lwidmer | Words on the Page

Censorship v. Common Sense

Posted on March 8, 2011 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: The Jungle by Upton SinclairWhat’s on the iPod: All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down by The Mavericks It’s funny what happens on a blog when you’re not looking. I went back over the comments added to this blog over the weekend, and I found myself doing something I don’t normally…

Is it Monday Already?

Posted on March 7, 2011 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: It Doesn’t Matter Anymore by Linda Ronstadt Had a great weekend thanks in part to a sunny, warm Saturday and an Irish sessions on Sunday. We managed Saturday to get the yard in shape for spring, and if I’d had seeds, there would have been peas in the ground. I’ve been…

Worthy Tip: This Job, Not That Job

Posted on March 4, 2011 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: Late Wife by Claudia EmersonWhat’s on the iPod: Better Together by Jack Johnson I have a guest post up over at About Freelance Writing. Give it a look when you can. Oh, if I had a nickel for every lousy job offer I’ve come across, I’d have more money than the jobs…

Stealth Networking

Posted on March 3, 2011 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: She’s Mine by Brett Dennen Slow day yesterday in terms of projects being billed, but not so slow in terms of projects being developed. Two in the pipeline could be both lucrative and fun. How often does that happen? I had time to read a CRM (customer relationship management) magazine that…

Guest Post: Being Artsy Isn’t a Career

Posted on March 2, 2011 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Flame by Scott Blasey Jenn Mattern is a virtual traveler. She’s decided to go on a month-long blog tour this month, and her second stop on the tour is this very blog. Amen. I was thrilled when she offered to share her wit and wisdom with us, and the post below…

Free Does Not Compute

Posted on March 1, 2011 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Modern Leper by Frightened Rabbit Yesterday was blissfully quiet – enough so that I managed to get the bulk of my article fleshed out. After a quick review today, the invoice goes out. I’m waiting for some quotes to be approved, and I’ve given him until noon today to get back…

Monthly Assessment: February 2011

Posted on February 28, 2011 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: The Runaway by The Clarks I have a post up over at Anne Wayman’s About Freelance Writing. Go on over and give her some comment love. How was the weekend? We spent Saturday cleaning the basement and hauling stuff away. Finally, we can walk down there again. We’d had a minor,…

Friday Bread Crumbs

Posted on February 25, 2011 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: The Jungle by Upton SinclairWhat’s on the iPod: Something Good by The Airborne Toxic Event Wow. Never say out loud how organized you are and how you’re going to finish your project. The minute I typed those words yesterday, I watched my day go from centered to scattered. Projects came rolling in,…

Maximizing the Impact

Posted on February 24, 2011 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: The Jungle by Upton SinclairWhat’s on the iPod: Unbelievable by Diamond Rio I managed to finish my large project edits yesterday, four blog posts for another client, and an edit of yet another client’s project. Productive and lucrative day. I don’t normally track my daily earnings (it’s too nerve-wracking), but I did…

Finding Good in the Bad

Posted on February 23, 2011 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Awake the Soul by Mumford & Sons Yesterday was a gift. Not that all days aren’t gifts, but this one was the gift of time. I had a large project I needed to put some polish to, and I was able to get through much of it yesterday. I was thankful…

Jake P

February 23, 2011

I wish I thought people would learn a lesson from this, and maybe the individuals who got burned the worst will. Alas, I remain skeptical, and there are new hopefuls born every minute.

Your balance sheet comment is an important one. The last company I worked for used "open book management," and it provided some valuable insights that I carried with me when I went into business myself. The company, a custom publisher, had a reputation for being high-priced within an expensive industry…and they made bucketloads of money on pretty much every project they had.

I know most writers and editors avoid the accounting department and high-paid salespeople. Looking back, I'm glad that I had friends in both camps — they're the ones who taught me the essential skills on the business side.

Cathy

February 23, 2011

Early in my career, I probably made the same error that most newbies do – not pricing my fees high enough on actual work. Even though I did a lot of research, I caved on some of my proposals. Nothing like a DS payment level, just lower than what I planned.

And what I did right (for me) was I applied to DS, was accepted, but when I checked it out, I never went forward. It just didn't make sense to me.

All mistakes are a lesson learned (or should be), so for that, I am grateful for the experience.

Lori

February 23, 2011

Jake, I do share that same skepticism. People have to want to do better.

Cathy, I agree. All experiences teach us something. I too had jobs at the beginning that I was underpaid for.

One job I dumped paid $250 for a small article, but I had to jump through a lot of hoops before the article was accepted so my net was way lower than my $100/hr. rate. Ironically, I still get comments seven years later on one of those articles.

