There's that one song that says, "Gettin' money's the only thing on my resume." I wish I could have a resume like that...
If I could include any details about myself in my resume that I want, I would say a lot... I would let people in on all the little things that make me me... including:
In fourth grade, I won the spelling bee.
I'm really good at math... or at least I used to be. I took Calculus. Most people don't know this, just because I don't like doing math.
There are probably over a dozen websites online where you can find my work... it just doesn't have my name attached.
When I try to write a steady blog... I always get bored with the subject matter and neglect it... hence why I work for other people. Money motivates.
I have a handful of songs on my computer that I have written or recorded. They are usually turned off so they won't play on shuffle or anything, but if I've been drinking, I'll let people listen.
I have a MUSIC room in my apartment. It's got my keyboard, melodica, mic, and all my music posters... When I have a music room in my house, it's going to have a piano.
I'm a published poet, and I have a ready for print manuscript that I consider my little baby. I haven't written too much poetry since then, because I'm so proud of my manuscript and I don't want to disappoint myself.
I always have these grand ideas for scripts, novels, and songs, but I never pen them down... If there was a program that just recorded all my thoughts, I'd be painfully rich and successful. I'll walk around my apartment for weeks coming up with a film or album idea.
The sunshine=motivation.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Wait it Out
So, I haven't written in this blog since October. I've been a busy girl. Long story short, I live and work in Virginia now. While I'm not a famous novel writer, and I haven't landed that job at the publishing company, I am still freelancing, which is a little bit less than rewarding right now, but I have high hopes. Being an English major doesn't really help me at my job at Hallmark... (and no, I don't write cards), but it's a job nonetheless.
Today, I would like to talk about freelance writing. I would like to talk about client/writer relationships. I will discuss good characteristics of clients, and I will discuss what no writer wants to hear (or read via e-mail). I read a blog this morning on the Freelance Writing Jobs Network that says you shouldn't call out the bad clients on writing blogs such as that one, but I don't necessarily agree. Freelance writers are among the most mistreated writers, I think. I would like to know if the client I'm about to sign an agreement for is going to rip me off.
My favorite clients are those who are completely honest. They don't offer me steady work necessarily, but they are honest about the possibility of having or not having articles or web content for me to write. They expect an answer from me promptly on when I can have the work completed, and I expect payment promptly when the work is finished.
One of my greatest pet peeves is a client with an obscure pay structure or an unreliable pay schedule. I remember waiting almost a month after the time I was supposed to be paid. I had to hound the client with daily e-mails... trying to sound passive, but getting more and more aggressive with every e-mail... I also had a client who got angry at me for asking about payment, and telling me to refer to the "normal pay schedule." I never got any sort of pay schedule. I appreciate those who pay promptly, or content sites that have bimonthly pay periods and pay their writers on time.
Another problem is low pay. Many clients say, "oh, you can make 15-20 dollars an hour if you work hard." I would really like to gather up these clients, put them in a classroom, and put them to the test. There are some clients who are right. If you're allowed to write about a subject you're knowledgeable about, and you can produce a well-written work with no research, this can be true. But for topics that you may not have extensive knowledge of, you might spend an hour researching and another hour trying to come up with 500 words on a subject that takes 350 to explain. I recently called out "uncle" on a writing job that was literally paying me three dollars an hour after all the research I had to do.
I find that these low paying and unreliable clients are the ones that have a large team of writers to deal with. They don't treat their writers as individuals, but more like little computers that put together articles. I like my clients that don't have 100 writers under them; they don't have big egos and they are more flexible.
I like clients that trust I know what I'm doing. My best clients have been people who work on websites or computers that make websites and put together SEO packages... they are extremely experienced, but they call on me to do the actual writing. Whether it be for articles promoting the websites or for actual web content. These are the people who have paid my bills and made me happy to be a writer. Thank you to you!
I would like to point out that I have been a client too. I've never paid my writers for their articles, but once upon my website, I gathered a team of bloggers to write what they know. I gave them specific guidelines and told them how often I wanted a blog. Only two of the six or so writers actually followed through and gave me regular articles. I understood that I wasn't offering payment, so I never had harsh words for the other writers, I simply told them if they didn't want to write, I would take their bio off my site.
