Comments on: Overeaters Anonymous, Here I Come

By: Paula

Paula — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:08:01 +0000

Good news: One of the friends I suggested called last night to say he assigned the article to her. When he told her his pay rates, she told him for the work involved she'd expect the higher amount. He was thrilled (it was cheaper than I would have been, but not by much). They then discovered they had some lifelong friends in common, which led to a flurry of possible story ideas for the future, a way she could help him get a bit of free publicity for his magazine, and an agreement for them to discuss those things over coffee. She's really workin' it!

By: Betty

Betty — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:05:14 +0000

Lori wrote about me hiring another freelancer to help out with concepts: "That's brilliant - and it doubles the odds of you securing the work."

Just to be clear, the project right now IS the concepting, so I'm getting paid for that. There's a possibility that it will turn into another project later to create the final art, but I don't rely on possibilities. :)

By: Lori

Lori — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:35:08 +0000

That's a great idea, Paula! I think he may have appreciated your honesty. And he obviously loves your work to come back – and at your rate.

By: Paula

Paula — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:35:45 +0000

This afternoon, a former editor of mine called to see if I wanted to do what sounded like a fun local article. He only needed 800-1,000 words, but right now I'm swamped. Not having worked for him in over 10 years, I actually doodled down the lowest amount I'd consider accepting for the assignment (let's just say a higher per-word rate than I'm getting for the 2,500-word article that's drowning me). He was only $50 lower, so I told him the rate I had in mind. He was willing to negotiate.

Then common sense set it, and the thought of adding to my looming To Do List caused me to say,"This sounds like a fun article, and I'd like to do it but I'm really swamped right now. I also know you have a budget, so if you want to see if another writer can take it on - at your original rate - I won't be upset. Then I suggested a friend who is an ideal fit for the article, since it overlaps with one of her areas of interest.

Hey, if I don't get the assignment, I want it to go to one of my friends!

Better yet: Small project is completed and turned in. The fun rush assignment is completed and turned in (still confirming a few details, but it's in great shape). I'm about to start writing the shorter article that's due tomorrow. After that I can focus on the albatross.

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:59:42 +0000

Cathy, how come you're getting my karma? Save some for me! :) Congratulations!

I'll do what I can. LOL

By: Cathy

Cathy — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:09:37 +0000

I don't know what it is about your karma, Lori, but I like it. :-)

I just got a call from a huge proposal I did in November and they want to move forward. We haven't mapped out all the details yet (it involves ads, brochures, website content and who knows what all, but it is definitely a boost in the income.

I also received acceptance on a case study yesterday.

Can you keep that good karma going for 11 more months? :-)

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 19:01:41 +0000

Wendy, having done one of those half-a**ed rush jobs, I agree 100 percent. It's why I push back on deadlines - I want it to be done right, not fast.

Krista, your schedule would kill me! I go addle-brained somewhere around 5:30 every evening, so nothing can be done coherently after that. I give you credit, but be careful you don't overdo it - no sense getting sick over it!

Devon, I couldn't do 18 hours. You're incredible! I can't stay focused on one thing that long. I'd much rather extend things a day and split up the time so that the job is done with my full attention.

Now I know why you don't take time off, Paula! LOL

Betty, those are terrific ideas! I love that you can push back on deadlines easily, but I love even more the fact that you can call for help on getting more concepts out. That's brilliant - and it doubles the odds of you securing the work. Amen to that!

By: Betty

Betty — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:24:47 +0000

I'm a graphic designer, but I've had a similar project feast in the past few days. Some are longer timelines, but here's how I handled the two rush jobs:

One client asked "can you have that by Friday" and I said I could promise Monday. It's not a big job, so if I can send it Friday, I will. But it takes the stress off to have another day. (Or the weekend, although I don't usually let clients know I work on Sat or Sun.)

Another client needs some quick but very creative work roughed out by Friday. I can do a couple of concepts in that time, but want to present more. So I actually hired another freelance designer who I know is great at concepts. I asked for whatever they can get done in the set number of hours I requested. If it works out, I'll be able to show the client a wider array of ideas in a very short amount of time, so I'll look like a superhero. And the other designer gets a quick payment for what would have been down time.

I sometimes add a rush fee for projects like this. For these (for a variety of reasons) I'm not, but I'll make sure to note "rush fee waived" on the invoices.

By: Paula

Paula — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 16:06:15 +0000

I'm in a similar situation. With what looked like a slow January, I agreed to that 2,500 word behemoth. Then a few small, quick projects came in - no problem since they're easy to squeeze in. I also have a mid-length article to write, due Friday. Just as i was about to write that, my Favorite Editor called asking me to write an intro and photo caps for something they needed soon.

Given that Favorite Editor pays very well (and quickly), I made that my top priority for about 24 hours. I interviewed the source yesterday and today I'll knock out the needed copy. I have another short thing due today, so that's also been one of my 24-hour priorities. The other pieces have to wait. Why? The publisher only pays a fraction of what the others do, given the amount of work per project.

With articles, I don't get to set a magazine's pay rates, so when there is a low-payer, I have no qualms telling them I set my priorities based on pay rates (and how quickly a client pays). If they want me to make their projects a priority, they can pay more. That's when they always extend the deadline instead of offering more pay.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:40:38 +0000

You are so right, Lori, about deadlines often being in their head. I try to control the deadline talk with 1st offering a targeted deadline-something along the lines of I should be able to get you the draft copy by such-and-such a date. Will that work for you?

I find that they rarely say no, it won't, but if they do, I either adjust my timeline if it will work or I let them know my current schedule won't allow for the shortened timeframe.