The Future of Freelance Writing?

Working as a freelance writer is a difficult thing these days. Better stated, finding work to do that pays reasonably as a freelance writer is difficult these days. There are a number of problems.

The good news is that there are lots of freelance writing web sites now. The bad news is that they’re full of jobs that offer to pay a penny or two a word or less. For this fee, they expect to you to do research, write on a deadline and the work can be rejected if the buyer decides it’s too close to something already written. Oh, yes, a large percentage of them are simply dragging in Craigslist ads from across the country. The going rate for those ads? Maybe a penny a word.

Print media is sick if not dying. I have seen several rags I know discontinued and others that have cut their number of pages in half. Advertising revenues as well as readership is down almost universally. Some publishers are making a last stand by moving from print and web offerings to web only. It’s a different model. Now they are totally ad revenue based but at least they don’t have the costs of print and distribution to factor in.

What about the writers? Many of these sites use mostly freelance writers but their rates for these writers have been lower and considerably lower in many cases than the same writer was paid to be published in print. The 2000 word articles have dropped to 500 to 700 words online. The readers supposedly have a shorter attention span. Maybe that’s to do with the quality of the writing but I digress.

There seems to be a death spiral here with the publisher and writers hanging onto each other as they spin ever downward toward the literary abyss. The publishers are in survival mode and cutting the pay of the writers is one of the few ways they can cut costs. Less pay, less writer. Next the ad revenues drop because the readership does. They still want quality and, these days, for free. The writers say, screw this; I’m not working for peanuts. People in other countries, however, will. Is the quality as good? Sometimes but often not. Readership drops. Can you feel the spin?

Maybe the answer is for all of us freelance writers to start writing video scripts. Youtube has proven many times over that the web viewership will watch essentially anything resembling a moving picture. Apparently the dumber the idea and production, the better the chances of going viral and gaining a following.

You can draw your own conclusions about where writing is heading. Hey, anyone can write, right? They teach that in grammar school, right? Anyone can cut you with a knife also but I don’t set that as a minimum set of skills for my surgeon. Well, they aren’t doing as well these days either. Umm. Social medicine has already taken its toll there with more to come.

Maybe you should put your last few bucks toward a discount video camera you can use for online. If that doesn’t work out, there are a couple of extra spots to stand up near the U-Haul place by me with the rest of the day laborers. $10 per hour and no taxes is beginning to sound like an alternative. Do stock up on the liniment.

Four Fish, the Book

I read Four Fish by Paul Greenberg this week and I learned a lot about sustainability of seafood as well as its costs in money and long term effects. The subtitle is "The Future of the Last Wild Food." He concentrates on salmon, cod, sea bass and tuna but covers others as well, whether raised in the wild or farmed. He tells the pluses and minuses of each. He explains how the international agreements work or don't.

I was surprised at how readable the book was. He writes in an entertaining style full of little stories and anecdotes that make it pleasant to read. He's quite the story teller and I promise you if you read it, you'll never eat another fish without thinking about some of the things he wrote. Don't worry; it's not a scare you type of book. You'll still eat fish but you might choose which ones a little differently. He'll also tell you that that doesn't matter and why it doesn't.

Highly recommended. Thanks, Paul.

A Figment for the Younger Writers

Well, not everyone on there is younger but most are, ranging from middle school to 30 somethings. Lots of people in high school and college show up there to share their writings of all sorts from poetry to novels to get feedback, fans, advice or to just have a creative outlet.

It's a web site called Figment at figment.com. It's free to join. There are quite a few members and it seems to be growing. I recommend checking it out. The reviewers seem to be kind and not abusive but generally say what they think which is what you really need. "Oh, that's nice," doesn't add lots of value. You want to improve your writing.

I may post something there just to see how an old fart's stuff does. I may actually be the oldest member.

Would You Like To Have Your Own Book?

Gulf Shore Writer provides ghost writing services.

One of the hottest items we're seeing now is doing ghost writing for eBooks and print. It's a major credibility builder for you to have your own book. Many people have the knowledge but don't have the time, writing skills or inclination to write their own book. It's a lot of work and takes a lot of time. We can and will do that for you at competitive rates.

How Do We Do Ghost Writing Projects?

The first thing we recommend for a ghost writing project is a meeting to cover what the project is all about, its scope and size, along with significant terms and conditions, including payments and milestones. There is no charge for this meeting. This needs to be face to face if geographically possible, typically in the Atlanta area.

First, we need to determine if the principal and writer feel comfortable working together and how we go about that. If the book is to be of a personal nature, content can be gathered in a number of ways, typically from existing writing or notes, interviews in person or by phone, recordings/transcriptions by the principal, and emails where questions and answers can go back and forth without both parties participating at the same time.

