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Want More? Here’s How to Get It
By: Shirley Kawa-Jump
When you sign a contract for your writing, your first concern might be what you’re getting paid. But then, as you study the legalese closer, you might start to wonder if there’s room to ask for more. Not that you’re a greedy person–it’s just that you’re beginning to realize the work you’ve put in and now you want terms that reflect that work.
Solution? Negotiate.
In the beginning of your career, you might not be able to negotiate a contract. That’s okay–your primary goal at this point is to gain experience and exposure. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing to occasionally give up all rights or accept a little less money if you think the sale will lead to bigger and better things down the road. But don’t let that stop you from asking for more later–editors expect some negotiation on certain terms:
RIGHTS: If at all possible, avoid granting the publisher all rights. If the article is a long one–say, 3,000 words–you’ll want to later break it into smaller ones or re-use some of the research in a different piece. You probably can’t get the contract switched to grant one-time rights. But, you CAN ask the editor to insert the word “print” before the rights clause. In other words, instead of saying, “This fee purchases all rights,” the contract would state, “This fee purchases all print rights.” That gives you back your Web rights and gives you more resale possibilities.
PAYMENT: Early in your career, you won’t have the leverage needed to get additional money for your work. But this can change. After working with the editors of two different publications for more than a year, I wrote a letter to each one explaining why I felt I merited higher fees. For instance, I’d landed cover interviews with celebrities like Lillian Vernon, Bob Vila, and Dave Thomas. I’d been on-time with articles and needed little revision work. In both cases, the editors agreed my experience, work, and skills justified a boost in pay. Also, if you have been with a publication for a long time, you might be able to change “payment on publication” to “payment on acceptance.”
EXTRAS: Always ask for additional payment for extras like sidebars or photos. Sometimes, the publisher does this work in-house; other times you can do it and make a bit more money.
EXPENSES: While most small and medium-sized publications won’t pay travel expenses, most are willing to cover phone costs. If you’re writing a national piece requiring numerous interviews, ask for payment of telephone expenses. Remember, you’ll probably have to send in documentation, like a copy of your phone bill.
KILL FEE: This is the fee that is paid if your article is “killed”–that is, not used. If you think you could easily resell it elsewhere, then agreeing to a kill fee might be fine. If, however, the piece you are writing will work only at this one publication, try to negotiate full payment whether the article is used or not.
COPIES: Because copies of the publication cost the publisher very little, this is an especially easy item to negotiate even if you’re a new writer. So if you want copies to hand out at the next family gathering, go ahead and ask for them.
When to Withdraw
Sometimes the terms of a contract are terrible. You may be asked to write 4,000 words, relinquish all rights, and settle for less than a hundred dollars for your work. If the publication is completely unwilling to negotiate, then you have a choice to make. You can accept the offer, or you can reject the contract and try to find another outlet for your piece.
This decision is entirely up to you. There’s no checklist to help you decide when you should take your writing elsewhere. A smart strategy is to weigh the amount of work you will be putting into the piece against the contract. Don’t feel you have to walk away from a deal because it fails to offer everything you want. Rather, judge what it does offer–clips, a prestigious byline, useful connections, increased credibility. Once you have a few clips under your belt or more experience, you’ll be able to request–and receive–the contracts you deserve.
If you decide to withdraw from a contract, be sure to do so in a professional manner. As with any business dealing, if you behave courteously and professionally, you will build a good reputation in the field, something money can’t buy.
