news days get paid just for showing up, freelancers must constantly hunt for new assignments and their next paychecks.

And boy can it be tiring!

Writing and reporting alone, often at the risk of rejection, can take a lot out of you. Throw sales, marketing, invoicing, collecting and business planning into the mix and burnout starts brewing. Setting yourself on fire occasionally is one thing; kindling your efforts daily is another. There are many days when my to-do list outweighs my motivation level — and the term "self-starter" feels more like a punishment than a redeeming quality. Like Sisyphus pushing a boulder uphill only to have it roll back down, freelancing can feel laborious, tedious, even futile.

Given the inevitable ups and downs, how can writers keep their fire for storytelling alive? I heard some good answers to this question during "Can I Get a Witness? Writing for Social Change," a panel discussion that I moderated last week. Hosted by James River Writers, a Virginia nonprofit on whose board I serve, the two-hour event brought together Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist Michael Paul Williams, historical novelist Linda Beatrice Brown and AOL News contributor Emily Troutman to discuss how they use journalism, fiction and commentary to give a voice to the voiceless.

The event wasn't focused on freelancing per se, but I couldn't help but make connections between their work and ours. Together the panelists gave a master class in tapping emotion, seeking truth, connecting with readers (and other writers) and finding balance. Here are their tips for refueling.

Write passionately.

It may sound counterintuitive, but sometimes you can get more pleasure out of your writing business by investing more of yourself into it, even when you're tired. Rather than conserving energy by doing the minimum required to interview a source or write an article, give it your all. Regardless of the subject, write as if the story matters, as if only you can tell it, as if every word counts.

For Williams, the writing process starts with emotion. "It starts when I'm cussing at the TV set or balling up my newspaper and tossing it across the room," he said.  "It all stems from the outrage that you feel. It's almost childlike — this isn't fair; this isn't right. When you feel that, it writes itself. By the time you sit down at your computer, it's just a matter of polishing it up."

The notion of letting something powerful and personal guide your work doesn't just apply to columnists. "At heart, if you're a good journalist and you're doing your job, we need to be advocating for something," Williams said. "Otherwise, we're just stenographers. I don't know too many journalists that go into this with the idea of just taking notes in rote fashion and putting them down in some kind of newspaper.  It's got to be about more than that; it's got to be about some kind of greater good."

Indeed, reconnecting with your initial passion for writing is a surefire strategy for staying excited about the work over time. Your stories must be about more than a word count or paycheck.

Show humanity.

As a freelance writer, Troutman has traveled to locations as far flung as Istanbul, Turkey, and Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to offer "humanist perspectives on complex issues." She emphasizes the individual dignity of the people involved in the stories she covers as well as the worth and capacity for growth of her readers. 

"I've found that most of my experience in changing people's perspectives about a place or a problem is about them knowing me," she explained. "That's why there's power in writing fiction where you get to know a person or character, or in a columnist with a voice that people identify with. In my work, I try to tell the stories of real people who I meet so I interject that personhood into it."

She also connects on a human level with sources and readers through social media.  "It adjusts the way I talk about problems," she explained. "I know I'm going to post [stories] on Facebook or Twitter and the people on there aren't necessarily subscribers to the New York Times home edition; they are my friends from high school, my grandmother, my aunts and uncles. Social media has made me more aware of the potential audience-the real general public."

The conversation among readers who've been introduced to a new issue and sources who want to stay in touch minimizes energy-sapping feelings of isolation and plants writers within a community of learning, encouragement and support.

Be authentic.

It's certainly much easier to be passionate about your work and celebrate humanity when you are writing about subjects that you genuinely care about. Be selective about the work you pursue and the assignments you accept. 

Find a way to write what you love as opposed to psyching yourself into loving what you happen to be writing — or what you think has the best commercial prospects. Brown described a crossroads she reached in the '70s, when it became clear that the kind of books she wanted to write weren't likely to appeal to a wide audience.

"It was at that point that I decided that I was either going to be authentic or I was not going to write, because you can be a sleazy, non-truth-telling fiction writer very easily and make lots of money," she explained. "I thought, ‘You're either going to be who you are or there's no point in doing this. It's too hard.'"

