As a freelance writer you probably have many goals. For many, one of the most common goals is to break into a national publication. These are the popular magazines that have a large circulation, and are always found at the doctor’s office. For example, I am a huge sports fan and doing a piece for Sports Illustrated would be a thrill. Not only are national publications a great way to get your name in front of a lot of people, but you can make quite a bit of money at the same time.
The question is: how are you going to turn this dream into a reality? Although my work has yet to be accepted by national publications, I have gotten close a couple of times. As of late querying these magazines has taken a backseat to my other work, but I plan on picking this back up in the near future. When it comes down to it, you have no chance of working with national publications unless you show them that you are interested. Obviously, the best way to do this is through a well written query letter.
Personally, I believe strongly in the power of Writer’s Market. For a small fee you can become a member of the online version which grants you access to information on hundreds of publications. A couple weeks back I queried a sports publication and was promptly rewarded with a 1,500 word feature article at a rate of $.15/word. This is not a huge project, but $225 is much more than I spent to become a member of Writer’s Market. Additionally, it is my hopes that this one article will turn into a monthly gig.
There is no easy way to break into national publications. You have to send out plenty of queries, and hope that an editor thinks enough of your idea to give you a chance. When this finally happens, you will have reached a goal that many freelance writers strive for.
Do you rely heavily on freelance writing contracts? This is a question that I am asked time after time. Generally speaking, this is a difficult question to answer because there are many different situations that I deal with on a day to day basis. In some cases I will have a contract in place, but other times this is the furthest thing from my mind.
Here are four details that can and will affect whether or not you use a contract for a particular freelance writing job.
1. In many cases, the size of the project has a lot to do with whether or not there is a contract in place. For example, is it necessary to write up and sign a contract for one 500 word keyword article? In my opinion the answer is no. Of course, if I am going to be working on a 1,000 article project I will definitely want to have a contract in place.
2. Do you trust the company or person that you are doing business with? If the answer is yes, you may not need to use a contract. But remember that trust can often times be misleading. You must be 100 percent sure that the other party is genuine and good for the money. If you have any doubt, and the project is of a decent size, make sure that you have a contract.
3. How much money are you getting paid to complete the project? This should not have a lot to do with signing a contract, but it usually does. Larger freelance writing jobs often times requires a contract more so than smaller ones. This goes along with the size of the project; bigger jobs usually pay more.
4. If the client wants you to sign a contract before starting, good for you. This will show you from the get-go that they know what they are doing, and that they are serious about working with you. No matter what, if you are asked to sign a contract, and you agree to the terms, you should comply.
As you can see, a freelance writing contract is not always necessary. Use the four details above to determine if you need to have a contract in place, or if you can do without.Â
Hope everybody is having a great Easter. Even though it is Easter Sunday I am sure that some of you are working a little bit here and there. If this is the case, make sure that you take some time off as well. After all, tomorrow is Monday and you can work as long as you want!
In the meantime, take a look at two posts from March that have become quite popular:
