Quick Twitter update – I’ve learned to be picky about following people who follow me. In a few cases, the followers were spewing out pitch-after-pitch on their businesses/websites, etc. In one case, the dude was begging, constantly, for people to republish his notes (or retweet, as it’s known) – so much so I quickly bored of his need to be number one in the Twitter ratings that week. Annoying people is not acceptable no matter what social networking tool you’re using. And whining like that – fast track me to annoyed. I un-followed him.
But back on topic here. We’ve all come across jobs or situations that have either gone against our beliefs, made us uncomfortable, don’t impress us with pay, whatever. In the past year, I’ve learned what I will and will not do for money any longer. They include:
Ghostwrite books. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve had two great experiences at it. But two out of close to ten experiences, the odds of a successful project outcome are not great. In fact, one of those successes went on to end in disappointment at another stage in the process. I don’t welcome the idea that the author is coming to me for ideas that friends and family are going to rip to shreds and question my credibility, nor do I welcome the notion of navigating that gawd-awful conversation about working for royalties or future profits. For some reason, people seem shocked that I’m not all that into working for free on their dream.
Working for pennies a word. I took one job that paid a whopping ten cents a word. Why? I wanted to break into the industry. But the mistake I made was writing more than one assignment for this publication. One shows you’re in the industry – four shows you didn’t think when you signed the agreements. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Work for unknowns who won’t reveal terms up front. It happened once last year. She contacted me because I had the experience her client wanted. I asked for terms three months ago. She has yet to provide them. And she thinks I’m still waiting to hear from her and her client.
Continue once a posse is introduced. Those of you who have been with me for a while know how passionately opposed I am to having third parties of my clients go over our work. I had this happen once last year. The client was a good soul who paid me despite going with the posse’s edits. But that client was the exception. Most clients who bring on others to “read through and offer suggestions” end up wanting to please those closest to them, ignoring the advice of the one they’re paying to write or edit. I now have a clause that voids the contract the moment any third party (including spouses) gives an opinion that the client expects me to heed.
Work for anyone who doesn’t provide authentication of purpose. Never thought I’d have to face it, but one of my clients turned out to be an alleged scam artist (said client is now facing arraignment). A warning flag went up, so I asked for proof of charitable status. I did get proper filings sent to me, along with other “evidence” that this was an upstanding citizen. Even the Google search turned up nothing heinous. It wasn’t until the cops called that I realized I’d been duped into helping someone whose sole intent appeared to be to lie and cheat money out of people. Oh, and same went for the dude who called shortly after this all came down. He’d pay me a huge retainer to write for him – just send over your bank account info. Despite his checking out on the Internet, I knew better.
How about you? What jobs won’t you take anymore and why?
First time here…enjoying some reading! Thank you!
Interesting experiences. Thank you for sharing.
I have fortunately never ended in a situation that I’ve felt uncomfortable with, yet.
I have been “offered” to format a bunch of scripts for nothing but credit. Didn’t accept that though.
Gee, what a fabulous offer, Desiree! I’m so surprised you turned that down – NOT! :)) Amazing how we’re constantly asked to give up cash for glory. No way!
Glad to see you here, Mark! I checked out your site – very cool!
Writing “samples” for free. I’m sick and tired of so-called employers expecting you to write a piece for them for free — even with a copyright disclaimer, there’s no way to be sure they won’t use it.
If they can’t tell via reading my previously published samples whether I can handle the project, they’re not professional enough for me to work with them.
You want me to write a sample specific to your project, in order to “decide” whether or not to hire me? Pay me for it.
Working for startups. I did that for months last year, and getting paid every month was a struggle. At one point, when nearly $3,000 for one issue was due, the editor said, “I plan to send you something because I want to keep you happy.”
Whah? I’m not a credit card on which you can charge up purchases and pay over time!
After much worry, I finally got paid in full, but the last payment didn’t come until about 90 days after I’d turned the copy in.
We’ve all said it before: If you can’t afford to fund your operation, it’s not my problem. I’m not your investor who gets paid only if your venture is successful. I’m a service provider. Pay me!
Gawd Devon, I HATE that! I’ve been doing this for eons. Why on earth do I need to constantly prove myself? Oh, I know – I DON’T. Next!
Gabriella, exactly. I won’t work with startups again. Some here would disagree with us, but I’ve been burned by that particular flame once too often.
Will not work for anyone with one iota of a bad rep. If I can’t get the scoop on a possible client through word of mouth, I’ll Google the f*** out of them.
If any source has anything negative to say, than I say no.
Devon and Lori, I’m with you on the samples. After nearly four years of freelancing (more than three of that full time) you can’t tell me I don’t have SOMETHING that will tell you what you need to know.
I also learned the hard way not to work on marketing copy for products I don’t believe in or agree with. I once wrote some brief website copy for a total pyramid scheme (strike one) selling “cure all” vitamins (strike two). I felt dirty for weeks, all because of four hours’ work. Never again!!!
Amen, Stacy. Won’t go there, either. And I won’t work with those who are trashing others, be it their competition, their coworkers, their spouses, whatever. I’d just be the next one in line to be griped about.
Katharine, that’s awful! I know how you feel. That alleged scam artist caused me not just personal grief, but a few nasty notes by people who really have no clue. I had a “shame on you!” note from someone who at least signed a name to the note (whether it was his or not remains a mystery).
Lori, I just want to commend you for talking about these issues. You are doing such a service for freelance writers by bringing these issues out into the open. Many freelance writers believe they need to accept bad deals or else they won’t have work. You thoughtfully point out otherwise.
I’ve been known to “fire” clients who constantly change the parameters of a project and ask me to make multiple changes that are out of the scope of the original estimate. As a medical writer, I’ve also made the decision to avoid helping docs write journal manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals. Too much bad press recently in the Wall Street Journal and NY Times about so-called “ghostwriting” and the inherent implications that medical writers who assist doctors in the preparation of these manuscript are unethical. So very untrue.
Keep up the fight!
As a new writer, I was offered $3 a post (minimum 300 words) and I gladly took it until I realized that I had to meet a minimum posts per month before I can even get paid.
Lori
I liked your last one “Work for anyone who doesn’t provide authentication of purpose.”
I adopted the following mantra to avoid such situations:
“Work with right people, on right problems, with right impact”
Cyndy, changing the project parameters also changes the contract terms, which breaches the contract on the client side. I’ve found that a simple reminder of what the original terms were and a suggestion that we renegotiate new terms is enough to enforce boundaries without driving away business. But again, some business isn’t worth keeping, especially if you feel like it’s never going to end! (Welcome to the blog, BTW – glad to have you here!)
The sad part, Carla, is that 3 bucks doesn’t amount to squat when you add it up over a month compared to how much time you may have to put into it. Sucks! (Welcome to you, too!)
Nice mantra, Alik! The first one on your list is often the toughest to gauge, for I’ve had a few people go a bit batty after the contract is signed, but as long as you concentrate on the last two, the first one may be workable in the right situation. 🙂