One of my first regular clients was a national business magazine published here in town. Only after I got to know an assistant editor who quit after 10 months (and who is now one of my best friends) did I learn they paid local writers far less than writers from out of town, regardless of their level of experience.

Next time anyone balks about my hourly rate, I'll try this: "I feel a professional plumber is well worth the $75 per hour they charge, don't you? They provide a good value for that price. As I do for the rate I charge. But plumbing is a science – all plumbers know how plumbing systems work and they all use the same basic tools and materials. Writing is a skill, even an art, that gets better with time, making experienced writers exponentially more valuable than beginners. Supply and demand is part of the price, too: There are a lot more plumbers in the phone book than professional writers.

One of my first regular clients was a national business magazine published here in town. Only after I got to know an assistant editor who quit after 10 months (and who is now one of my best friends) did I learn they paid local writers far less than writers from out of town, regardless of their level of experience.

Next time anyone balks about my hourly rate, I'll try this: "I feel a professional plumber is well worth the $75 per hour they charge, don't you? They provide a good value for that price. As I do for the rate I charge. But plumbing is a science – all plumbers know how plumbing systems work and they all use the same basic tools and materials. Writing is a skill, even an art, that gets better with time, making experienced writers exponentially more valuable than beginners. Supply and demand is part of the price, too: There are a lot more plumbers in the phone book than professional writers.

Eileen, I've seen it directly and indirectly. I remember one interview subject talking down the conversation to so basic a level a kid could understand. The minute I brought out a few acronyms, he relaxed and started talking shop. In other cases, I've had clients argue the snot out of my rate, but pay the male designer or male writer his rate without question. Sadly, I saw it at the magazine where I worked. Women got offered $300-400 an article. Men were offered $800-1,200 an article. No difference in what they were writing about, either.

It sucks, but there are still people out there who think and act like this.

@Paula, I hear you about "excuses." I have a chronic health issue which, while not debilitating, requires me to manage my energy and stress very carefully. That's one of the biggest advantages to freelancing: I control the schedule and just about everything else. So "I'm too tired to focus" is not an excuse, it's a signal that I need to manage my needs better and maybe even take a nap. Can't imagine working a 9-5 job.

@Gabriella, if another professional (client) thinks you're good enough, choose to believe him/her!

When you're right, you're right. If the client wants to hire me, I'm going to take the job–though my comfort zone is soooooo cozy!

Thanks for the push.

Great stuff. Thank you.

Cathy, the trick really is in the doing, isn't it? I have a friend who plans all day, every day. Her life is about to change, must change, she keeps saying. I've been hearing that for 14 years now.

Jake, I remember that same fear. I didn't share it nor see it because not every journalist can, or wants to, transition into corporate writing or trade writing. Plus this job takes discipline and a ton of work. Not everyone is cut out for that.

Anne, I love that train, too. 🙂 We're headed to southern England for a week. He went to school there when he was a wee bairn, and he wants to revisit the memories.

Paula, super life lesson! Thanks for sharing it. It's true — there's a real difference between excuses and true reasons.

To piggyback on another part of your post, Lori, I have a strange relationship with the word "excuses."

I've had chronic foot and skin problems since childhood. The ones involving skin issues or minor surgeries were obvious, but the more painful structural and nerve problems weren't diagnosed until much later. So my childhood was spent asking people to slow down, or complaining about how much my feet hurt. When I was little, my older siblings said I was making excuses so Dad would carry me. Or they said it was in my head. I wasn't making excuses. I was in pain.

I also have hyper-sensitive skin. Contact with lots of common items can cause reactions that take weeks, sometimes months, to clear up. When I say I can't do dishes at your house without rubber gloves, it's not an excuse. Or if my sister and I are out for lunch and there's fresh lemon or lime to squeeze on food or in tea, I have to ask her to do it for me because I don't carry disposable gloves with me. (I inherited my fussy skin from my Grandma – when we went to her house she'd leave tomato slicing and dish washing to the rest of us because she knew her triggers, too.)

That's why today I try to distinguish between a real reason for not doing something and an excuse. At first it can be hard to see the difference between the two, but go to a neighborhood meeting and you'll see people who'd rather complain about a problem and blame it on outside factors than coming up with ideas on how to solve the problem. They're making excuses, and they're usually the first to accuse other people — including the police officers and city officials — of making excuses for why they haven't already fixed problems they weren't even aware of before the meeting! That's a reason, not an excuse. Point that out to one of the gripers and they'll say, "Stop making excuses for them." Love the irony.

Those people would never make it as freelancers!

For example, I remember the fear that the glut of writers from shuttered magazines and newspapers was going to cause all sorts of problems with prices and competition for projects. If that has happened, I'm not seeing it. Same with the supposed onslaught of the Millennials.

The fear of growing stagnant was one of the reasons I wrote my books last year–way outside of my comfort zone. But lo and behold, becoming an author is part of the reason I've got 2 speaking engagements this year and 1 in March 2015, and that has done a great deal for reenergizing my mindset.

Have a great trip!