A few years ago I wrote a summary of why and how library and culture workers should pursue freelance writing - not an economic impetus so much as the need to basically do professional outreach - to explain ourselves in more than just puff pieces.
Now that we’re in a global crisis, I know a lot precarious workers (a large portion of our workforce) are hurting and stuck for what to do. I also know that a lot of publications are tightening their budgets for paying for freelance pieces (due to lost advertising revenue, because nobody’s buying anything anyways so why would you run ads?) so it’s not exactly a great time to be competing with experienced journalists and freelancers for the slim pickens of writing assignments. But that doesn’t mean your voice isn’t important and that you can’t provide a perspective nobody else can - it just means you have to be extra crafty about it.
Please note: Apparently in Canada the crisis benefit is only for people who have absolutely no income, unlike Employment Insurance, which is prorated based on your other income each week. So, if you’re getting the CERB because of lost work, maybe don’t try to scrape together a few more hundred bucks a week in freelance writing. If you’re in the US, honestly, godspeed to you, because nothing I say can help you.
I wrote out the following in response to a few people who asked me about freelance writing. It’s somewhat a restatement of that post from 2016, because it may be useful to you.
There are great feeds that share opportunities for writing. There are a bunch on Twitter, and there are probably more wherever you get your social media. They share full-time and part-time jobs too, but also a lot of calls for pitches.
Here is what a call for submissions looks like:
Versus what a call for pitches looks like:
A call for submissions often means they want the whole thing right away, which is almost always the case for short stories, poems, artwork, photography. A call for pitches means they want you to sell them on an idea or topic first and not submit the whole thing right off the bat. That’s almost always the case for any reporting, review, analysis, personal essay, interview.
There are lots of reasons to want to approve an idea in advance for these, rather than get a piece in draft. Depending on what you like to write, you may not need to learn how to pitch at all. If so, here’s some advice on pitching.
I find pitching articles to publications is like a muscle. You have to build it from nothing and then if you don't use it it will atrophy and you have to build it back.
Read a lot of invitations for pitches and wait for your brain to really get into the pitching mindset - you won't have any ideas at first, and then you'll have a few, and then you'll have lots, and then you'll have maybe too many.
Be slow and cautious at first because you don't want to overcommit yourself when you don't have a lot of practice at the rolling deadlines and the sudden intensive editorial overhauls.
A good pitch is one paragraph of semi-writing and one paragraph of a work plan.
By "semi-writing" I mean you want to basically draft some of what you plan to contribute. It should be snappy and show off the tone of the eventual piece, it should get them interested enough to want to hear more, and it shouldn't give away the ending even though it should include the thesis. ("In recent years libraries have become _________. But how does this affect ________ / play out in _____ communities / reflect the changing nature of _____? One library is ______, and another has taken on ______." is probably a fine pitch.)
The work plan should be professional, and shorter, like maybe just one sentence, that says how many words you plan and a bit of the structure (like "In 2000 words I'll introduce the context, discuss a few complicating factors, walk the reader through two or three clever solutions currently in practice, and end with suggestions for more.") It's just meant to show you mean business.
Get a byline (two sentences) + links to your work ready. Only share two or three links with each pitch, the most relevant ones, or those similar in length or tone.
And always read their website of course. Most submissions guides will ask for these kinds of things, but some will vary and be more specific.
So, for the example above, Model View Culture (who I have written for, and who are great) will have a page on their website:
Not every publication will tell you what they pay, but people are getting better about asking, so if you see a call, you will most likely find the relevant information in the comments:
ALWAYS spend a half-hour on the publication’s website reading what kind of stuff they like to publish. Always search to see if someone’s written something similar to what you want to do. Always find a new angle to analyse, if so. Always reference pieces they’ve published if you want to build off them - publications LOVE it if you link, in your own piece, to older pieces of theirs. And it helps show them, right in the pitch, that you’re aligned with what they do. You have an advantage if you’re already a regular reader of said publication, but it’s not too hard to do some research here.
Think of it like a job application: you wouldn’t apply without spending at least some time on their website or searching around to figure out what it’s like to work there.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with telling the story of someone very close to you, with their permission. Many a great article has been a decent writer basically recounting their sister’s difficult pregnancy, their parents’ love story, their coworker’s breakup, their child’s developing mind. Find a story you think needs to be told because it’s a microcosmic reflection of some societal issue. I mean, do split the payment.
I would start with less people-intensive pitches to start, until you get the process down and know how you work. Personal essays, reviews, history-ish work, pop culture stuff is great to start with.
I imagine right now is a great time to do something thought-provoking / deep-dive-y on streaming shows and movies. It sounds a bit hokey but you can always bring a crit lens to just about anything, problematic faves being what they are. Lots of places are looking for "new hobbies to do from home" articles. Crafts? Wikipedia editing? Cooking? Lots of fodder there.
LOTS of publications right now are looking for political predictions or analyses about a post-pandemic world. It’s a heavy topic but do consider pitching something answering “What will libraries look like?” or “What is an essential service, really?” or “Why don’t we protect frontline workers better?” or “Why we should all unionize.” I know you have thoughts.