Three novels and several poems, plays, short stories and essays later, Brown continues to tell her own truth. "For me, it is a spiritual thing.  I was put here on earth to use the gift of the word, and if I don't do that, I don't feel good. The energy is there because you love what you're doing."

Freelance Writing Pay Rates: Hourly vs. Flat Fees

by Rebecca Smith Hurd

Q. Should I charge by the hour for freelancing or by project? What are the pros and cons?

A. Freelance writing fees are frequently non-negotiable. Many print publications and websites offer a fixed rate, either per-word or per-article, and contributors either take it or leave it. Sometimes, however, an editor will ask you what your rate is. This is when you'll need to decide whether to charge by the hour or the project. The best choice, seasoned professionals say, depends on you and the assignment in question.

"If I have a clear idea of the scope of something, I prefer a flat fee. I have a good idea of how much time it takes me to get things done and know roughly what I think my time is worth," says Mathew Honan, whose work has appeared in Mother Jones, Popular Science, Runner's World, Time and Wired. "However, if a project is really open-ended, or doesn't have fixed deliverables (such as copy to file at a certain word count by a certain date), it's probably smarter to be paid by the hour."

This is particularly true of research or consulting projects, Honan says. "I may not know exactly what I'm getting into until [I'm] knee-deep. For example, I helped a university edit a new catalog. There was no previous example for me to look at, nor did the client know what length the finish product was going to be, so I couldn't know in advance how much work it would require. In that case, I billed by the hour," he explains. "But if I'm doing something like reporting and writing a story, or editing a brochure, where I know more or less what the end result will be before I get started, I always want to know what my total take-home is going to be upfront."

Setting a fair rate — whether it's per word, hour or project — requires you to be realistic about your time, resources and overall ability to deliver quality material, to someone else's specification, on deadline. When determining your fees for any project, remember to factor in any expenses (phone calls, database fees, travel, etc.) you're likely to incur while completing the assignment. Ask the client to clarify any vague aspects of their request, to make sure you agree on the nature and scope of the work.

"When I'm offered a project I want, I do a happy dance, then get to figuring out how long I'll spend completing it," says Erika Stalder, who writes a teen advice column for ABCfamily.com and has authored four works of nonfiction for Zest Books. "I consider research, writing, expenses, image sourcing and editing. Then I set a fee at my hourly rate, plus a built-in buffer."

For instance, if she estimates the work will take 40 hours, Stalder sets a rate at 40 hours plus a few additional hours "just in case I go over," she explains. "This prevents me from getting sucked into over-researching, overspending or overworking. The little buffer I create also gives me a challenge: If I meet my original hourly estimate, my overall hourly pay goes up, which can mean extra money for fun or my retirement (something we freelancers have to provide for ourselves). If I go over my estimate, the padding ensures I haven't overworked and screwed myself out of my hourly rate."

Project fees force Stalder to budget her time in advance, she says, which allows her to schedule new assignments without interfering with other projects she's already working on. It also helps her maintain work-life balance by preventing her from overbooking.

Other freelance writers prefer to charge hourly, especially when they suspect that a particular job may require multiple rounds of revisions or lead to additional requests. "If you've agreed on a set project fee, often the client will assume that additional work is included. So they get more work for no additional pay — and you get the short end of the stick," says Clare Kleinedler, a food and travel writer who's reported for Intermezzo, the Los Angeles Times and People and does copywriting work for eHarmony, MySpace and Zynga. "Hourly rates help avoid any confusion. It's much easier to convince a client that the extra hours were necessary (hence a higher invoice than what they may have expected) than it is to convince a client to renegotiate a set fee halfway through the project."

When taking on an assignment, Kleinedler specifies what her hourly rate will and will not cover. "Anything beyond the second round of revisions gets billed at our agreed hourly rate," she says. "'Additional work' means anything that wasn't covered in the project's scope at the beginning, because often clients will read my draft and then decide to go in a different direction — not because of anything I did wrong, but because they're working it out as they go — or request additional pages or sections."