All this being said, I don't feel like naming the clients that angered me, because it could just start a war of words or make me less credible as a writer. I am definitely ready to move into an editing position now... a lot of the editors I've worked under don't do any work and only have negative things to say. I once had an editor who sent back an article because my headers weren't in bold. It probably took them more time to send the article back than it would to fix it. I would LIKE to be an editor, because I would be hands on. I would help the writers become better, more articulate, and I would fix any small mechanical errors, because that's what I would be getting paid to do.
To my freelance writers out there, keep your heads up. I remember the number of complaints I saw online when I started almost two years ago, and I must say they have decreased. Freelance writers everywhere are demanding more respect and standing up against clients who are treating them unfairly. Good luck to all of you.
Today, I would like to talk about freelance writing. I would like to talk about client/writer relationships. I will discuss good characteristics of clients, and I will discuss what no writer wants to hear (or read via e-mail). I read a blog this morning on the Freelance Writing Jobs Network that says you shouldn't call out the bad clients on writing blogs such as that one, but I don't necessarily agree. Freelance writers are among the most mistreated writers, I think. I would like to know if the client I'm about to sign an agreement for is going to rip me off.
My favorite clients are those who are completely honest. They don't offer me steady work necessarily, but they are honest about the possibility of having or not having articles or web content for me to write. They expect an answer from me promptly on when I can have the work completed, and I expect payment promptly when the work is finished.
One of my greatest pet peeves is a client with an obscure pay structure or an unreliable pay schedule. I remember waiting almost a month after the time I was supposed to be paid. I had to hound the client with daily e-mails... trying to sound passive, but getting more and more aggressive with every e-mail... I also had a client who got angry at me for asking about payment, and telling me to refer to the "normal pay schedule." I never got any sort of pay schedule. I appreciate those who pay promptly, or content sites that have bimonthly pay periods and pay their writers on time.
Another problem is low pay. Many clients say, "oh, you can make 15-20 dollars an hour if you work hard." I would really like to gather up these clients, put them in a classroom, and put them to the test. There are some clients who are right. If you're allowed to write about a subject you're knowledgeable about, and you can produce a well-written work with no research, this can be true. But for topics that you may not have extensive knowledge of, you might spend an hour researching and another hour trying to come up with 500 words on a subject that takes 350 to explain. I recently called out "uncle" on a writing job that was literally paying me three dollars an hour after all the research I had to do.
I find that these low paying and unreliable clients are the ones that have a large team of writers to deal with. They don't treat their writers as individuals, but more like little computers that put together articles. I like my clients that don't have 100 writers under them; they don't have big egos and they are more flexible.
I like clients that trust I know what I'm doing. My best clients have been people who work on websites or computers that make websites and put together SEO packages... they are extremely experienced, but they call on me to do the actual writing. Whether it be for articles promoting the websites or for actual web content. These are the people who have paid my bills and made me happy to be a writer. Thank you to you!
I would like to point out that I have been a client too. I've never paid my writers for their articles, but once upon my website, I gathered a team of bloggers to write what they know. I gave them specific guidelines and told them how often I wanted a blog. Only two of the six or so writers actually followed through and gave me regular articles. I understood that I wasn't offering payment, so I never had harsh words for the other writers, I simply told them if they didn't want to write, I would take their bio off my site.
All this being said, I don't feel like naming the clients that angered me, because it could just start a war of words or make me less credible as a writer. I am definitely ready to move into an editing position now... a lot of the editors I've worked under don't do any work and only have negative things to say. I once had an editor who sent back an article because my headers weren't in bold. It probably took them more time to send the article back than it would to fix it. I would LIKE to be an editor, because I would be hands on. I would help the writers become better, more articulate, and I would fix any small mechanical errors, because that's what I would be getting paid to do.
To my freelance writers out there, keep your heads up. I remember the number of complaints I saw online when I started almost two years ago, and I must say they have decreased. Freelance writers everywhere are demanding more respect and standing up against clients who are treating them unfairly. Good luck to all of you.
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