Lynn Friedman on Freelancing

Lynn Friedman

http://www.friedmanncommunications.com/

What I wish I knew then that I know now!

There are as many ways to become a science writer as there are coloring easter eggs.

Father was auto mechanic, high school grad, mother, cafeteria lady. Went to college at 27. Worked in police department, learned how to ask questions, how not to faint at sight of blood. Wanted to find a way to be in science without being a scientist. Changed to journalism in senior year Worked in pub rel in technology and other similar jobs. Worried about getting trapped in the pub rel rather than science writing, so decided to go freelance.

So she realized she needed a plan, to decide who, what, how, etc. First client was Academy of Sciences, after winning in competition with a big SF firm.

Consider geography. You want to be able to drop in, hang out, go to journal sessions, etc, so it makes sense to control your choice of clients by geographic range.

Legal issues – get professional help, tax advisor, etc.

Naming business....helpful if you grow. Legal thing, “DBA”, publish three times, etc. Pay your business license every year to show that you are for real, and establishes you as that company. 25 years later, it has an effect. A company actually tried to take over her business name, Friedman Communications, claiming it didn't matter, not important to her. With her history, she was able to enforce her ownership of the name.

Home office....you need technology, adequate lighting, ergonomic chair, website, business card.

When you exchange cards, make notes, enter info into database, use for future contacts. Little hints that you can use in next meeting make you look like a genius.

What are you going to charge? How much do you need to do this?

If you work 40 hr/week, 52 weeks=2080 hours
Subtract 3 wks vacation, 8 holidays, doctor appointments, etc
Divide by 2 to account for marketing, admin, etc.
924 is actual number available for work.

Keep money separated from personal money, separate credit cards, bank accounts, etc. Use software to track all this. Look for tax benefits, incl use of car, insurance, etc.

Can you afford to take this plunge? It may be six months before you see a check. You need to have money in the bank, not just to start out, but as you continue your business. We call this walking money, for times when you don't have time for an assignment, or you don't like the trend of the request in terms of ethics, etc. You have to have the ability to walk away from a job.

How to find work? Look at local non-profits and see if they want help with their publications. Not a longterm commitment, but a way to get clips. Plus these orgs have powerful people on their boards, etc. Contact publications when a conference is in your town and make a pitch to cover it. Know the publication first and know what they expect. If you have hobbies, there are probably publications for those hobbies and they probably want articles. May not pay, or pay great, but you get clips. Conferences also often have a daily newsletter during the conference where they need journalists to fill up with stories about the conference presentations, etc.

Start building a network. Include not just other writers, or sources for work, but people who can support a project—photographer, graphics artist, indexer, etc. Use them as contractors on projects, then disband the team at the end of the project. You can also refer clients who have jobs you can't do, for time or whatever reason. If you solve their problem, they will be grateful and come back to you later.

Join professional organizations! NASW.org, many of their members are freelancers, so they have been adding services for freelancers. Check out Words Worth, a feedback forum where you can check out publications in terms of pay rates, working arrangement, etc. Note—does require five clips in order to become an actual member. The goal is to keep the membership to working science writers. On the other hand, the NASW card is equivalent to a press card that gets you into conferences like AAAS or SfN. Other conferences, esp smaller groups, may be more than happy to provide press credentials for participation. You can also be sponsored by, say, somebody running this workshop or speaking at it....

The site offers articles by other sci writers and freelancers, such as how to organize. __________ wrote article, describing how to track and organize time (project for Reuters was color-coded red, one for Urology Monthly was yellow...)

If you do join, you do want to become involved and not just read the newsletter. There are sigs and committees that you can give back, etc. Also the more you volunteer, the more you get known, which can bring in leads and work.

Make a point, every day, to say no to three things. Every time you say yes to something, you are saying no to something else. Buy time, think about how it fits in. Say no to your email, set aside time for such things and then turn the thing off when you are not. Check yourself—what have I said “no” to today?

Stay in touch, do things for mental health, interact with people, just to keep from only listening to the voice in your own head.

For example, Lynn had the opportunity to climb Kilamanjaro. To prepare for this, she quit many boards and other obligations, but at the end, she realized that she had narrowed her focus to her writing and her training and not much else. So she rejoin some, but not all the boards she had been on.

Always kept a component of freelance writing and made sure she had a number of bylines per year. But she wanted to avoid being tied to certain industries, so she broadened her writing and her clients as possible.

Annual report writing for technology-based companies. How to find these jobs....companies start this process, they go to graphics artists. Find those groups and contact them and make them aware of your expertise.

George made a distinction between being strictly a science journalist and writing science for companies or even non-profits. There is a “taint” when you are expected to highlight the company or the university or whatever, but on the other hand, you do have to make money. The key to do this full time is probably to seek variety but also become valuable to a handful of repeat clients. Gareth says the most successful freelancers see their work as a portfolio, with some work that is lucrative but maybe not your passion, some things you do as your passion, some things you do to be seen or become known, etc.

