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I am really sad to see the demise of RADAR magazine. This was a mag that I enjoyed reading. I found it to be fresh, fun and snarky while covering the realm of pop culture. Let’s all mourn the latest casualty of the print journalism die-off.
CosmoGirl magazine just folded. The latest casualty in the print media mass die-off. I am thanking my lucky stars that I am not a journalism major, as I have no idea what kinds of jobs would await me upon graduation. For all the panic re: print media’s demise, it seems only the staff writers/editors are the ones who will feel the pinch. From a freelance POV, print or web writing is still strong and essential, not to mention abundant with possibilities.
In light of the shift in publishing, from print to web-based, how (if any) have you as a freelancer been affected?
The prospect of becoming a freelance writer is both exciting and a little bit scary. Let’s face it: the freelance writing community is a big ocean full of bigger fish (a.k.a. experienced writers) and you as a newbie have to somehow manage to take a deep breath, jump in and hope you don’t immediately sink or become a larger fish’s dinner. The mere thought is enough to make any newbie cower in fear of the unknown.
As someone who has spent a majority of time dangling my toes in the edge of that proverbial ocean, I can wholeheartedly say that the experience is well worth it. However, I have also spent a fair share of time in the freelance ocean struggling against the undertow. There are a lot of things I wish I had known before I started, that would have made my journey a little smoother. But I suppose that’s the blessing of hindsight.
If you are just starting out, I’d like to share with you some things that I learned that just might make your experience a little easier. Before you dive into that intimidating ocean of freelance writers, take some time to familiarize yourself with some life rafts that dot the water.
1. Freelance writing will not be easy, nor will you become rich. Every newbie freelancer has aspirations of becoming the next Carrie Bradshaw or the next assistant at Vogue. These are great fantasies for when you are standing on the line at the bank daydreaming, but they are not reality. Dream jobs do not fall out of the sky. An editor from Conde Nast will not call you at home and ask you to pen a piece on the new Manolos. Not going to happen.
What will happen is work, and a lot of it. You will work on copy for things you have never imagined writing about. Pieces on such varied topics as hybrid vehicles, male enlargement devices and rhinoplasty, will begin to fill your portfolio. You will be paid for these gems, but you certainly won’t be running out with your new found millions and quitting your day job (not yet anyway).
Expect to write about a wide range of subjects, and know how to use the internet to search for reputable sources of information (note: Wikipedia is not a source you want to rely on for your information).
2. You need to know your worth as a writer and you need to know what rates are acceptable. Sure, you’re excited to write and you will take on any project that comes your way. However, it is important that you know the going rates for particular kinds of freelance writing, editing and proofreading jobs so that you are getting what you are entitled to. You wouldn’t be willing to work at McDonald’s if they paid you $2 for every 200 hamburgers you flipped, would you? Well there are a lot of freelancers out there who sell themselves short by taking on writing jobs that require 10 articles at two dollars a pop.
We all have to start somewhere, but being taken advantage of is never a good way to begin. If you are worried about lack of experience or published clips, try writing for a site like Suite101. You will be able to get some web-published clips and some good experience writing for the web. Another good way to build up your portfolio is to offer your writing services to volunteer organizations. While these are commonly non-paying, they are quite reputable and will give you great clips and references for future projects. Even better, you will get to feel all warm and fuzzy inside that you did something nice for someone!
To get an idea of acceptable rates, check with the most current version of the Writer’s Market book. This book will become your bible and it is advised that you spend the $25 each year and pick up the newest version. The book offers a wealth of advice from market listings, freelance market rates and helpful articles pertaining to all things freelance.
3. Providing samples of work means you are giving away your work for free. Working hard to write a quality piece, only to have someone take it from you with nothing more than a thank you is unacceptable. Do not work for free. If a client wants to see how your write, provide him/her with clips of your work (see #2). Freelancing is a job, just like any job, and when you work you are expected to be paid for your services. If a potential client will only work with you under the context of a freebie, walk away.
4. It is much easier and satisfying to write about what you know and what you are interested in. Chances are high that the first piece of writing advice, solicited or otherwise, that you were given regarding your freelancing endeavor, sounded something like this: write what you know. This is a very good piece of advice and should be something you try to adhere to when you can. Of course there will be times when a client wants copy written about colon cleansing or forex trading, and of course you have to write about these topics that you no nothing about and have no particular interest in whatsoever.
However, when pitching ideas, stick to the things you enjoy. It is much easier to write about something that you are personally interested in, not to mention the research behind the piece will be less time-consuming. You are more likely to produce more work of a higher caliber when it is about something you know.
5. Freelance writers who are not organized and cannot manage their time should consider another career path. You will be juggling multiple projects at any given time. It is essential that you keep track of all your deadlines on one central calendar (I find the large desk ones work best). You also need to keep track of payments from clients. You should create a system, even if it is a simple notebook where you devote one page to each project/client, in order to keep up with billing out clients and recording payments.
