If you’ve been around this blog for any length of time, you know Paula Hendrickson.
Paula is a veteran writer with some serious street credibility — she’s certainly the only writer I know who’s interviewed Oprah. But beyond that, Paula is a fantastic writer and an intuitive business pro. She showed up here on the blog one day and from that day to this, she’s been a welcome addition to the blog community. More to the point, she’s an integral part of this blog’s success. She’s smart, talented, fiercely loyal, and a writer you want in your corner.
Writers, please meet Paula Hendrickson.
Q: How long have you been freelancing?
Paula: I’ve been freelancing since the days of the SASE. Yes, there was an internet back then, but most of my clients didn’t yet use email, so I literally had to fax in articles or mail editors floppy diskettes.
Q: What’s your area of focus?
Paula: I started out focusing on business topics, but that quickly morphed into entertainment writing. Television, mostly, but I like to cover a lot of different subjects to keep things interesting.
Q:How were those first few years of freelancing?
Paula: At the time, it felt rough. But after I’d been freelancing a couple of years I attended a writer’s conference where one of the speakers talked about how it was a very difficult period for freelancers because publications and companies had slashed freelance budgets. Hearing that made me feel as if I’d really accomplished something since I’d landed a couple of regular clients and was already breaking into larger markets. I wasn’t earning much, but I was inching up the food chain.
Q: What’s been your toughest challenge? Why?
Paula: The never-ending challenge with periodical writing is the fact that most publications never raise their pay rates. Worse yet, word counts have shrunken so much in the last ten years that you need to land far more assignments just to maintain your income. (That said, there are two upsides of shorter word counts: 1. A lot of writers simply can’t write short very well, but I can! 2. I don’t get bored because the turnover is fast.)
Q: What was your a-ha moment – the event or circumstance that shifted your perspective or had you changing the way you do things?
Paula: It had to be my lowest point ever, in 2002, about the same time I’d cut ties with what had long been my main client. I probably wrote 100 articles a year for that trade magazine. The entire editorial staff was axed and a new team, handpicked by the publisher, was hired. It didn’t take long to realize the new guys had no clue what they were doing. The quality plummeted to the point where I couldn’t use the clips when querying new markets, and the new editors didn’t seem to know how to process invoices.
The breaking point was when they delayed payment for one article a full 13 months. After months of past due notices were ignored, I literally called every day the last few weeks, each time being told the accounts payable guy was at lunch and he’d call back. I finally told the receptionist, who happened to be the owner’s wife, “That’s the longest lunch in history!” and by the end of the day a check was hand-delivered to my house.
In hindsight, it was a good decision to fire that client, but if I’d known the economic fallout of 9/11 would cause so many companies to cut their ad budgets, I might have hung on. Why? Two publications I regularly wrote for folded in 2002, and a third title sold to a new publisher, which slashed freelance fees from 50-cents/word down to 10-cents, while also cutting the article length. I was desperate for work, but I didn’t want that desperation to show. When the new editor wanted to assign me a 600-word ($60) piece —insisting I include 12 sources—I refused, and said not only was the fee too low, there’s no way to incorporate that many sources into such a short piece and have it make sense. She tried arguing that it was a simple assignment, therefore only “worth” 10-cents per word. I believe I said something like, “If it’s so easy, then you can do it yourself. Good luck with that!” I never regretted firing either one of those clients.
Q: If you could tell new freelance writers one thing to help them build a better business, what would that be?
Paula: Don’t work for low-paying clients. But if you must, then make them work for you. Get a decent clip and use it to break into a better market. Rinse and repeat until you’re writing for the markets you want to write for.
Writers, do you have any questions for Paula?
How does Paula’s story mirror your own?
16 responses to “Writers Worth: An Interview with Paula Hendrickson”
Great advice, Paula. I remember the days of SASEs, even though I wasn't freelancing then. It's certainly a lot easier to send queries by email. 🙂
I remember those days too, Sharon! I remember too many trips to the post office for the right stamps for those bulky envelopes. It was certainly a bit more work that way!
