Remember Your Worth!

Hiya!

This post is for my writer friends, but I think anyone could benefit from the reminder I’m about to layeth upon thee.

Yeah, I’m in one of *those* moods. You’ve been warned. 🙂

Anyway. Here’s a little story:

I was looking through job ads looking for new gigs. Cuz, you know when you freelance there is no such thing as too many eggs or too many baskets, no matter how pretty the eggs and baskets you already have happen to be.

I warned you: mood.

Also, this house needs stuff. I need stuff. The kids need stuff. In other words, I need to be buried in work so I can do what I need to do in this thing called life.

I found a couple of decent (foreshadowing kids!) possibilities so I started the tedious process of writing the cover letter, tweaking my resume and gathering my clips for requested writing samples. As I as was putting together the first app, I paused.

All of my sample clips paid a minimum of, we’ll say just south of three digits. But the gigs I had deemed decent paid a fraction of that.

Why in the hell was I going after gigs that paid less than the samples I was submitting to get the gig? 

No! If my samples were worth $100 (for example), then I should be using them to get gigs that pay AT LEAST THE SAME AMOUNT. Yes, I screamed that. And yes, I am screaming it to you.

This isn’t about knowing your worth. Just like mine, your writing samples and clips can tell you that much. This is about remembering and respecting your worth. Now, granted I do still need more work, but I refuse to go backward. So, I scrapped those gigs and now I’m on the lookout for better-paying ones, because I know I deserve better.

So my advice to anyone reading this: If you make X amount, then your next job, gig, whatever should pay X + more. Equal if you have to, but never ever less.

Anyway, that’s my story and advice for the day. Go forth and progress. 🙂

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

 

It Wasn’t Always Like This…

I landed a new gig on a bid site yesterday, and the pay rate was so great, I was compelled to post about it to one of my writers groups. I added the comment that “I hadn’t seen rates like these since 1998!”

The statement was funny, truthful and sad. Consider this: I started my freelance writing career in 1996. The very first item I was paid to write paid 5 cents a word. By 1998, I was making double per word what today’s new gig pays, and we were complaining back THEN about how poorly writers were paid.

Man, if I had the ability, I’d travel back to the 1998 me and duct tape my mouth shut.

This is how far we have fallen as a profession. I mean think about it — I make less now, with 16 years of experience than I did when I was a virtual newbie in the field. How many other professions can make that claim? Would doctors stand for it? How about lawyers? Nope.

So, why are we? We do we let our profession slide backwards financially, even in the face of increasing demand?

I do have an answer to those questions…but you’ll have to wait til tomorrow to find out what I think it is.

Yeah, a cliffhanger folks…I AM a writer after all!