I like to write a draft of what I'm thinking right away. Even if it's just point form or the first half or the snappy conclusion. Then I don't have to try to recreate my inspiration weeks or months later when they finally get back to me. And it builds my confidence to have most of it written before I even pitch it, so I'm less worried about deadlines. You can always reuse this material for other publications so it's not wasted effort. Put it in Google Drive, honestly. It’s so easy to search for things you’ve already drafted if it’s all in one place. I’m always writing ideas down even if I’m too busy to even consider pitching. Here’s a glimpse.
So they will write back and say "Nope, not for us" or "Yes, we love it" or "Maybe can you do this specific thing instead." They will give you a deadline (or a total timeline), a word count, and a price. If not, ask for those right away.
Okay, now to write the thing.
If you already have a draft or some notes in a document, you're off to the races.
If you've pitched an article where you interview people, you should probably have reached out to those people gauge their interest before you make the pitch in the first place (unless you have 10+ people in mind, then you'll probably be fine).
I really can’t help you with the writing part too much, but I can tell you that the more I wrote the moment I had the idea, the easier it is to finish it later. Make sure you do research! No matter what level of brow the article is at, you want to link to and cite similar pieces from around the web. You’re not being any less original and meaningful by pointing out that others have contributed to your thoughts, and it’s simply a nice thing to do, and who knows, you may get some attention that leads to future writing opportunities. There are almost no web publications out there that won’t let you put links in your work (though, as I said, they will prefer links to their own stuff).
You may wish to ask, upon their acceptance of your pitch, for a pro bono subscription to access their back catalogue if one is needed. They will almost always have a writers-level login for you to use. It may be time-limited or it may be not worth their time to monitor, so congratulations, you just got a free subscription!
They will always, always, always return it with edits for your approval. This is where you start creating a relationship with an editor, one-on-one, and also learning about the editorial process for these types of publications writ large. Some editors will basically only do a copyedit; some will change whole sentence structures; some will slash and burn hundreds of words out; some will do an excellent job tightening up repetition and emphasizing the important bits; some will just confuse you. Some editors will put in jokes that you would never in a million years write.
You can decide which hills you want to die on, or you may wish to meekly accept whatevs for your first few articles. I have stood up for myself when an edit created a voice that was distinctly not my own, or perhaps cut out a clarification I thought was necessary (e.g. something having to do with intersectional axes, or that ended up feeling gender-essentialist or tonedeaf in some other way). Otherwise I generally let the editors go with what they think is best.
It could be one round of quick edit approvals or several rounds of embarrassing grinding. It could make you absolutely miserable. I have pulled pieces I thought were good but upon multiple editing rounds turned out not to have a point, or not the point I thought they did. I have pulled pieces that I ran out of time to make good or couldn’t quite grasp what the editor was working toward (and they couldn’t quite grasp how to tell me). And I have had pieces fall into a purgatory of nobody-knows-what-to-do-with-it, where they ended up paying me in full (or paying me a “kill fee”) and not publishing it. It happens. Don’t worry too much about it.
They may wait until you have a draft they like before doing any paperwork (or even a publication date and a final version), or they may do the paperwork first.
Online publications pay less than paper ones - 5 to 10 cents a word, versus 10-50 cents a word for paper. Most will say on their pitching guidelines if they do a flat rate (like "$200 for 1500-2000 word essays").
Reviews are paid less but can be good experience-builders. Anything that verges on reporting (interviews with professionals, ATIPs, travel) will be much higher rates but I have no experience with that and I imagine you're not gonna aim for that anytime soon.
Most will pay on publication, which can be months from now; others will pay when they get a final draft ready. Some will pay monthly based on one of those dates. Many will pay automatically, and some will require you to invoice.
You can make an invoice really easily in Word or Google Drive, there are lots of templates. They may mail you a paper cheque, they may e-transfer, they may wire, they may PayPal. Put all those instructions on your invoice so they have no excuse later.
If it's an American publication, they may require you to sign a W8 or a W8BEN or some similar form that just says "The US has a tax agreement with this person's country; the money will be taxed as income in their country." That's why it's good to put "_________ is a Canadian living in Toronto" or whatever in your email byline right off the bat - you want them to make you aware of their requirements for paying you.
They may also have other contracts for you to sign such as giving away your copyright. I'm not too precious about this - every publication I write for is readable online without a subscription, so it’s mostly moot - but you can always ask about a CC license or something. You will want to use an online document signing tool like HelloSign if you don't want to print, sign, scan, and email each contract.
You will need to count up all of your "self employment income" for your taxes. Once you get your very first acceptance, start a spreadsheet. (I have all my information in an Airtable database, and yes, that is a referral link, because they are great and also free.) I also keep track of places I pitched and what their response was so I don't double-send, and so I can follow up if they have promised to do so but have not (but of course, don’t be annoying about it).
You just need to know your total earnings for tax-time, not too complicated, and be able to list the website you wrote for. Depending on how much you earn you may be able to claim deductions from this income for business-use-of-home (usually a percentage of your workweek throughout the year, so, probably quite low unless you really make a go of it).