Win some, lose some

I had a client decide to stop working with me recently.  I think I'm probably better off for it, as they were difficult to work with anyway.  Their instructions were unclear, partly because they seemed not to understand the rules of grammar and punctuation, and partly because they didn't seem to know how to word complete and clear instructions.  I was still annoyed, probably because I had tried my best and spent a lot of time trying to decipher said unclear instructions, but I know it's for the best.  Some clients just aren't worth the trouble, not for a million bucks and certainly not for anything less.

The same day, though, I got a new client that made up for the lost client tenfold.

Clients who compliment

Yesterday I received a call from a client. I've been writing for this particular client for over a year and a half now, and she's never called me before, so at first I was worried that there was something wrong.

As it turned out, though, she called to tell me personally how much she appreciates my hard work. She had received an article from another of her writers on the same day that I turned in one of my articles, and evidently the difference was so striking that she felt compelled to call and compliment my work.

I've already mentioned that I have a lot of work to do this week. I've been busy and a little stressed, so getting a compliment like that made my day — maybe even my entire week! It certainly was a nice reminder of why I do what I do.

New credit for my portfolio

I am in the process of updating my portfolio right now (or at least, I will get back to work on it once this crazy week is over), but in the meantime I wanted to direct your attention to my most recent project: a website I wrote for a Kansas City cleaning company.

I'm quite proud of this website: I not only wrote all of the copy, but designed the website as well. You'll no doubt notice some similarities to my website — I used the code from my own site as a template, changing things such as color and spacing in order to create a different overall appearance. I figure the company's potential clients will never see my website, so the similarities won't matter.

I've also written the first three blog posts for the company blog, though it remains to be seen if I'll continue blogging for the company.

No Child Author Left Untapped

On Monday, Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware posted on a disturbing trend that has been growing recently: The tendency of vanity presses to prey on child authors. Her post got me thinking, for two reasons:

1) Because I also started writing novels as a teenager,

and

2) Because I have had firsthand experiences with one of the child authors she mentioned in her post, Adora Svitak.

In regards to #1, I agree with Victoria Strauss completely when she says that some youngsters may be able to write beautifully, but most don't have the maturity to deal with the publishing industry. We're talking about an industry that can be pretty cutthroat — there is a lot of competition and a lot of rejection, whereas most children and teens are still at the point where social rejection is the end of the world. Plus, they lack both the experience needed to know the publishing industry's standards, as well as the maturity to learn and apply those standards.

Of course, as with any rule there are exceptions, but I am pretty certain I wasn't one. I wrote my first novel at age 14, and I know looking back at it that it was not and will never be publishable. My second novel was better, but it is my third novel — written when I was 15 — that I think has the most potential. However, even that one needs work — revisions and corrections that I don't think I would have seen the need for earlier in my career.

In spite of the fact that I once complained about my parents not encouraging and helping me to pursue publication, I think now that I wouldn't have it any other way. Maybe I haven't published a novel yet, but I'd rather get there on my own two feet than to have my work sell because I was some kind of child prodigy, an oddity and a fascination.

Which brings me to #2: My experiences with Adora and Joyce Svitak. I got involved almost exactly two years ago, when Adora's book, Flying Fingers, was first published. Joyce advertised looking for reviewers, and being a little naive about how the industry worked, I agreed to work with them. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I got burned.

Victoria's post about Aultbea and their child authors made me start thinking about the situation with the Svitaks for the first time in many months. It occurs to me that Adora was not the only one whose work was being exploited — by looking for writers to work for free and betraying our initial agreement regarding my review, Joyce was also taking advantage of other writers. This makes me wonder: Is it only the vanity publishers who are guilty of exploiting children's talents? Or are some of the parents equally as guilty?

Clients who expect you to read their minds

I have had a couple of problems lately with clients who don't tell me the full story of what they want, yet expect me to know it anyway.