George asks about contracts, book deals, kill fees, etc.

Lynn says you want to work in a manner that you “avoid grievances”. When jobs became problematic in her experience, they were also ones with no contract. Oral agreements are not worth the paper they are written on. Get it in writing, even just one page, even if you have to write it for them.

Recommends contacting editor in the middle of a job, even if your contract doesn't require it, to keep connection alive, etc. Editors in the audience agreed that this is a great thing—give them a heads up if a problem has come up, assure them you aren't dead, etc. The editor wants to know you are in command of the story.

David Corcoran asks about ethical standards for freelancers. At the Times, they send out a contract that includes the rate and description of ownership of work, and expectation of ethics, including companies they work for, junkets they have accepted, connections to government, lobbying, would your family members have such conflicts, etc. They have a standards editor to help resolve problems. Suggests that we look at the Times Guidelines for Ethical Journalism, online.

Molly asks if there is a standard pitch formula. Lynn says the best pitch she ever received: “How would you like a science article that includes Marlon Brando.” Maria suggests Media Bistro for examples of successful pitches with explanation by the editor on why it worked. Gareth says, he wants it not too long, what is new in this, assure me that someone hasn't already written, who you are and why you are qualified for this story. Qualified means you have written for other cool organizations, but give relevant clips if needed. If it's two pages, it may not be read. You want to write a note that you are going to solve a problem that you are qualified to write and will not require him to do work. David says 250-300 words, and where else has this been covered, if so where and how. Kathy asks if email is the way to do it and what subject line will work? A well written query is like giving qualifications, even if the subject isn't of interest, it may solicit an alternative offer. KNOW THE PUBLICATION STYLE AND TYPE OF ARTICLES THEY USE. If you don't know the pub, how can you solve their problems?

Adam says do not say “have you guys done a story on this – with link” I don't know...delete....

Wildly inappropriate pitch—again KNOW THE MAGAZINE.

Front of the book suggestions: couple of paragraphs on two or three ideas, links to local coverage, roundup of options. Features require a more elaborate process, might be some give and take, ultimately produces a pitch letter that he takes to his editors. Wired has a front of the book contract, can be generic but means you will probably get more work, and they give other suggestions and support as well.

Gareth says that when he gets a good query but can't use the story, he sends back a boilerplate description of what they do need, which is a good outcome, because you have begun a relationship.

George notes there are two kinds of contracts. Freelance writers typically own the content they write, and magazines buy publication rights for this, sometimes “all world rights” which means they might translate it and print in elsewhere. Might get you more money when they do that. Or they may only ask for English rights, or second serial rights. Then there are electronic rights.

On the other hand, there are work-for-hire contracts. In this case, the client completely owns your product. Watch out for the clause that you indemnify and hold harmless the client against all lawsuits etc. Now they usually just say you vouch for not plagiarizing it, etc.

Lynn describes work-for-hire experience. Job had a very short deadline and the work-for-hire. She doubled her standard fee TWICE to account for the drawbacks and they paid it.

Cindy suggests having contracts examined by an attorney, at least the first time, who found shocking details in the contract that she could not live with. The client claimed the contract was intended to protect the writing, but the slant was all in their favor, not hers.

Re attending scientific conferences. Lynn says that some people go to these conferences just to hang out in the press room and meet the journalists.

George notes that it is possible to be sued for plagiarizing yourself. Example of someone who profiled a sport figure and then later got a job to write a bio of the same guy. He used some of this earlier writing and was sued by the publisher of the original work.

Google yourself periodically and deal with those who are using your work without paying you.

Betsy asks if you ever send a story to an editor rather than sending a pitch. Gareth says he hates that—it never works and he doesn't want to have to read it. Most importantly, he says he wants to work with you to shape the story and make sure he gets what he needs. Adam says he's almost insulted by such behavior because it's his job to decide that a story works for his publication.

Molly asks about the concern that after pitching a story, the editor will reject the query and then give the story idea to one of his staff writers. David says yeah there's a risk, although it's highly unethical. Lynn reminds us that you have a paper trail if you sent it, but George points out that you can't steal an idea, only the implementation of it, and it might happen.

From the editor's point of view, they hate writers sending in too many words. David simply rejects 3000 words instead of 1200. Gareth says if it's too long, the story is not finished, and he doesn't want to see it before it's done. Corry notes that if she doesn't have time to cut an article, she marks sections that could be cut if the editor wishes to shorten a too-long article. She says “complete the work assigned, on time and within the assigned number of words.”

George recommends “Open Notebook” site (http://www.theopennotebook.com/). They get freelancers to interview writers who have stories published to find out how they developed the story and got it published.