Negotiating Right: Get What You Deserve

If the publication of magazines worked like any other activity, the authors would fix their rates, and magazines ran around trying to hire the best writer of the lowest cost possible. Unfortunately, this is not the case. In this bizarre business, writers trying to compete with each other, not only must prove their worth once but again and again, and every time they want a job. You clip. You have written the perfect query. You will also provide the best allocation. But then again, you ask for more money and negotiate your way in getting what they deserve.

Are you a writer whose only source of income is the writing, then you have to negotiate. It 's all the lifeblood of your business. Are not paid less, simply because you asked. Do not worry about it. You're not going to sound greedy. You work hard, and deserve to be paid for it.

When a magazine puts "pays $ 50 - $ 700" in their guidelines, what can you do to the writer who gets paid in the higher range? If you are a beginner, you probably do not even think of entering the highly lucrative slot. One might think that those seats were reserved for the regular and more experienced writers, right?

Wrong!

Admitted, regular writers are preferred, and their pay is generally much higher than yours. But you do not fall into that category lower because you're a beginner, you fall into it because you can not negotiate.

If you have a query of champagne, a proposed article that the editor simply loves, and good writing skills who desire to leave the editor for more, she is not going to rescue you simply Because you asked for more money. In fact, you will be happy to arrange for you. Not having a dozen clips on your resume does not entitle you to pay less. In fact, if you act like a professional, and give the editor what he wants, money will not even be a problem.

Spot gaps

Whenever you find a magazine that has a variable rate of pay, be sure there is room for negotiation. Why else would they have such a broad category? A well-known magazine mentions in their guidelines that pay their writers anywhere from $ 50 - $ 1,000 based on experience and length of the article. What I noticed is that I have specified the length of the pieces in their columns and departments. So, reading between the lines, I'm thinking-negotiation!

What about all those magazines that pay fixed rates? Do not just settle for what they have to give or no room for anything more? If you're looking to be paid more, there is a very remote possibility. However, there are other things you can ask. For one, there are no rights. If you can use a piece in more than one publication, it would get more money, albeit indirectly. Even so, another publication means another name added to your list of growing credits. Do not sell much better than a piece to ten different magazines, which are paid only once? Other than increased pay, you also have added to your list of credits. This is intended to bring more money in the future.

Other than that, kill fees are a must defined. Not want to spend hours on your research, just to get your article removed from the list of publication. You deserve to pay for the time you put in. Talk to the editor of this before you actually start the process of writing. Normally, taxes are killing approximately 20-50%. It 'very unlikely that you will get more even if you have a working relationship with the editor.

Another problem is payment upon payment of publication. Magazines have very long lead times. In simple terms, this means that we could wait up to six to eight months after his admission to see your newspaper article. If you are an international author, the delay is even longer, sometimes leading to getting payments months after writing the article. Do you really want to wait that long? You can?

What else? Bios. Little blurbs after our names that may point to a Web site, provide contact information or simply distinguish us as experts. Some magazines give them, but if not, you may request one. Or you could ask for more bio or photo on the left. This is much easier to do if your article appears online. If the editor is not willing to pay more, this is the best solution.

If your article required a lot of travel, phone calls, lunches or other costs, requiring the publication will be returned. There is usually a limit to the amount of a publication will pay, but should cover the total expenses to write the article. Send invoices, duly marked, and you get paid. If this clause is not mentioned in the contract, be sure to bring it up.

Finally, you want copies of magazines. As many as you can get, really. Most publications will give you two or three copies of the magazine or publication in which your work appears. If possible, ask for more. This is particularly important for the international writers who can not buy copies of the magazine.

Get it Right

If you're like most writers, you are a professional writing emails with demands no editor dares to refuse, but when it comes to negotiation in person or by phone, give you a bit 'too soon. You know who could have taken more, but sold before we can collect yourself saying "I expected more."

Negotiating is a completely different job in itself. (This is why we have agents right?). But as a freelancer, an agent would do more harm than good, so you pick the profession as well. (Already a writer, marketing, promotion expert, website developer and accounting work ... what more?)

When a publisher sends a contract where you can see the need for a negotiation, do not hesitate to pick up the phone and talk to her. It 's easier than you think. Editors expect writers to negotiate. Professionals do all the time. So no surprise for her, when a writer asks a higher salary. It is probably not prepared for it. And this is the only reason you give in more easily than you thought. Stand Your Ground, and be confident. If you feel you deserve to be paid more for his words, she also.

