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When you work for yourself, as we freelance writers and editors do, almost every job is negotiable. It doesn’t matter if you’re contracting with a trade publisher to write a book, a magazine to write an article, a corporate client for some marketing or someone who wants you to ghostwrite their story. How you work, how much you get paid, and how that pay will occur is up for negotiation. Yep, even when they say, “but this is our standard contract…” it’s negotiable.
Over at Contract Worker, Rico has a great list of things to remember when a new contract is in the offing. My favorite is his first:
Talk to Someone Who Can Give You What You Want. Why talk to a notoriously cheapskate client looking for a layout artist when what you want is a lucrative contract worth your competitive copywriting skills?
Amen!
The only thing I’d add to his list is be open to renegotiation, particularly if it’s a large project that lasts over months. Things change and I’ve found my clients are, for the most part, willing to be fair. If the work increases, they are usually willing to pay more. Of course, they know that if it decreases, I’m willing to renegotiate the other way too.
Write well and often,
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963 days ago
[...] Freelance Writers and Negotiation – I actually wrote this one back when I was writing for b5media – it’s pretty good. [...]
1532 days ago
[...] Freelance Writers and Negotiation [...]
Interesting Dean… I have an hourly that I base my flat fee for ghostwriting on, but each project is different so although I can say, for example, ghostwriting for me starts at $x amount, each contract is different… I no longer discount my hourly just to get the project. I agree, it took me awhile to get there…
Re magazine articles… while the price for the first one or two to a typical magazine is often fixed, the better ones will pay more you start contributing regularly, and even if you don’t, it never ever hurts to ask ;)
one other thing I always include is a way for either of us to get out of the contract… hmmm…. good blog entry.
Different types of freelance work have different standards and expectations when it comes to fees and negotiating. For a different take on this, I work in the direct marketing and advertising industry. And my fees are NEVER negotiable.
I’m polite and professional about it. But when a client or prospective client calls me, I tell them what my fee is and that’s that. If they can’t afford it, I ask them what their budget is and let them know what I CAN do for that amount.
The way I see it, you should know what a project is worth to a client. And if their budget is just a little off your fee, it’s usually not a problem. If it’s way off, that’s not a client you want anyway. Once you start letting a client talk your fees down, you’ll never get what you want from them. And they’ll never view you as a “pro.”
This is easier said than done. It takes confidence and experience. And I realize that it won’t work too well with certain types of freelancing where there is a ton of competition, such as writing magazine articles. That’s one reason I got into marketing.
Amen to that too!