The Writer 10.2019

10 | The Writer • October 2019

FREELANCE SUCCESS

BY PETE CROATTO

W

hen I started doing

the ‘I don’t get out of

bed for less than $4 a

word’ thing, people

started paying me $4 a word.”

This is all Taffy Brodesser-Akner,

the New York Times Magazine staff

writer and freshly minted best-selling

novelist, told Cosmopolitan’s Jen Ortiz.

In mid-June, when the comments hit

the social media terrain, it didn’t take

long for writers to bitch before realiz-

ing Brodesser-Akner is an aspirational

figure, not a nemesis.

Citing a brutal workload and pub-

licity schedule, Brodesser-Akner

declined to comment, though in an

email she attributed the flak coming

from “just a couple of people” and

expressed no regret for what she said.

“Honesty is still good.”

A large lesson exists inside that con-

cise quote: Writers should always ask for

more money. Should our rates start at $

a word? Heavens no. But Brodesser-

Akner first attracted attention as a first-

rate freelancer for a variety of

well-known publications, including

penning a series of memorable profiles

at GQ. She has a remarkable knack for

humanizing celebrities, people whose

business is distancing themselves from

us mortals. Read her piece on Don

Lemon, the frequently mocked CNN

personality, or new Batman Robert Pat-

tinson. She deserves to get paid well.

So do you. All you have to do is ask.

Britni de la Cretaz, a veteran free-

lance writer, asks for more money 95%

of that time. “The rate negotiation

comes when you already know the

publication wants what you have,” she

says. “So, at the point, the power is

actually in your hands.” That’s leverage.

She gets more almost every time.

Editors, de la Cretaz believes, expect

a negotiation. “They’re coming in

low,” she says, “and they almost

always have more money.” If she’s

offered $50 for a blog post, she’ll ask

for $75. For larger publications offer-

ing 60 cents a word, she’ll counter

with $1 a word. For 1,500-word

reported pieces, she started asking for

Money matters

Why freelancers should ask for more money. Always.

“

Ron

nie

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