Client #1 was someone who hired me to work on a personal letter. Aside from the obvious problems that arise when someone else is writing a letter that is supposed to personal, this client was continually unhappy with what I wrote, but gave me little or no direction as to why or what could be done to fix it. Usually, the client simply said, "This doesn't work for me."

As you can imagine, after going through both of the two revisions I include in my project rate, I was mighty sick of hearing "This doesn't work for me."

Client #2 has been an ongoing issue. They hired me many months ago to write some web copy for them. As they were a new client, I requested 50 percent of the project fee up front, and they agreed. I did everything right, yet they still have been a pain in my you-know-what.

First it was nonpayment. The project stalled at 80 percent completed, because they were supposedly waiting for keyword research they'd ordered in order to complete the remaining web page. I clearly stated that I was willing to wait a few weeks, but if it took longer than that I would need to be paid for the work completed so far. They completely ignored that email — no response whatsoever.

Some time passed, and with no word at all about the project, I emailed them again. And again. And again. Finally, I sent an email letting them know I expected payment for the work already done, and that if I did not receive it by a certain date (two weeks out, I believe it was), I would report them as nonpaying clients — and the first place I would contact would be the company they are affiliates of.

That finally received a response: I had an email from them within just a couple of days. They claimed they were "on holiday," and whined about why I had to be like that. They said they'd pay me when they got home, which was supposed to be in less than a week. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it didn't happen.

What is surprising is that a week or two later, they unexpectedly did pay me. I had been too busy to follow through on reporting them, so imagine my surprise when I received payment! It was in full, too — I had told them that, in light of the payment issues, if they wanted me to finish the project they would need to pay me for the remaining work in advance.

At last they sent me the keyword research and asked me to write the final page of copy. I did, as per what they had told me about what they wanted and the keywords they had given me. When I turned it in, however, they informed me that it was not what they wanted. I explained that there was no way to change the copy to what they wanted and still use the same keywords, as the two targeted entirely different markets.

This is when it gets really fun: They decided that they wanted to make the page a "double" page. Basically, they wanted to use the copy I'd already written and have me write what they'd originally wanted, and put it all on the same page so that they could get double the copy for the same price.

In hindsight, I could have refused. I could have stated that I had written the copy as per the information that they had given me at the time, and that giving me different information entailed a change in project scope. I could have charged them for the additional work, or refused to do it altogether. But I didn't. Instead, I told them I would write the additional work at no charge, but that any future work would need to be renegotiated.

Here's a big surprise: When I turned in the new copy, they didn't like it. They want me to rewrite it, but are only giving me vague directions on what it should include. They might be offering to pay me to fix it, but then again they might be demanding their money back — their English is so atrocious I can't tell. (The line says, "send me the pay for this page!" and in the context I can't decide whether they meant "payment" or "invoice.")

I decided to say NO. I really don't want to work with these people anymore, not even if they do pay me to fix the page. I had taken the job assuming — from their description — that it would be fairly quick and easy, and priced it accordingly. Months down the road, the job has entailed much more of chasing payment and waiting for the client than actual writing. A big fat NOT WORTH IT!!!

The moral of the story: Before providing a quote or accepting a gig, make sure you get complete details about what the client wants. Ask them to clarify anything that seems ambiguous, and don't take the job if they can't.

Furthermore, never assume a project for a new client is going to be "easy" — always build a "pain-in-my-a$$" fee into quotes for new clients. You can always adjust your quotes later if the work does turn out to be exceptionally easy.

Update: After receiving my email declining further work, Client #2 responded, calling me "moody and emotional." (Oh, is that what it's called when you "fire" a client who has been nothing but trouble?) With that in mind, I'd like to update the moral of the story to say: Never work with a client who patronizes you!

Getting rid of bad clients

I've gotten a couple of emails lately from a fellow Rich McIver, asking me to share his article with my readers. The first time I didn't mind so much (although I never got around to reading the article, I'm afraid). This time it is beginning to feel like spam. However, I think the article is rather worthwhile, so I'm going to put my mild irritation aside and provide the link.

