Uncategorized | Words on the Page

Yet I’m Not Waiting

Posted on April 22, 2009 by lwidmer

I joined Twitter because many of you convinced me I’d have access to, and possibly work from, other tweeters. Lo and behold, I did get a note from someone looking for exactly my writing experience, but I’m not getting the job. See, it’s the same company I’d turned down once before. They pay well, but…

Worthy Activities

Posted on April 21, 2009 by lwidmer

The Second Annual Writers Worth Day is less than a month away – May 15. If you’re tired of low-paying job postings, tired of writers taking too little for too much work, tired of being told “But I spent all my money on the web design!”, this day is for you. Since we can’t change…

We ARE Worthy

Posted on April 20, 2009 by lwidmer

Here’s a scenario that happened recently – Patient: “Doc, I have this sprained ankle. Can you look at it?” Doctor: “Sure. Let’s see what openings I have today.” Patient: “By the way, since this is probably just a sprain, it’ll be a breeze for you to fix, right?” Doctor: “We’ll have to see if it…

Our House In the Middle of Our Street

Posted on April 17, 2009 by lwidmer

I’m heading back to my hometown today to see friends and family, but I wanted to share a little bit of Spring in Valley Forge with you. Here’s the view from our driveway. Happy Friday, everyone! See you all on Monday.

Just How Much Do We Owe the Industry?

Posted on April 16, 2009 by lwidmer

You’ve heard me fussing and lecturing. You’ve read Screw You! and Kathy’s outing of each pathetic job offer she comes across. You’ve read blog post after blog post deriding you, begging you, insulting you for taking any job that doesn’t pay you a fair rate for your skills. You think it’s because we don’t want…

I Heart My Followers

Posted on April 15, 2009 by lwidmer

I put up the widget a while ago, not expecting much. But you guys have surprised me, and I’m so pleased to see that this little blog has 42 followers now! Welcome to everyone, and please, join in! Chuck posted yesterday (hey, Chuck!) with some advice and a link to a pretty neat marketing blog…

Freebies R Not Us

Posted on April 14, 2009 by lwidmer

Last week I applied for a project and this week, I received a response. Great! Except… yes, the old “sample of how you would handle this” request. Look, I’m all for giving you an idea of how I’d handle your gig, but “samples” are limited. This one asked for a small sample – 100 words…

Taxed

Posted on April 13, 2009 by lwidmer

Nothing excites me more than curling up on a rainy Saturday with a warm, cozy Schedule C. That’s exactly how I spent my Saturday – glued to the tax return. I know – I was going to hire an accountant this year. I didn’t. Why? Because time got away from me, per usual. I have…

Is Freelancing Dying?

Posted on April 10, 2009 by lwidmer

Peter Bowerman had a great response to an article on the Is writing for the rich? article appearing in The Week not long ago. The author, Francis Wilkinson, is fairly convinced freelancing is not a lucrative field any longer. In his last paragraph, he says it all – if highly skilled, high powered people write…

Maria Schneider

April 10, 2009

I completely agree with you Lori. I think there’s going to be a booming market for good freelancers willing to write web content. Freelancers have to be entrepreneurial minded and look to new opportunities. There are small companies all over that need good copywriters.

Devon Ellington

April 10, 2009

It goes back to my constant chant, “You get what you pay for.”

They pay crap, they get crap. Even good writers wind up writing crap if they accept crap pay and then have to take on so much work they can’t possibly keep up.

You have to find creative ways of landing work. The old, corporate hiring models don’t work any more.

Kimberly Ben

April 10, 2009

I agree with everyone’s comments here. It’s not that freelancing is dying – with the number of companies outsourcing work their in-house creative departments once took care of, that’s far from the case. It’s a matter of the specialization, experience and quality a writer brings to the table now more than ever, which is what separates thriving freelancers from those willing to give away talent and skill for a pittance.

Lori

April 10, 2009

Little secret for you all – when I worked on staff at a respected industry magazine, I had to fight to get into the mid-30s for a salary. Most of my coworkers were making similar wages, and the door was always swinging open as talented writers walked out in droves. By the time I hit $40K – and I did for about a week – the death knell was already ringing for me and I knew a month prior to it happening that I’d been targeted for elimination. The raise was some odd little game to keep me from noticing the erosion under my feet, which I saw anyway. They never had any intention of paying me that much. And that’s a crime.

One writer on staff made a whopping $25K. She was enraged when she realized that after five years on staff, she was making less than the newly-hired (male) admin. That company spent (and probably still spends) more money recruiting, hiring, and training staff than they would if they paid them a fair, decent wage.

If magazines and newspapers are dying, I have little sympathy. A degreed employee needs to make enough to pay off the student loans – and they’re requiring degrees for these jobs.

Amanda Nicole

April 10, 2009

I think this is one instance where we can safely say, Don’t hate the game, hate the players.

I don’t think freelancing is dying, but rather all those menial jobs that pay a minimum wage that doesn’t even cover the necessities are dying.

Katharine Swan

April 10, 2009

I have a couple of friends who work or have worked on a newspaper’s staff, and you ain’t kidding about the crappy pay. I’m pretty sure both of them are (or were, in one’s case) less than minimum wage by the time you factored in all the unpaid overtime they worked.

As for whether freelancing is lucrative… I think freelancing is unique in that you can make as much as you are willing to put into it. Successful writers have to actually work at being successful, while the ones who complain about not making it usually didn’t dedicate enough time or effort to it. “Successful” and “lucrative” aren’t the same thing as “easy.”

Lori

April 10, 2009

PERFECT post, Katharine! Couldn’t agree more.

Amanda, so true. Imagine if we as a collective industry refuse to accept anything other than a fair wage (and I’m not saying set a wage and stick to ONLY that wage, but recognize when someone is offering a fair price and not settling for less)…. how long would the $10 jobs last?

Krista

April 11, 2009

@Lori It’s a nice idea, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Read the comments on deb ng’s site. Every day, there are people on there justifying working for shit because they live in Maine, or Guatemala, or Brazil. Personally, I think they’re extremely stupid (sorry). Yeah, you can live on less, but why wouldn’t you try to get a New York wage?

I live in rural Nova Scotia, Canada. Here, anything over $10/hour is pretty decent. My clients don’t know that, though, and there’s no reason why my rates should reflect that either.

Krista

April 11, 2009

Oh yeah, to answer your question, it’s totally the fault of writers.

Devon Ellington

April 11, 2009

Right on, Krista. If you’ve got reliable internet, your clients can be anywhere, in any market, and you charge appropriately.

Also, Lori, I’ve been thinking about this, and I don’t think freelancing is dying. I think there’s some herd-culling going on — maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

As far as magazines, I’ve dropped almost all my subscriptions as a reader, because there aren’t unique voices anymore. You used to pick up a magazine and have a wealth of intriguing voices from good writers; now, everyone’s diluted to sound the same, and so much of the writing is crap. Also, most mags in the same genre run the same articles in the same month.

They wonder why they lose readers — well, if they don’t pay for good writers to sound like themselves, the readers’ eyes glaze over after awhile, having read similar articles in similar tones across the board.

Get good, unique content, pay the writers appropriately, let people know about it, and you’ll attract readers and make more money.

The quality of marketing personnel has gone way down (as we who’ve worked with them lately have seen), and it’s pulling down our side of the business, too, unfortunately.

lwidmer

April 13, 2009

Krista, don’t apologize! You’re right – people who justify being treated like slaves are stupid. I’m done with dancing around it myself. If you take a job that pays you less than minimum wage, you’re an idiot. And you’re making it tough on those of us who respect our worth.