The principal must make a certain amount of time available on a timely basis for interviews and questions if the time frame for the book production is to be maintained. The first discussion is needed for whether to publish as an eBook, as a print on demand or an attempt to find a traditional publisher and/or agent.

What typically happens next is that a scope of work and payment terms gets agreed to and deliverables identified. It proceeds to an outline for the book next, possibly followed by a brief summary of each chapter to be written. Breaking the work into phases like this allows each party to get comfortable with working together and the results being purchased.

These pieces of work are typically paid for by an upfront installment or it may be set up as a monthly retainer in some cases. Also as a possibility, the writer can work strictly by the hour with some monthly guarantee. A typical amount of payment if done by the page is $50 per page for a double spaced manuscript page which would typically contain 250 to 300 words.

If interviews are required, the rate is $50 per hour for that portion. It's highly recommended to use a separate editor for a final draft to submit to a publisher, especially for a traditional agent/publisher. It's never a bad idea to use an editor. Depending upon the specific services rendered, the cost runs around $6-12 per page for this for electronic, hybrid or paper edits.

The fees for the actually publishing itself are not included here as it depends upon a lot of variables including page size, page count, binding type, paper quality, editing costs, cover designs, cover types, if pictures or colors are included on anything but the cover, the quantity to be purchased and the shipping costs of the books, to name the major ones. We can assist with any and all of this if required but it is at an additional cost depending upon the options chosen.

Some eBook types may require additional formatting depending upon the eBook publisher. Not all use the same formats. Once the initial meeting is held, a simple contract will be drawn up specifying payments, deliverables and time frame.

A simple example:

A 250 page book is required with all content stemming from the principal and the writer will take that material and produce the pages.

Ten hours of interviews conducted by the writer at $50/hour = $500.

250 pages of double spaced manuscript pages (approximately 250-300 words/page) at $50/page = $12500.

A final edit is required for print/traditional publishing at $8/page = $2000.

Total cost of manuscript, written, edited and ready for print = $15,000.

NaNoWriMo

If you're a writer or a wannabe, this annual November event is one you might want to consider. It's a challenge to write 50,000 words of a novel all in the month of November. It's a lot to do. If you find yourself having trouble getting your ideas and thoughts down on paper or computer, the experience can be truly enlightening.

You see, you don't have the time to edit your draft. You will be writing as fast as you can go and not having the luxury of being able to edit as you write. Editing and rewrites are for later. Nothing kills the creative urge as quickly for many writers than when they stop to get the words right rather than getting the ideas and dialogue written down before they're lost.

It won't be perfect. It will likely be a crappy first draft but you will have the length of a novella done in only 30 days. It's inspiring to try even if you don't make it. It's my sixth year and I was successful in three out of five. Even when life got in the way, I still managed to get about 25k worth done and that wasn't bad either.

I urge you to give it a try. Most areas have groups that have write ins at Starbucks or Panera or a bunch of different places if that's something that helps you or you just like being around a bunch of other crazy writers. The web site to sign up, no charge, is at www.nanowrimo.org. It stands for National Novel Writing Month. Check it out. November isn't far away. You'll find me there as Cigarista.

Have You Noticed?

Has the world as we know it become more illiterate and in our own country? Perhaps the people publishing articles, ads and blogs simply have no pride in their work anymore or they are willing to live with literary crap to save a penny a word. It really causes you to wonder why the writing is so poor. Few things make an ad or article look less professional than glaring grammatical errors, particularly the simple ones that were to be learned in high school.

Come on now people. “Your” means it belongs to you. “You’re” is short for “You are.” For instance, you’re carrying your things. “You are” may be substituted for the “you’re” and the meaning doesn’t change. Try that one with the “your” and you’ll see it doesn’t make sense. It’s an easy test to see if you have it right. This one pops up on a daily basis.

Anyone can write and that seems to be the guiding light for those paying a penny a word and less for their content. Writing in English and doing it properly is not something everyone can do and there seems to be fewer of them by the day. If you want a good image for whatever you’re representing with words and don’t know how to do that, at least spend a couple of extra bucks to hire someone who does.

We’re waiting for your call. Have a literate morning. Oh, by the way, if you see an error in this post, please let me know. It is 8 in the morning and I haven't had my coffee.

I finally got around to doing a couple of updates on the Gulf Shore Writer web site today. It's been busy writing and looking for work in this economy. I've also been doing some work in WordPress so I created another blog that's an opinion/editorial sort with my outlook on what is typical a current news topic but is total subject to my whims. I figure it's good experience and if no one else likes it, the therapeutic value alone will be worth it and the kids can read it if they ever decide they want to know what makes the old man tick. One way to leave a bit of legacy, eh? That blog is Another Man's Opinion.

Happy writing and let me know if I can help.

Mike, gulfshorewriter.