"Don’t work for low-paying clients. But if you must, then make them work for you. Get a decent clip and use it to break into a better market. Rinse and repeat until you’re writing for the markets you want to write for."
This is the essence of advice that is black, white and has shades of gray. Nuance that's sadly missing from many writing advice blogs.
I'm with you, Yo. That's some of the best advice I've read on the subject of low-paying clients. Sometimes you do what you have to do but use that as a stepping stone to a better path.
This is why we love you, Paula. ☺
First: Did I say, "Have shrunken?" I must have answered the questions at the ends of a long day!
Ah, the SASE. Those suckers were expensive too. Only about 15% of them ever found their ways back to me. You know when I stopped sending SASEs? When a new-ish editor called to assign something after receiving my query and said,"What's the self-addressed stamped envelope for?" (Sadly, that was one of the publications that folded in 2002.)
Thanks Yo and Cathy. One thing I probably should have added there is that writers need to crunch the numbers to see if a gig really pays as well or poorly as it seems. Two recent examples:
Last fall I wrote a 1,000-word story at $1.20/word. Sounds great until you realize that due to an unfocused editor providing and okaying sources can also turn around and deem those very sources unsuitable and insist on new sources and a massive revision. Suddenly that pay is more like 60¢/word. Seven months later, I still haven't been paid, but was told two weeks ago they'll "fast track" the payment. In a time machine?
Another client asked me to write short, quick blog posts at a low rate I'm unused to. But he supplies the research—sometimes he even writes a sample post and just wants me to clean it up, make it more engaging, and get it to the length he wants. Once I get in the swing, each of these on-going posts should take less than an hour, meaning my hourly rate for the posts will match, if not exceed, the hourly breakdown of that one-off $1.20/word article.
I'm no mathematician, but even I can see which is a better investment of my time.
Yo, I just talked with a college class a few weeks ago, and the thing I stressed was to work cheaply once, then move on. Don't camp out with a publication or a client because you have the work. The pay has to match your needs at some point.
Paula, that client has been a real trip. Let us know when that check finally arrives — I'd be eager to see how fast their fast track actually is.
Love the story of you finally getting a hand delivered check… a real message there re persistence.
Paula – I love your comment about figuring out the actual rate versus what it looks like on paper. I have a few clients like that, and I end up making good money from those assignments. I've also had a few clients that paid a lot, but the work was much, much more than it was worth. I don't work with that client anymore 😉 And you're exactly right when you say good riddance to clients who think writing is easy and is only "worth" so much.
Same here, Ashley. I had one client who paid $1/word. However, six revisions in, not only was it no longer my article, but it was also no longer worth it.
Persistence is key, isn't it Anne?
Ain't it the truth, Ashley? Too many so-called experts say NEVER write for less than a certain amount per word, but if there's no legwork, minimal research, and (best of all) no transcribing it might be worth the time.
Six revisions, Lori? Suddenly having to write one revision doesn't sound too bad! After a certain point it must feel demoralizing.
Paula, it felt like it wasn't my voice anymore. That's bad editing right there. Worse, the revisions were starting to get repetitive — "where's this item" when it was crossed out in previous revisions, or "we need to say this" when that was said, and struck out, a paragraph before.
That's someone who isn't sure of themselves and is making it tougher than it needs to be.
I had that happen with a one-off client a few years back. The Track Changes feature showed two editors were "editing" at the same time, one removing something the other wanted added, that sort of thing. Ugh.
I much prefer this kind of experience: Yesterday afternoon I wrote an article and turned it in. The editor's reaction? She loved it. Barely changed much at all, just cleaned it up and it's online now. Which reminds me – I need to send the invoice!
Waving at Paula, one of my favorite people!
Paula always hits it out of the ballpark. She is not only one of my best friends, Paula is an excellent source of information about freelance writing. I enjoyed reading her interview and know that honesty is one of her many attributes. If she says it believe it . It is coming from her experience which is vast when talking freelance writing.
Devo, she's one of my favorite people, too. 🙂
Charlyne, she doesn't know how fabulous she is, either. I've certainly learned from her.
Aw shucks, I'm blushing now, guys.