It's a common problem for freelancers. You send out a well-crafted pitch to an appropriate editor at an appropriate publication. Then you wait. And wait. Why doesn't the editor answer? Even if the answer is "no," at least it gives you a chance to find a better home for your story. Monya Baker lists possible reasons in a post on a companion blog to the NASW-funded Science Writers Handbook, available for immediate shipping from the NASW Bookstore.
Your business
Poynter's Susanna Speier surveys the platforms available to writers who want to post their work online but aren't willing to create their own web sites or pay for a custom-made site: "Do they offer a substantial enough advantage to justify the time required to compile, archive, digitize, organize, optimize, connect, upload and then maintain an anthology of brand-consistent clips, feature stories and — in some cases — multimedia work on yet another social platform?"
In this excerpt from the upcoming Science Writers' Handbook, Emily Gertz advises journalists how to use social media in their work without hitting any career-damaging tripwires. Also, Sarah Webb reflects on how blogging became a central part of her writing business. The Science Writers' Handbook was funded by an NASW Idea Grant and this excerpt is viewable by NASW members only. You can pre-order the NASW-funded Handbook from the NASW Bookstore.
Fiction writer Tricia Drammeh calls independent publishers a "plague" and writes that the services they promise aren't worth their prices: "Any author can hire an editor, commission cover art, and outsource formatting. We all have access to print on demand services, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. So why do we need a publisher? We don’t. Why give up control of your book and a percentage of royalties to someone who doesn’t have any more clout in the industry than you do?"
Plenty, says Joe Donatelli. By treating every story equally, and every writer equally, pay-per-word degrades both the best writers and the best stories: "I calculate how many hours the story will take and multiply that number times my hourly fee. This is what other professionals do. They give an estimate and a rate. As far as I know, freelance writers are the only professionals who charge for their services so arbitrarily. It’s like paying a carpenter by the nail."
Indemnity clauses, all-rights contracts — these are things to examine in a contract, Hillary Rosner writes for the Science Writers' Handbook. To ask for changes: "Explain as clearly and diplomatically as possible what you want to change and why. But don’t apologize. This is a business transaction, and your job is to get the best possible terms for yourself as a professional." You can pre-order the NASW-funded Handbook from the NASW Bookstore.
Jodi Helmer says there are five ways freelancers undercut their own incomes, and she lists them in a WordCount post. One of them is focusing too much on a per-word rate: "In most cases, writing for magazines that pay top rates requires a lot more work, including extensive outlines to nab the assignment and multiple rewrites. Accepting an assignment with a lower rate, like 50 to 75 cents per word, not a few pennies per paragraph, often leads to a higher per-hour rate."
From the New York Observer's Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke comes an upbeat story about laid-off journalists finding new careers writing for blogs owned by commercial brands. There's scarcely a nod toward the view that such sponsorship is bad (ahem, Pepsigate) for either journalists or journalism: "While writing gigs at magazines and newspapers continue to dry up, there are abundant opportunities to write or consult for blogs owned directly by brands."
Dave Bricker has some "look before you leap" advice for self-publishers. Be realistic, he says, about your costs and potential profits, your markets, pricing, and whether it's smart to take advantage of every last marketing opportunity: "If you’ve written a book about sailing, yacht clubs may be happy to have you as a guest speaker but consider whether selling a dozen books at a presentation will make a dent in your original investment — or is even worth your time."
Independent bookstores still survive in this era of Amazon and e-books, and Stephanie Chandler offers some tips for authors who want to get their titles displayed there. She discusses how to make initial contact, what discounts booksellers typically expect, how to do cross-promotion with local media appearances, and how to arrange for bookstores to take your books on consignment. The page also contains a link to a model "Bookstore consignment agreement" in Word format.