Jan 08 2009
More bad news on the writing front
Most of my income comes from the freelance writing I do for magazines, newspapers and Web sites. I was hoping that 2009 would be a better year than 2008 turned out to be. In 2008, I wrote like crazy but made less money than I did in either 2007 or 2006.
That really wasn’t in my plans.
So my hope in 2009 was to target higher-paying pubs, like the one I’m working on a story for right now. That story will pay me more than $2,500, the most I’ve received for a single non-fiction story.
Problem is, that very publisher sent an e-mail to its freelance writers yesterday with the subject line “tough times.” With a subject line like that, you know you’re in trouble.
Sure enough, the message said that from now on, thanks to the nation’s terrible economy, the magazine would not be assigning as many freelance stories and would not pay as much for the stories they do assign.
So, unfortunately enough, 2009 is starting out much the way 2008 went: My clients are struggling. That means I’ll struggle, too.
I’m still writing enough to pay the bills, but it seems to be getting tougher by the month. I’m fortunate in that I also have a full-time editing position that pays insurance for me and my family, so I don’t have to worry about that, at least for now.
I’m not giving up on my dream of writing less and making more in 2009. It just looks like it might not be either that less or that more.
6 Responses to “More bad news on the writing front”
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I’m finding that many of my freelance gigs are drying up as well. The good stuff is fewer and farther between. I don’t have health insurance though, and my hubby lost his job. Good luck to you though, and hopefully things will pick up!
Hi there: That is bad news I’m afraid more of this is going to happen to all the writing sites, maybe even this one, I sure hope not; Good luck to you on your projects;
Yes, there’s a big thing going on at Bright Hub, too, these days, and I don’t think it sounds good for them financially. Though they are budgeting themselves wisely, the writing gravy train is over there.
Yes, it’s pretty bad news when it comes down to worrying about whether we can ‘at least pay our insurance’. And the very same insurance companies are banking on it. They certainly aren’t worried about denying your claims or treatments that you need to stay alive.
Yes, the times are getting more tough. More and more people are looking for work online and the competition is stiff too! Good luck!
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HI, All:
Thanks for your comments. Yes, I think freelance writing is changing. It’s getting to the point where we’re all going to have to write more and more to make the same amount of money we were used to making in the “good old days.” I’ve been freelancing for about 10 years now, and last year was the worse I’d ever seen for lowball rates.
Thanks again for commenting.
Dan
http://indycomics.today.com
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