Wendy

February 23, 2011

Oh, but, Lori, it’s okay to take on those jobs. You get to work from home, in your pj’s, doing what you love on a flexible schedule, while spending more time with your kids!! I’m sure you can come up with a bunch more hype-marketing statements that they try to lure people in with. Don’t you just want to start decking people that treat them as benefits?

hugh.c.mcbride

February 23, 2011

My quick take on the HuffPo kerfluffle is that writers should take away two lessons:

1. A whole lot of us drastically undervalue what we do.
2. What we do has significant value.

I realize those are simplistic statements – but if nothing else, the HuffPo financial revelations should drive home the point that there is real cash money to be made from arranging words in an interesting, informative or otherwise intriguing manner. I don't expect the writing landscape to change overnight, but I do hope this is somewhat of a clarion call to those who think that content is just what you hire a minimum-wager to slap together to fill the blank spaces once the design crew gets done doing the real work.

It's almost like we need to dedicate a day to focus on the worth of writers … Hmmm ….

Gabriella F.

February 23, 2011

This is soooo true, Lori.

And well said, Hugh!

Paula

February 23, 2011

Sadly, Lori, the mill "writers" you hope will wise up after hearing about the HuffPo / AOL deal are probably too busy cranking out content to hear about it.

I regret trusting one of my first regular markets. I assumed they paid all writers the same rate, but later learned they paid non-local writers more than local writers. They seemed to think geographic location dictated quality – that's like the neighbor having a garage sale who put higher prices on old clothes just because they were purchased in California. She didn't catch the sarcasm when a shopper said, "Oh, then they must be special." Like they don't have Target in California, too.

Lori

February 24, 2011

Wendy, don't forget how easy the job is for the right person! How can we pass these up? You would LOVE the links Gabriella's shared in the past! The site is The Content Farm, and it's full of the most hilarious articles mocking the mill style. 🙂

That's a great idea, Hugh! Maybe one of us should start that…. 😉

You're right. We undervalue our skills and we are a commodity. I'm hopeful (born with a Susie Sunshine attitude gets tiresome) that writers will wake up and embrace their value. Sadly though, I think Jake's correct in thinking it's not happening as long as starry-eyed noobs take what comes without question.

Gabriella, I have to thank you again for the link to The Content Farm. It's hysterical!

Paula, LOL! You're probably right. Those working for farms aren't able to see beyond the quota perhaps. And that client experience you had is just weird! Why would geography matter in payment if it doesn't matter in the job being performed?

Jenn Mattern

February 24, 2011

Cathy — The biggest difference I see now is that there are a LOT of people exposing these "opportunities" for what they are. So really, for anyone serious about a freelance career to fall into those traps today is unbelievable. You'd have to be completely ignoring your market research responsibilities when starting a business. And if they're in that camp, they probably don't deserve any better yet anyway. Those who learn seem to learn fairly quickly and move on to better things. But with all of the information out there today, I find it increasingly difficult to have any sympathy for people who make those mistakes out of ignorance (about what's required or about seeing through the hype).

Anne Wayman

February 24, 2011

You know, I wonder what folks would have said about the pay during the "golden age of science fiction" or back when Dickens wrote long because he was paid by the word.

I'm just not bothered by people who somehow can't manage to get paid decently for their writing. There are enough of us, me, you, Jenn, — well your whole list of links or mine — that are telling them exactly what to do… Maybe I'm just not in the mood for it today.

Anne Wayman

February 24, 2011

You know, I wonder what folks would have said about the pay during the "golden age of science fiction" or back when Dickens wrote long because he was paid by the word.

I'm just not bothered by people who somehow can't manage to get paid decently for their writing. There are enough of us, me, you, Jenn, — well your whole list of links or mine — that are telling them exactly what to do… Maybe I'm just not in the mood for it today.

Lori

February 24, 2011

Anne, usually I have the live-and-let-live approach, but sometimes I get tired beating my head against the same wall. And then I wonder why I do. I care, but am I caring too much? Probably.

My goal is to inform (and yes, pester a bit). 🙂

Jenn, good point. I suspect there are plenty of new writers (and plenty of veterans, too) who just walk into the job without too much thought. You can learn on the fly in many cases, but it's so much smarter to have a plan of attack and know the minefields.

Mridu Khullar

March 3, 2011

And yet, so many writers will continue to sign (and advise others to sign) all-rights contracts. It's the same principle. If you do good work, you see not a dime while someone else will profit from your words.