Then, imagine that you have a letter of acceptance (or call) editor. Hooray! Doing the victory dance, run and tell everyone you know and then return to the planet Earth for a reality check.

Before speaking to the director, you should have a good idea of what you expect from this publication. Do not hold your demands too high. At the same time, do not keep your expectations too low either. The publication of guidelines should give a rough idea of upper and lower limits and depending on how long your article and research, you should be able to determine a maximum amount.

Some indications about the actual negotiation process:

- Do not be the first to indicate the figure. Sometimes enough, but try to get the editor to propose the amount and you can work your way from there.
- Use phrases like "I expected more" and "that sounds a bit 'down' or 'I'm more in the range of ..."
- Do not argue with the editor. After all, you want the assignment. Reach the amount you are comfortable with both.
- If the publisher does not move on the monetary front, ask for a better rights agreement or a signature larger. Payment at the time is always a big plus.
- Finally, do not be unprofessional. If you do not like the terms of the contract and decide not to write for publication, after all, be kind. Humiliate the editor or the publication will take you anywhere, but blacklisted.

Get writing

Nothing is final (or legal) until you get on paper. If the old contract did not state the terms correctly, ask for a new one. Check and recheck the time, and only then sign the contract.

Writers are often deprived of their hard-earned money just because they are too nervous to ask. Looking back, I see many times when I knew I could ask for more, but did not. And there are many other writers who are not, why not want to risk a relationship with an editor, before it even started. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced professional, the truth is - you will not get anything unless you ask. So next time, give it a try and you might end up making more than you thought.

The Language of Freelance Marketing

For freelancers, knowing the basic terminology "before" start can be a valuable lesson in earning a few dollars more at this early stage. When I started my freelance career, I knew nothing of rights, simultaneous contributions, querying or varying payment rates. All I knew was - I could write. Everything else I learned at work. You can too. But just to make your stay a little 'less frustrating and more fun, I've listed some concepts that will help immensely as you contact editors and try to make them pay for your words.

Copyright
You just have your words on paper. It is not necessary to register copyright say that even if you're writing a novel or a book, is a wise investment. Registered copyright is proof enough for the courts, and is extremely valuable in cases of dispute. However, for materials, like articles or essays, copyright is not required to be registered. You can however, club a number of essays and record together.

Reprints
Reprints are articles, essays or pieces that have already been published. If you own the copyright (more on that later), and wants to sell the piece again to another publication, which will be defined as a reprint. Most publications pay much less for reprints and some do not accept them at all. However, a freelancer, sometimes reprints bring more income to do original articles.

Rights
Previously, magazines asked for all rights to articles. Even today, in many countries, including mine (India), most magazines want to keep all rights to ensure that the articles in their magazine remain unique to them. However, this trend no longer exists in America, Canada and England, and is making inroads in other nations. Now, almost all magazines in these nations refrain from asking for all rights to work. Others have opened their doors for the reprints, which is a boon for writers. Let's look at some of the different types of rights.

• All rights: this means that the article must not have been published before, and can not be reused after it is published in this particular publication. Never give up all rights for a measly sum of money. If you sell all rights, be sure to be paid what you deserve.
• First Serial Rights: These usually refer to some country. For example, the first North American serial rights, or rights of first British series. While the article has not been published in the country before that, you are free to submit elsewhere after publication.
• Electronic Rights: the publications archive their articles online, asking for electronic rights. This means you can carry your article online. Usually a specified time period. Also, electronic rights are usually non-exclusive, meaning that you can sell this article elsewhere although it will continue to appear on the site of this publication.
• CD-ROM Rights: A fairly new addition to the list of rights, this means that the publication is free to use your work on a Compact Disk.
• Anthology Rights: Some publications publish yearly anthologies (collection of articles or stories). In these cases, seek these rights for possible inclusion in their anthology of your work.
• First-time Rights: Your article must not appear anywhere in the world. You are however free to sell your work elsewhere after publication.
• one-off Rights: Your work may have appeared elsewhere. Publications asking for one time rights require that you let them use your work once. It may or may not have been published before and you are free to use it after publication.