As an example, she adds: "I once did five direct-mail post cards for a perfume company. They were happy with my work, but decided they wanted to change the subject matter of two of the cards, which meant I'd have to start them from scratch. I made it clear that I would bill them for the additional work, so that they wouldn't assume it was included in my original quote. Most clients have no problem with this, and the ones who do are just trying to take advantage of you!"

Whether you're charging by the hour or by the project, if you think an assignment will be more trouble than it's worth, your best course of action is to turn it down — and use the time to pursue another one that truly deserves your time and energy.

Do you have a question about freelancing? Ask Writing Coach.

Freelancers: Use Your Friends and Family Network

by Maya Payne Smart

Sometimes freelance writers make the task of drumming up new business harder than it needs to be by overlooking the resources right in front of them. Before you spend a lot of time chasing editors you've never met, why not tell the most trusted people you already know that you're looking for work? That's right: Talk to your friends and family.

You don't have to be Rupert Murdoch's next of kin or Arianna Huffington's BFF to use personal connections to your professional advantage. Your inner circle may not include any media moguls, but one of your friends or family members may know someone — or know someone who knows someone — who needs a story you're ready and willing to write.

Explain what it means to be a "freelance writer."

We tend to view friends and relatives as the people we hang out with when we're not at work. But as freelancers, we have to bring our networking A-game all the time. This includes casual and recreational situations. Start by clearly explaining your work, goals and interests. It's shocking how easily the uninitiated can equate "freelance writer" with "slacker."

Avoid this (and other frustrating situations) by providing examples of what you do — and don't do. Want to meet Lucy Lou who runs the pet daycare and needs someone to put together her Web site? No. Tell people what you specialize in, who your ideal clients are and which types of sources you like to cultivate. Help your friends and family help you.

By letting everyone know how hard we work, what exactly it is that we do and what we're looking for in terms of jobs, we enable them to share that information with others. Then, if they know or meet people who may be helpful to us, our names come to mind. The best part: Our new connection comes with a personal reference.

Keep everyone in the loop.

Once your friends and family know what you're up to, remind them again later. The easiest way to do this is to send them links to new stories periodically. The people who support you like to see what you're up to. If you belong to Facebook or another social network, post the link there, too. Encourage loved ones to forward or repost your work.

When my husband and I relocated to South Carolina several years ago, he told a local beat reporter he met that I was a writer, too. The reporter's wife happened to be an editor, and she got in touch with me when she was seeking writers for the launch of G Magazine, a lifestyle publication in Greenville. The connection led me to some interesting assignments, such as profiles of local celebrities, including bluesman Mac Arnold and Tour de France veteran George Hincapie.

Pursue leads — and follow up on them.

Recently, I was sitting next to a friend of a friend at a basketball game. He asked me what I do and I told him, very specifically, that I was a freelance writer who specializes in covering business topics for print and online media. As it turned out, he had a good friend who was the publisher of a national business magazine and said he would introduce us.

I sent the acquaintance a letter of introduction (for more on these, check out First Impressions: The Letter of Introduction), which he forwarded to his publisher friend. By the end of the month, I had a freelance assignment for the magazine.

Laid Off? Reassess Before You Start Fresh as a Freelancer

by Maya Payne Smart

Since 2005, newspapers and magazines have laid off nearly 130,000 journalists. Many are seeking a fresh start as freelancers. But, without the structure, competition or camaraderie of the newsroom, it can be easy to feel lost. Sound familiar? The good news: With a little self-assessment, you'll be headed in the right direction, toward a lucrative freelance career as your own boss, in no time.

First, you need to step back, reflect and take an inventory of everything that you bring to the table. In moments of change, especially when economic times are tough, people tend to focus on what they've lost — the job they used to have or the title that they used to hold. Instead, concentrate on what you have to offer.

Make a list, onscreen or on paper, of everything positive you can offer freelance clients. Note your educational background, including any special certifications you have, and the reporting or other expertise you've developed over the years. As you list, point by point, your knowledge and experience, you'll likely start to see some patterns. Use them to consider offering yourself up as an authority in a given topic, area or field.

Now that you've established your skills, make another list of everyone you know who may provide some professional support. As someone who's already worked as a journalist, you have an advantage over other a freelancers: your network. Who you know really does help to determine your net worth in this business. Start with colleagues, from every relevant job you've ever had. Then list professors from journalism school with whom you're still in touch, or even professors in other subject areas. Include friends or family members who are editors or who work at publications. 

