Freelancing FAQ

Anyway, as a subtopic for this thread, I'm also looking for advice on how to drift out being mostly a music writer into more of a feature/human interest type o'dude.

I'm working on your subtopic as we speak. The way I've decided to go about it is to pitch publications that I regularly write about music for on other topics, and to build a completely separate non-music clips package. But it's slow going right now.

I've had some success with getting replies to "cold call" story pitches, but it's muy difficult. I'm currently working on a spec piece for a magazine I'd really really like to get published in, but past experience with spec things is so-so; I wrote one long article on health care reform (Medicaid managed care, to be specific) for a national mag, which the editor claimed to like, but then another more senior editor had another health care piece he wanted to run, and then the editor I had made contact with left the magazine, and that was that. My long-term ideal is to have some kind of regular gig somewhere, 30 hours a week or so, make enough to get by on if nothing else is cooking, but have the flexibility to pursue other things as my fancy dictates. (My Fancy Dictates as a band name -- c/d?) Which, now that I think of it, is kind of the situation I'm in now. Hey, I'm already at my long-term ideal! Time to retire, I guess.

And, uh, if anyone's looking for a story on Medicaid managed care...

Oh, Horace, I just had a fantastic idea! You could write about sex! I'm thinking some people might really enjoy that!

how do you usually wait after invoicing before getting anxious about getting MONEY?

*Makes mental note to ring Independent*

Sorry a cheque hasn't been sent yet. We're in mid-August tight-cash flow
land, so if you can hold off for a bit, I'd prefer to pay you in the early
fall.

I wonder if I can tell my landlord that or the phone company or the student loans officers or VISA. I'm being so taken advantage of here, and I'm mad as hell.

If I have hassle with a publication's accounts department, I take my business elsewhere.

He sounds British though, maybe that's too brusque. aha x-post with suzy. I guess not!

"you don't got the money? FUCK YOU, PAY ME. your dog died? FUCK YOU, PAY ME."

walloping the fuck outta them with a pistol butt i find helps too.

I actually replied by highlighting that part of his email and saying that I didn't understand. It's not a terribly large sum of money, and I don't NEED it, but I'm terribly insulted that they would treat me like this. I mean, it's only $50.

Tracer OTM. The British eq. would either fail to respond or be on holiday. I hate it when the accounts department go on holiday, it feels like they're spending MY MONEY.

$50 can mean medication, groceries, your electric bill, etc etc etc.

partial transcript:

me: I don't know what to make of this: "if you can hold off for a
bit, I'd prefer to pay you in the early fall." so I won't make
anything of it.

Him: To clarify
what I meant: Cash flow is somewhat tight at the moment. The Accounting Guy and I must
therefore pick and choose which writers we pay sooner, and which we pay
later. I was attempting to say, in that endearingly oblique manner of mine,
that we could cut you a cheque immediately, but my preference was to delay
paying you until September, if that doesn't cause any major problems for
you. Sorry for the confusion, I'll ask The Accounting Guy to send you payment
this week.

Glad it's sorted. Never think you are compromising a professional relationship by making a professional demand. It is your editor who capitalises on people who don't chase him hard enough, but you know you can get paid sooner because you know the rationale now.

Freelancing: towards poverty and mentalism? (particular attention: mark s, Suzy, Fritz and anyone else who's made the jump)

Where the (roughly) £1000 owed by various publishing companies has got to is well beyond ILE search.

Good luck Horace, I've had some horribly poor moments, but I'm still glad I left.

(pa-me)

Everyone wants a piece of the music, or the cred that goes with writing about it or knowing about it or whatever, without actually putting in any of the soul crushing graft, and lets face it these people don't have much of that because they've no passion to invest in the first place.

The worst part of all is, I study journalism and I see it in people who are otherwise nice people, but everyone wants a short cut. I sound like I'm 40 or something but it is so frustratingly omnipresent.

Ronan: Soul crushing graft or craft?

so... how does one break into this? i would like to start doing freelance work to supplement my insanely boring/low-paying job, but i don't know where/how to pick up the work! is this a sign i am not ready? do you have to wait for these things to come to you and then build on that? i would be interested in marketing/pr/grantwriting/whatever... not like 'i'm a freelance music writer lol' type stuff, though i'd be down with some writing/editing if the opportunity presented itself.

not like 'i'm a freelance music writer lol' type stuff

why ever not??!??? lol

tehresa, I think the usual path involves having a stepping stone somewhere. If you know and have worked with anyone in charge of doing the kind of stuff you're looking for, just let them know you're always available to pick up work. Ideally, they toss something your way when they're short of hands; you turn it around effectively; they start realizing it's way less headache to throw things your way; they send more; they mention to other people that they know someone who can take care of X, Y, or Z; etc. etc. I mean, this is kind of a snowballing of reputation/connections, really, just like starting some kind of business.

