lwidmer | Words on the Page

Works Well With Others

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Back in the day, I remember having what can only be described as an unhealthy fear of editors. Between my first published clip and me was that editor, faceless, nameless, looming like an evil force with a red pen, just waiting to impale me on my own prose. Yes, it was a pretty deep fear….

Lessons from the Dark Side

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I just realized the other day that I’ve been in business for myself – freelancing – for almost seven years now. Funny how time flies when you’re busy. And it’s amazing the lessons you learn as you go. As I cruised some weblogs last week, I realized there’s some reaaaaallly bad advice circulating out there,…

Worthy Tip: Staying Professional

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There are days when I wish like mad I could drop the professional demeanor and really speak my mind. It’s on days when clients change contract terms randomly, promise “royalty” payments, expect 50-percent drops in fees, or make you jump through a dozen hoops just to find out the job pays a whopping penny an…

The Payment Plan

Posted on by lwidmer

Lorraine Thompson has a great post up about the pros and cons of long-term projects on her Market Copywriter blog. She does a great job showing it from both sides. We talked a bit in her comments section about the other issue with long-term projects: payment. It’s not about making sure to get it, but…

Is Mediocrity the New Benchmark?

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By now you know how much I hate a typo in a published work. Just visualize any scene involving Linda Blair and a spinning head – that’s me when I encounter the little devils. Typos online – in conversations such as these, there’s a level of forgiveness. But in books, magazines, advertisements, or anywhere a…

Listen Up!

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Don’t you hate when you give advice to someone – advice that you have a particular expertise in giving – and they look at you as though you’ve grown three heads? But it happens. Despite our best efforts, some of our clients are going to think we’re nuts or worse, that their friends’ advice is…

Monthly Assessment – January 2010

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Wow. Another month gone by. Can you believe we’ve got one under our belt for this year already? For me, it’s been a busy January – happily so. After a December that was busier than expected but still weak, I was glad for the extra work. Just in time for April’s taxes. Joy. Freakin’ joy….

Worthwhile Tip: Stop Apologizing

Posted on by lwidmer

This week’s worth-inducing tip attempts to undo what could be a genetic flaw, but that’s never stopped me from trying. Too often writers, mostly those at the beginning of their careers, will insert an apology alongside a proposal. Raise your hand if you’ve said or typed any of the following paraphrased lines: – “I’m sorry,…

Checks, Lies, and Silly Red Tape

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Some of them are good – very good. I’m talking about the clients and pseudo-clients who cajole us into sticking our necks out or taking on work or working conditions that normally we’d run from. But haven’t we all said, “But they were so nice!” Yes, they were. It’s how they get you. By investing…

Partnering for Perfection

Posted on by lwidmer

It’s been a bit of an angst-filled week so far. One of my newer projects isn’t going well, and it seems it’s more a matter of I-don’t-get-their-business-model rather than I can’t please them. The client is hanging in there with me and giving me some additional attention, which is great. I love when we all…

Wendy

I have made the mistake of not researching a topic where the target market was concerned. Specifically the geographical area that an item was to be used.

I wrote up the requested article on an item and the client was pleased with it except for one section I had added that baffled him.

It turned out that in the area where he lives, they don't need to perform the act I so carefully wrote about in the article. In my area, it's important to do that step, but not in his.

That situation turned out fine since we were both open to asking questions to figure out what was wrong. It took a bit of disagreeing with each other on whether or not it was important, but we finally got on the same page.

If he hadn't have been so open; I probably would've been seen as an idiot with no experience in the topic even though I said I was.

Paula

A year or two ago, I got my first (and so far, only) assignment from a promising $1/word market. The editor loved my pitch on handmade holiday gifts. I outlined the things my family made and exchanged the year before, and how successful it was. That was "exactly" the type of piece she wanted: A first person piece on homemade gifts.

I asked for back issues of the publication, but she never remembered to send them. So I wrote a first person piece on homemade gifts, turned it in a week early, explaining that I wanted her to have time with it before it was due, since I wasn't familiar with their style.

A few weeks later she replied that while she liked the piece, it wasn't at all what she had in mind. She wanted a third-person piece with three specific examples of gifts that could be made in 30-minutes or less, with website links with instructions. Huh? That's not remotely what we'd discussed, and all of the gifts we made took way more time and were original ideas.

So I got her to agree to one-hour projects, and found three that worked. One was lame (cookies), the others were pretty cool. She replied that she liked it – that's exactly what she wanted. She never sent me an issue, so imagine my shock when I found my bylined article online and it wasn't remotely even like the final copy she said was exactly what she wanted, which was light-years away from my original idea which she also said was exactly what she wanted.

I don't know if her editorial needs changed after she originally assigned the article, or if she was just bad at communicating what she needed. Or maybe she's just a control freak who has to rewrite everything that comes across her desk. I'll probably never know.

Eileen

I am in the midst of a pickle right now, but it looks like the problem can be solved. In the industry for which I write (dietary supplements), all copy must pass through "compliance" review, because the FDA is so strict about what can and can't be said. I'm part of a freelance team which includes the marketing strategist and the compliance advisor. I have to please both of them with the copy, and one piece has turned into a tug of war. The strategist wants something a lot more aggressive; the compliance advisor keeps kicking back the copy, saying it will get us into legal hot water. After two rounds of this, I suggested the advisor write the copy and communicate directly with the strategist. She's a good writer, and I won't be wasting my client's money by getting nowhere. Everybody is a professional and this seems like a workable solution everyone's willing to try. I'm secure enough in my work that I don't worry about turf wars or anything. The important thing is to get the job done for our client.

Lori

Wendy, I've had similar situtations myself. In one or two cases, I had the expertise the client didn't have. My job – to present myself as a professional without dumbing down the client. Yikes!

Well Paula, if she'd just keep paying you $1 a word, you could just hand over whatever you wanted. Apparently, she rewrites it anyway. 🙂 How frustrating.

Eileen, you're like me. Who cares about turf when the project's breaking your spirits? You were smart. I'd have done the same thing. Remove self from center – amen to that!