Turn Gigs
You Already Get Into More Writing Income!
By David Geer
Seven practices to give yourself a bonus!
ASK FOR A BETTER CONTRACT
Ask for a better contract when you're giving up too many rights, you can't
figure out what you're getting paid or when, or you are an authority or have
a demonstrable specialty. Just ask, "Do you have a better contract?"
Let them ask you why you want it. Be prepared with an answer. They may not
ask. They may ritually give better contracts only to those who ask. It can
be as simple as that.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF EXPENSE
REIMBURSEMENTS
If you see an expense reimbursement clause, use it. Adhere to the publication's
instructions on how to get reimbursed. Items taken seriously include phone
charges for interviews or research; postal mailing charges; travel expenses
(discuss before signing) and costs for other goods or services vital to the
assignment. Don't forget to invoice separately.
ASK FOR A RAISE AFTER FOUR
ARTICLES
The consensus seems to be that if you have turned in about four acceptable
pieces without a hitch, you have just become a known quantity, a measurable
asset, and probably worth paying more to keep. Here's a little secret. Call
at
PITCH A FOLLOW-UP OR SERIES
Be aware of related stories that break just as your piece is being published
or thereafter. Get the story and pitch a follow-up or series, first to the
same publication, then as a scoop on that publication to their competitors
if they refuse to publish it. In your query, cite not only the first article
but also its popularity by sharing reader mail. When writing the piece, compare
information from the first story - this will enlarge the readership for both.
TURN INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS
INTO PROFILES
You take an informational interview for an assignment.
You already know a lot about the person. Depending on their import, fame or
popularity, you may be able to publish their profile in a national magazine.
If not, you shouldn't find it difficult to publish in a smaller magazine or
better-paying newspaper. Properly written, profiles don't become dated as
easily as other stories, and that's nothing a minor revision won't cure anyway.
This built-in "freshness guarantee" means you can pitch profiles
endlessly until you get published and paid!
KEEP A JOURNAL AS YOU WRITE
AND WRITE YOUR MOST INTERESTING EXPERIENCES INTO SALABLE CONTENT
By keeping a journal of your professional writing life, you store up a slew
of material for courses on writing, or even a book! More than memoirs, these
slices of your writing adventures can become articles, features, fiction,
or meat for your bio or query letters. Journaling is impassioned, eager writing
about what you know well. You generate twice the material with zero research
and then you can cherish it, learn from it and get paid for it too!
YOUR EDITOR, YOUR FRIEND, YOUR NEXT LEAD!
On one occasion when calling an editor who I really hit it off with, I got
a lead right away to write adjacent material for the editor's friend! Another
time I queried an editor who, unbeknownst to me, happened to work in a building
full of editors in a publishing district. She gladly volunteered to give my
information to all the other editors in the building! The lesson here is to
be proactively personable with editors.
David
Geer (d@geercom.com) is American, 40 years old, single, with a BA in Psychology. A computer technician
by trade, he is now a full-time freelancer. David's specialties include technology
(computers & IT, wireless, Nanotechnology, general), features, research,
PR writing, speeches, Web hosting, fitness, How to, general interest, psychology,
music and creative writing. Clips include Computer Buyer's Guide and Handbook,
Wireless Business & Technology, Smart Computing, Hostingtech and PR Fuel. David pumps weights at the local
"Y" 3 times a week. Also a fan of TV and movies, David's professional
home on the Web can be found at: http://geercom.com