It’s no surprise that print media has been on a continuous downfall for a while. But looking at these numbers from Portfolio regarding the first half of the year are very saddening:
So how do you feel about seeing these numbers? For me, it kind of gives the concept some solidification. You hear people talk about how magazines are on a decline and you don’t really buy into that until you see the facts.
How does this affect you as a writer? Again, for me, it’s very discouraging. It’s obvious that mags are going to be cutting back due to these numbers and that trickles down to two things for freelancers: 1) less opportunity and 2) lower pay.
How does this affect you as a mag reader? Truthfully, I don’t subscribe to many mags anymore (though truth be told I just did re-subscribe to The New Yorker and Vanity Fair but only because I got a killer deal). If there is something particularly intriguing I see if the website has the same story (about half the time they do).
I found these lead off sentences particularly funny (not to mention dead-on accurate) “Be forwarned, youngsters: the magazine industry has no room for you any more. Also, it can’t find you! You’re all out there working on the blogs and not learning how to do real journalism. Which makes you suck! “These people don’t leave their fucking laptops,” says elderly writer Gay Talese.”
This Gawker article via way of the Observer goes on to contend that younger people who work for print magazines are either past their peak in the industry, only to move on to bigger and better opportunities, or become jaded toward the industry altogether. This leaves the older magazine journalists who (god bless ‘em) are just plain out of touch with the relevance of modern topics that the few remaining magazine connoisseurs are interested in.
I continuing reading and something quickly becomes evident as the tone of the piece transforms: magazine journalism in one high paying gig, if you can land a position with a particularly high-paying and established glossy. How does $2/word sit with you? I’ll tell you it beats .05 any day!
This is kind of unusual. Author of the memoir What Did I Do Last Night?, Tom Sykes, on the advice of his publisher and lawyer, was made to send copies of his pre-production book to everyone who was name-dropped in the book. This included (ex)friends and his (ex)drug dealer.
While this is certainly one way to ensure that the content is genuine, I’m not quite sure that this is the best method to utilize.
So far, this publisher has been AWESOME in terms of support with this project. I just received an email from them this morning letting me know that they send me my resource materials (6 books) and they also send me a ton of attachments with samples of what they are looking for in terms of book content, table of contents, biblio, book outline and even a sample of a completed book for my reference.
My goal over the next several days is to draft an outline and TOC. As soon as I receive the books (which were sent via Amazon so they should be here rather quickly) I will draft a TOC as well.
photo courtesy of Jupiter Images
I have some good news to share that I’ve been holding off on until I knew for sure where things stood. All that being said, I’d like to announce that I just received an awesome opportunity to write a book on Opening and Operating a Successful Notary Business. The publisher (Atlantic Publishing Company) is reputable as well, so I’m confident that I will receive the support that I need as well as get paid for my work! I can’t wait to get started. Contract will be signed and faxed tomorrow and then it will be official.
I’ll be posting updates as I go along through the process.
So far, I’ve been freelancing mainly as a ghostwriter, which is akin to writing a friend’s paper in school for money. You get paid but you don’t reap any of the glory/notoriety. It’s becoming a source of distraction for me lately. Honestly, I am getting bored with the work and am I am finding myself less than ambitious.
This leads me to deciding to spend more time writing about things I enjoy and have a genuine interest in, with the hope that at the very least they are appropriate for Suite101, best case scenario is to start querying print publications with my ideas for articles.
Do you remember the first article you ever pitched? What was it? Who published it?
I subscribe to a lot of magazines, because, let’s face it I like getting something other than bills in the mail. So you can imagine my disappointment when several of my glossy monthlies have arrived this month on the super thin side. At first, I didn’t know what to make of it. Better Homes and Gardens was a bit slimmer than usual but I figured maybe they were a bit strapped in the content department this month, no big deal. Then, In Style arrives and it was considerably smaller than normal. Something is definitely going on in the world of print publishing and its not good for writers or their readers.
Looking back on the year, it hasn’t been that good for magazines as a whole. Two of my favorites, Jane and Blueprint, were killed and now some of my other ones are being stripped down to bare bones. I’d like to be optimistic and think it is a passing trend that will resolve itself in the next issue or two. But the pessimist in me is screaming that the magazine publication industry is sitting on a fault line that is very active as of late. With all of the online content, magazines are taking a backseat. Subscriptions to print magazines are at an all time low.
But is it really the industry that’s to blame or is it the state of our economy? With the housing bubble burst and the rising cost of oil, do people really have that much expendable income to shell out on magazines? Have magazines become the first casualty to suffer?
I don’t have any of the answers. All I know is that when In Style goes from being 300+ pages on average to their January ‘08 issue being less than 200 pages, something is just not kosher.
Has anyone else noticed their magazines being sized down lately?