^^ point being Step One is probably having one person you know somewhere who, when they need a certain thing done, thinks "oh right, I know tehresa could take this off my hands"

yeah i need to work on that. argh.

is it worth doing marketing/pr stuff for free for a community theater as an attempt to resume/portfolio-build? i am v hesitant about undervaluing myself at this stage, because i feel v undervalued at dayjob now and am nervous about anyone thinking, 'oh i know let's get tehresa to do this it won't cost us anything!' as a habit but also, i really need to work/practice my skills right now.

so if i am filling out a job app that asks for my most recent employer, do i list myself since my current freelance work is a contract and i am not an employee of said client? or do i just keep that to my resume and cover letter and list my last REAL job as my most recent employer?

example?

http://www.ideastap.com/IdeasMag/the-knowledge/laurie-penny-journalist-writer

interview about how to make it

not sure if this is the best thread, seemed ok -

anyone who's done editing/proofing as a freelancer have any commonsense advice about contracting and payment agreements? like, is there a norm of asking for money to start work, or breaking the job into halves or installments?

i've been courting some clients to try and get a nominally credibly rep as an editor, with (so far) no luck, so i haven't had to negotiate this yet. it seems like most jobs, they would be simple enough (given that i'm not burdened by a lot of work to juggle) to just do, hand over, and ask for payment on. but is there any worry that individual clients (not institutions farming things out, who are obviously not in general reliable w/ the ol paychecks) will not pay?

Well my dayjob's going to shit and I'm thinking of taking the plunge as a freelance copywriter / creative. How very terrifying. Although I'm kinda of excited. Still getting my head around the ins and outs of how to set myself up, the finance part, whether I need to create a company or use and umbrella company etc... And finding clients, eek! Any general tips?

Ideally you can operate as a sole trader. Avoid using an umbrella company unless you're making enough to justify losing some of it to them in fees. Or try one initially (if you want to use an accountant too they may be able to recommend an umbrella co) before switching to limited company if there is enough work coming in over the course of a year to make that worthwhile.

Sole trader was fine for me for ages - eventually moved to ltd company for taking on content contracts on big frameworks w/ more compliance hurdles (government work, basically). I find the admin/accountancy overheads on that a bit of a pain in the arse tbh, and I wouldn't have switched to ltd company unless I'd had to, but it roughly works for where I am.

I'm meeting with a freelance recruiter in a week or so. Seems like a pretty good one but who knows. But yeah there are a few forms I have to complete in that regard.

Hi thread. I've been offered a very exciting freelance opp. It's just a small job right now, providing 'scamps' for a creative agency to pitch to a potential FMCG client. However, I also know that my current full-time employer is also pitching work to the same client and I'll probably be the creative on the project, so it's a conflict of interest, right? I have to turn the freelance opp down? Or do I?

so it's a conflict of interest, right?

Yes. Very much so. And if I were your full-time employer and I found out you'd done that, I'd shitbin you before the day was out.

so
(a) my book is out in the world (see relevant threads), and
(b) my editing and subbing backstop work is becoming more and more competitive and less and less print-based (where all my experience is) and generally further and fewer between so
(c) i am putting myself back out in the world for freelance writing yay gritted.teeth.emoji

and i very belatedly have a query = how acceptable (or sensible) is it to send the exact same idea to several outlets at the same time?

to date i have always tended to operate a kind of "first refusal"/"second refusal" system, which is respectful to commissioning editors but maybe not helpful to me?

except: if outlet x (that i really really want to work with) is slow in saying yes but does say yes, and outlet y (who would be nice to work with but not quite ideal in this instance) says yes quicker, how do i extract it from y to give to x without looking like a flake or a chancer (or is all fair in love and pitching?)

Short answer: Yes, all is fair in love and pitching, ultimately.

Less short answer: Being on both sides - I commission interviews/stories for an outlet, my main job, but do freelancing on the side - I'd say go by them one at a time. It will take more time for you to get an answer, but as an editor I don't like to say yes to something only to be told you've sold it to someone who was quicker.

Also, I'm guessing you're not mass-emailing ideas to loads of publications, and will usually tailor your story so that it's perfect for two or maybe three outlets, right? In which case it's not that big a bother to do it one by one imo.

Is it the time waiting for an answer before you can move on to the next publication (after a 'no') that prompted this?

yes and the frustration of missing things bcz outlet x takes a while to get back (where "a while" can be extremely variable)

i guess there's a judgment here about what "quicker" is? if i wait until a potential new outlet gives me a definitive no i may be waiting forever -- and some projects are much more time-tied than others. i've missed things before because my first choice outlet was (in my opinion) more sluggish than they should have been.

i guess based on my own reply etiquette i'd say a fortnight is long enough to assume a monthly is not going to reply (yr project is lost in their unread email sludge) but is a week me being too impatient?

Oh, a week to ten days really is the max, that's not you being impatient imo. Assuming you know yr shit (you do) and sent it to the right person etc. It's a tricky thing to figure out though, no doubt, and I don't think there's a golden rule of thumb.

Thinking about it now, and this sounds very un-2020 but, an approach that usually gets me a result (= a commission) is to speak to someone on the phone first, run my idea by them, and then agree to send a detailed rundown of the idea via email. This way you'll get to wind them around your finger and unleash your massive charm, and also get an idea if they'll bite or not. But you have to feel comfortable doing that (and sort of know if the other party does not hate phone calls, in which case, don't call them lol).

Another good trick is to figure out as best you can what their production cycle is and pitch as soon as they've sent an issue to press, when they can absolutely devote time and attention to your pitch (as opposed to mid-cycle, when everyone's frantic and non-essential emails are deleted unread en masse).

lol i am highly phonephobic LBI and wd certainly anxiously chatter any coldcall target into rejecting an idea that i can probably woo them with on (e)paper

unperson, yes absolutely, good tactic

an unexpectedly pleasing aspect of this moment is that many of my peers are retiring and commissioning editors are from a successor generation: i get less "ffs this weirdo again, tell him no" and more "omg the legendary (if weird) mark s, tell him no" haha