You also want to write down any writers you know. Other freelancers who are successful in their careers will become assets as you go forward. Once you've written down all the names, look for any relationships between your skills and your network. All of these people can become resources for you as you develop your freelance writing business.

Finally, make a third list of the tasks you enjoy and your general interests. Of all the things that you've done, professionally and voluntarily, what subjects and activities do you have a natural affinity, enthusiasm or passion for that you may be able to turn into great writing?

Freelance writing, particularly journalistic writing, can be a difficult way to make a living. You have to sit at your desk, just as you would if you were back in your old newsroom, and produce story after story — often without anyone to bounce ideas off of or to light a fire under you. In order to sustain the constant, rapid pace of development that you'll need to make a good living, you really need to (mostly) enjoy what you're doing.

After all, you don't want to create just another job for yourself. As a freelancer, you can shape and mold your career into whatever you want it to be.  Why not create your dream job?

Be a linchpin, not a cog, in the content-creation system

Freelance writers can shape their careers to the extent that their talents and motivation allow. Why choose to be depersonalized, devalued and disrespected?

by Maya Payne Smart

In his new book "Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?" entrepreneur Seth Godin describes a multigenerational American conspiracy in which schools, governments and social contracts led us to trading genius and artistry for presumed corporate safety nets. Work hard, keep your head down and collect your pension were the rules of the game — until they weren't. The layoffs, furloughs and other cuts prompted by recession show a system breaking under its own weight. Yet many of us keep toiling as if old bargains still hold when a new approach to work is needed.

Rather than remaining cogs in a broken industrial machine, Godin argues that we should shrug off the thinking that's brought us here and use our strength and creativity to instead become linchpins, the indispensable individuals who hold organizations together and propel them forward. Although his message is largely intended for employees who cling to outmoded expectations of their employers and themselves, his insights are valuable for freelance writers, too. In a sense, freelancers are even more vulnerable than full-time staffers because we work with few guarantees and are all too often underpaid and under-insured.

Moreover, in the media industry, content farms and even some legacy media companies are applying the old industrial model to further commoditize journalism. Like the pin-making factory in Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations," they've broken down the content creation process into tiny tasks undertaken by low-paid workers to produce much more copy than a skilled artisan working alone ever could. But as freelance writers who work without corporate paychecks, benefits and backing, we have even less reason to take the bait than the manual laborers of yesteryear.

The way forward as freelance writers is not to push ourselves to become more efficient and productive parts of some insatiable content machine. We'll never be fairly compensated in a system in which our primary value is being compliant and interchangeable with the next writer. So let's not play that game. Instead, we must embolden ourselves to stand out, speak up and chart our own courses amid unpredictable circumstances. Our expertise, our ethics, and even our quirks (ahem, style) will fuel greater success in this new economy that's reeling from changes wrought by globalization and technological change. The way forward is indeed to become linchpins, people who bring insight, experience, flexibility and concern to our work - and are indispensable as a result.

"Indispensable freelancer" sounds like an oxymoron. We're contract workers after all. Our work is short-term and unattached by definition. We labor outside of the newsroom on our own time and without close supervision. Why should we harbor any illusions that what we do is crucial, that who we are matters? Because all writers are not created equal — each of us brings something unique to the table, and we should strive to further differentiate ourselves from the next guy as much as possible. Otherwise, we'll soon be replaced by other nameless, faceless contributors. As a freelancer, you have the freedom to shape and mold your career to the extent that your talents and motivation allow. Why would you choose to be depersonalized, devalued and disrespected?

Increasingly, being remarkable is the only way to profit. You have to believe in the work you're doing — you have to connect with it, your clients and your colleagues. You have to be an artist and produce work that inspires people. You have to push past fear and lean into challenges. You have to seek out clients who appreciate and compensate your hard work and talents. And you have to say no to jobs that steal time and enthusiasm from your dreams. "In a world that relentlessly races to the bottom, you lose if you also race to the bottom," Godin reminds us. "The only way to win is to race to the top." 

Ready. Set. Go!