FREELANCERS' RESOURCES

BEACON FLASH # 27 - APRIL 2008

I joined the Professional Writers' Association of Canada (PWAC) a couple of years ago. The benefits it provides have proven worthwhile; perhaps PWAC's most valuable asset is the discussion groups, the digests of which plop into my inbox daily. They help me keep up to date with what to charge for articles and work for hire, how freelance contracts are changing, copyright issues, and periodicals that are difficult to work with, etc. I feel less isolated and more supported stuck here alone in front of my computer. PWAC also has local chapters around Canada that put on workshops and have monthly meetings, as well as an annual conference.

Many countries have similar associations for freelancers - just Google for yours - and get connected with like-minded writers.

PWAC runs two web sites, both of which are worth visiting:

• Go to www.writers.ca which is PWAC's site that lists the members and their talents for editors and companies seeking freelancers. The site also has resources for writers, such as copyright info, professional practice, what fees you should charge, etc. The most useful resource is their sample contract for freelance writers at: www.writers.ca/Downloads/agreementFINAL.pdf.
  Writers should always ask for a contract when undertaking work, whether big or small. I am astounded that many writers don't do so, and then wonder why they find their "print" article on a magazine's website or passed along to another organization or individual to use with no remuneration.
• Go to www.pwac.ca for more info about joining PWAC and to see their blog. PWAC membership always looks good in bio paras of your query letters, and costs about $250.00/year.

PWAC also has a webpage (www.pwac.ca/eventsandresources/pwacpublications) with books on writing and the business of writing, which members have written, and are available to non-members to buy. I bought three and have been delighted with them. The list includes the following titles:

• PWAC Guide to Editing as a Sideline: The freelance writers guide to setting-up an editing business
• PWAC Guide to Roughing It in the Market: A Survival Toolkit for the Savvy Writer
• Your Book, Your Way! Powerful Publishing Pointers
• Book Magic: Turning Writers into Published Authors
• Crafting Irresistible Query Letters that Get You Published
• The Writing Fairy Guide to Calling Yourself a Writer: Coaxing closet writers to emerge and make their magic known
• Motivation for Non-Fiction Writers: Learn how to start up or step up a successful freelance non-fiction writing career
• The Business of Freelance Writing: How to Develop Article Ideas and Sell Them to Newspapers and Magazines
• The Six-Figure Freelancer: How to Find, Price and Manage Corporate Writing Assignments
• Regret the Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech

Enjoy the browsing!

SQUEEZING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR ARTICLES

Two summers ago, I met an author well-known in maritime history circles at a national writers’ conference. We shared a table at the book fair and soon struck up a conversation. Tim not only wrote nonfiction books that interested me, but also articles. We talked when we could during the fair, non-stop over dinner, and later in the bar.

Proud of my skill at selling articles over and over again, I boasted that one particularly good one of mine had sold over ten times. Tim laughed putting me nicely in my place, and said that he had sold one of his twenty-seven times. A few years later, I ran into Tim at another writers’ conference and he whispered in my ear, “Thirty-five times!”

Not many emerging writers realize that they can sell their magazine articles over and over again. As long as the markets don’t overlap, you can sell exactly the same article as many times as you like and, in this globally connected marketplace, it is easier than you think. However, you can only sell first rights, either print or electronic, once for the same piece. After that, unless you change the article significantly, you must offer it as a reprint for a lower fee.

If you change the article, as I often do, you can sell it again for first rights. For example, I turned a 500 word piece for a grade seven market, into a similar length article for a regional Catholic newspaper and an Anglican website (e-rights) in Canada. Then I tweaked it into an 800 word article for a national US daily. Subsequently, I made some minor changes to slant the piece for a travel magazine. Each time, I was able to sell it for first rights.

I plan to continue to sell it, but will be looking for new markets in North America and other English language markets overseas.

This practice should be your standard operating procedure if you write and sell articles to print periodicals and ezines. Reselling your work makes good business and time management sense – it reduces the energy you expend and increases your revenue. Unless you routinely sell a single article for several thousands of dollars, and perhaps even if you do, you should be squeezing every dollar out of every single piece you write.