AGENTS & EDITORS
- 60 Calls for Submissions in June 2021 – Paying markets
- Agents: Knowing When To Hold One and When To Fold
- Getting Offers from Multiple Literary Agents
- Literary Agents List
- Preditors and Editors
- Publishing, Writing Terms, Acronyms
- Tips for a Successful Editor Appointment
- Want More? Here’s How to Get It
- What NOT to Do When Beginning Your Novel
- Windup for the (Story) Pitch
- Write the Perfect Book Proposal
CALLS FOR SUBMISSION
- 2023 MAR Calls for Submissions
- 2023 FEB Calls for Submissions
- 2023 JAN Calls for Submissions
- 2022 DEC Calls for Submission
- 2022 NOV Calls for Submission
- 2022 OCT Calls for Submission
- 2022 SEP Calls for Submission
- 2022 AUG Calls for Submission
- 2022 JUL Calls for Submission
- 2022 JUN Calls for Submission
- 2022 MAY Calls for Submission
- 2022 APR Calls for Submission
- 2022 MAR Calls for Submission
COMPUTER TIPS
- ASCII Characters
- Building Your Web Site and Doing It Right
- Don’t Be a Victim-Scams, Identity Theft, Urban Legends
- Don’t Spread Scams
- How to Annoy Your Website Visitors
- Knowing Your Target Audience
- Stopping Viruses from Propagating Through Your Email
- The Top 10 Email Errors
- Word Processors Through Time: Before MS Word & Google Docs
FORMATTING & GRAMMAR
- Achieving 250 Words / 25 Lines Per Page
- And Sammy, too? Oh, No!
- Changing Double Hyphens to EM Dashes in Word
- Edit Easier
- High Hopes–Avoiding Common Mistakes
- Misused Words
- Navigating In Your Novel
- Proofreaders Marks
- Research Links
- Rules for Writers
- Slang and Jargon Souces
- Tightening Your Manuscript and Trimming the Word Count
INSPIRATION-MOTIVATION
- A Dream Realized
- Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work
- Finding Time to Write
- Five Ways to Promote Yourself
- Fun Inspirations 1
- Fun Inspirations 2
- Fun Inspirations 3
- Fun Inspirations 4
- How Not to Procrastinate
- How to Quit Writing and End up on the Bestseller Lists
- Love to Write: Here Is How You Can Build Your Career
- Making Time for Self-Care While Running a Business
- Moving Up the Rejection Ladder
- Pop Quiz: Who Are You?
- Rules for Writers
- The Art of Being Rejected–475 Words
- The Juggling Act
- The Literary Food Chain
- Write Better Naked
- Writer’s Conferences Do You Really Need To Attend?
- Writing By Moonlight
MARKETS
- 35 Online Work Ideas to Earn Good Money Whilst Studying
- Copyright Primer, Know Your Rights
- EBooks-Fears to Possibilities
- Finding Markets Fiction and Nonfiction
- Freelance Writing 101
- How To Be a (Shiver) Reporter
- How To Market Your Book After You’ve Written It
- Love to Write: Here Is How You Can Build Your Career
- Magazine Links
- Making Money As a Corporate Freelancer
- Market News–All Genres
- Newspaper Writing Resources
- Path to Self-Publishing Success
- Publishing, Writing Terms, Acronyms
- Science Writing Organizations
- Selling to Children’s Markets
- Submission Tracking
- Submitting to UK Markets
- Syndication 101
- To Specialize, or Not to Specialize?
- Why E-Books?
- Writing Groups List
- Youth Writing Markets
PUBLISHING
- 60 Calls for Submissions in June 2021 – Paying markets
- Copyright Primer, Know Your Rights
- How To Market Your Book After You’ve Written It
- Love to Write: Here Is How You Can Build Your Career
- Making Money As a Corporate Freelancer
- Path to Self-Publishing Success
- Publishers Websites
- Publishing, Writing Terms, Acronyms
- Submission Tracking
- The Great Limbo Mystery Question
VIDEO & STREAMING LINKS
WRITING TOOLS - APPS
- Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work
- Free AI Tools That Can Be Used In Business Writing
- Helpful Books
- Knowing Your Target Audience
- Magazine Links
- Newspaper Writing Resources
- Reconsider Hand Writing
- Research Links
- Slang and Jargon Souces
- Unblocking Your Muze
- Word Processors Through Time: Before MS Word & Google Docs
- Writing Groups List
WRITER'S LIFE
WRITING CONTESTS
WRITING CONTESTS
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• ALL WRITING CONTESTS
- 2023 MAR Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2023 FEB Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2023 JAN Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 DEC Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 NOV Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 OCT Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 SEP Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 AUG Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 JUL Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 JUN Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 MAY Contests, Workshops, Webinars
- 2022 APR Contests, Workshops, Webinars
ABOUT WRITING CONTESTS