Payment upon payment of publication
You wrote an article and the editor has approved them. Now comes time to pay. Well not really. Many publications prefer to pay their writers on publication, which means when the article appeared in print. In established magazines, the time between acceptance and publication can be months, so you can write an article in January, and be paid in June. Always try to get paid for acceptance.

Clip
When you write a query, the publisher wants to see more than just a good idea. She wants to know if you can do justice, if you will be able to finish it or not. For this, she needs to see samples of your writing. Published samples are termed as clips. In short, you photocopy pages about three magazines in which your articles have appeared and sent to the editor.

If you have not been published, you will still need to send samples of your writing. For this, write an article or two related to the issue of the magazine and send them away with the query.

Lead Time
A magazine usually asks writers to submit their work well in advance so that there are no last minute goof-ups. Magazines, especially those of reputation, can not risk delaying an issue of a single writer. This period is usually defined as lead-time. Although most magazines have a delivery time of about three months, many have periods longer than six months.

Kill fees
Editors are always "killing" articles you've assigned them. For the writer, this could mean loss of time as money. To reimburse the author for his research and hours put in, magazines usually have a cost 20-50% kill. In short, if the query has been accepted, but your article is not published for some reason, you will be given assistance to kill your work.

Expense
For your article, you may have to interview a subject. In some cases, you can make long distance calls or spend a few dollars on travel, meals and other expenses. All costs incurred for the assignment are usually paid by the publication. You should be very clear on this before getting on the assignment. Usually, editors will agree to reasonable reimbursement of costs.

Bios and photos
Have not you noticed how sometimes portrait of the author or contact information appears alongside the article? Yours might too. Although this does not always happen, sometimes publishers can decide to put up a photo or a brief bio next to your article. It never hurts to ask.

Topics simultaneous
Although this is something magazines advise against, is not always possible to wait three months for your idea to find a warm note with the editor submitted to him. This is where simultaneous observations come too if you really caution against submitting the same article to more than one publisher (I did, and I regret), I advocate the concurrent queries.

Now that you're armed with the knowledge base, it's all ready to go out in the big bad world of publishing, and show them what you have. Good luck!

In the column to start writing

You have written many articles for websites, newsletters and now you also have conquered the territory of getting published in a magazine. What is the next step, you ask? How can the editor ask for my work weekly or monthly?

Enter: the column.

Before running to an office of the editor or send unsolicited mail asking to write regularly for a publication, learn everything you need to know.

A column is written weekly, monthly or bimonthly, and should focus on a particular topic. You have to be consistent in what you write, keep the same tone of voice, and stay focused on the question at hand. If you write a column for the parent of writing, not to elaborate on issues of parenting in general. Six readers will probably be the parents who write, and be more interested in learning how to find time for their writing, rather than how to take care of their children.

A column can last three to four months to ten or maybe twenty. I know one writer who wrote an article about a major newspaper for more than twenty years.

When you decide to write a column, make sure the theme is of interest to readers and will keep you coming back for more, week after week. If the subject is boring or uninteresting, chances are you will not have readers, and editors soon conclude the column with a short note of farewell.

Make sure you can keep the commitment. Writing a column takes more than a brilliant idea and good writing. It needs dedication, discipline and ability to meet deadlines. If you can not meet the deadlines, will soon be out of a job, and out-pub for good. A journalist must ensure that it provides an on-topic, interesting, current article each week (or month), interesting enough to make the reader to go read it.

If you decide to delve into the world of writing the column, the best solution would be to start with a regional daily or weekly. Not only is this easier market to break into, but will give you lots of exposure. The columns for cooking, astrology, inspiration and living in cities are very common in newspapers and are the best places to start. However, try to avoid topics that have been done to death. Put a ride to a unique and interesting topic and you are required to obtain the interest of the editor.

Even websites that are beginning to open up to columns. Just like their counterparts in print, websites, e-zines and even online versions of print magazines ask for original material on a weekly or monthly. The biggest advantage of writing online is accepting short-term and publication.

The best way to query a publisher to write a column by sending clips of your work and the topic column. If the query editor like you will be asked to send in an article, and will soon be on your way to publishing glory. Keep in mind though, that writing the column is not like writing an article, not your convenience * and * your * time constraints that count. The only thing the editor wants from you is an article of good quality every week, submitted on time. Do, and you have a regular income from at least one source.