I pretty much won’t work without a contract these days. Whenever I’ve tried to just wing it with a client it has blown up in my face. I get it all in writing now.

George

Yep, you’re the pro and you have to think for the client who may have no clue what effort is involved, or realise that sudden spec changes may leap into their head at the most inopportune times. There are few things more soul-destroying for a writer than seeing your hourly rate dwindling away as you put in extra hours you or the client didn’t bargain for.

Cheers bud.

PIA fee. I love it.

I’ve had projects where I’ve asked for partial up front. If the client is legitimate and even slightly seasoned, they accept this as part of doing business. I don’t do it with every job but I have employed this in the past.

As far as a sample, yup I point them to my web site that is chock full of my writing. I’m not giving anyone a freebee anymore. I learned those painful lessons when I first started and was answering Craigslist ads.

George

Good one. As one of my writing mentor’s says as well, “Figure in a PIA fee” as an extra, as this particular client certainly was.

Also, I THINK (and maybe you disagree) that you should always get some sort of payment up front PRIOR to the project. That way, if a client decides to burn you, you get something for your trouble.

Also, what are your feelings about prospective clients saying, “We’d like to see what you can do with this first beforer we make a decision.” I’ve been a freelancer for 15 years, and now I flat out say, “Find someone else.”

Steve

My specialty is writing for college textbook publishers, and sometimes there’s “scope creep”: slowly increasing the amount of work without increasing the compensation. If it’s minor I’ll usually go along in the interest of keeping good relationships with editors, and because the pay is usually quite good. When it’s too much, I ask for more money.