Comments on: Writers Worth: Editors, Review Your Rates

By: Paula

Paula — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:15:43 +0000

All you owe me, Lori, is that you're healthy enough to enjoy Writers Worth Week next year.

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:06:33 +0000

Paula, this is great. What I like is that you challenge convention, which has dictated that we simply accept the rates offered. Why have we accepted that for so long? I can't fathom why, but we just have. I think for me it changed when a long-time magazine client raised my rates without my asking last year. They loved my ideas and the attention my articles generate. They rewarded me for it by paying me more, so that speaks to how arbitrary publication rates can be.

I can't thank you enough for all you've done for me these past few weeks. Thank you for this post, and for being the driving force behind Writers Worth this year. I truly owe you!

By: Paula

Paula — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:45:04 +0000

Next time a publicist asks me what else I'm working on, I'll have to turn the tables and ask what I can help them with! Thanks for the suggestion, Jenn. I just always assumed big PR operations would have every angle already covered.

By: Jenn Mattern

Jenn Mattern — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:46:04 +0000

Paula,

I'd bet at least some of those PR firms and publicists use freelancers. Why not try to get an in with some middlemen clients like them, marketing firms, and ad agencies? They can bring a lot of work on a regular basis, and you get to work on the end projects they'd otherwise be monopolizing. :)

By: Paula

Paula — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:56:48 +0000

I need more corporate clients. I've always enjoyed ghostwriting - even when I had to explain to a client that they were too self-congratulatory and should dial it back a bit.

Unfortunately, the industry I spend the most time in has an army of in-house publicists and huge PR firms handling all the writing tasks. And the do it well, dog gone it.

By: Cathy Miller

Cathy Miller — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:50:55 +0000

Interesting, Paula, and not something I thought about. I write a lot of articles, but they are ghoswritten for my clients. My client pays me so I don't have this issue to deal with, but I can say I'm not terribly surprised.

Most of my clients are corporate clients, and I can relate to the decreasing word length. White papers used to be a large portion of my work, but now they are being cut back to other forms that are half the word count.