The article is "Top 10 Ways to Fire the Client from Hell." It sounds funny — probably because anything with "hell" in the title usually is supposed to be comedy — but it actually contains valuable tips for getting rid of bad clients.

I have personally dealt with almost every type of client on this list, as I'm sure many of you have. However, I've found that my biggest problems tend to be with the clients who are overly demanding — either of my time (i.e. wanting a full-time writer at part-time contractor prices) or of my work (i.e. wanting more work for the same — or less! — money). I have also used the "I'm too busy right now" excuse with clients who have been problematic in the past, and I assure you, it is beautiful empowering to actually exercise your right to pick and choose your clients!

Writing topics, lesbian journalists, and clients worth keeping

Just a few days ago, Deb of Freelance Writing Jobs launched a discussion about what writers won't write about. A lot of writers mentioned that they won't write about things they don't know very well. I didn't mention it in my comments or my previous post on the subject, but I found this pretty funny, considering: a little over a year ago, I took myself completely out of my element when I signed up to write for a gay and lesbian parenting website.

If you have looked through my portfolio, you may have already seen that I list several article credits with The Rainbow Babies. In fact, I have written many articles for the site over the past fifteen months, and the founder has become one of my favorite -- and one of my most constant -- clients.

Angela has joked before that as long as I have been writing for the site, I am probably the gayest straight person around. (Her words, almost exactly.) Just the other day, in fact, she sent me the following email:

OK, so get this: apparently there is a "Lesbian Journalist's Association Convention" being held in San Diego in August. I read and started laughing because I thought to myself it's a good thing I'm not rolling in money right now, because I'd actually send you to the conference, and you would be the straightest little lesbian writer there! ROFLMAO!

First of all, I thought this was about the funniest thing I've heard. I could totally see her doing something like this, too -- and snickering about it the entire time I was there, no doubt.

Besides that, though, this email got me thinking... How often do we get lucky enough to have a relationship like this with a client? Most of you can understand me when I say that a client with a good sense of humor is a client worth keeping.

Three cheers for my clients!

The car thing set me back a little on my work, but I've gotten a lot done lately and I finally feel like I'm almost caught up. Now that the stress is lessing a little, I need to take the time to voice a little appreciation for my clients.

Andi, Angela, Lee, Chris, Todd, Logan, and Scott --
Thank you all for your understanding, your sympathy, and your flexibility! I appreciate it more than I can say!

The difference between blowing deadlines and requesting extensions

After writing my earlier post about deadlines, I started thinking about the term "blowing a deadline." I don't think it accurately describes my meaning, and probably not Kristen's, either, really.

"Blowing deadlines," in my opinion, is when you miss a deadline without the courtesy of informing your client that you're having a problem finishing the work on time. It is, essentially, not just blowing the deadline, but also blowing off the client.

I definitely don't do that - I'm always in touch with the client when I'm going to be late on something. Even if all I do is shoot off a quick email to let the client know - ahead of time - that I'm running behind, it makes a big difference.

So my revised list of lessons states:

1) Don't miss deadlines when you can avoid it.
2) Let your client know when you can't.
3) Appreciate the clients who are understanding when you do #2.

Deadlines and the end of the month

The end of the month is looming, and it seems deadlines are on everyone's mind. Harmony posted on Sunday about what she needed to do before the month ended, and Kristen King posted Monday about a blown deadline (and how upset she was about it). I have comments about both posts, and they (my comments) seemed kind of related, so I decided to talk about both tonight.

Not too long ago, I blogged about getting burned out. Then, more recently, I mentioned that I was starting to feel more like my old self. Unfortunately, that feeling comes and goes; I'm still struggling somewhat, so I have a backlog of work that I feel like I'll never be free of.

I have a confession to make, one that I suspect will make a whole bunch of guilty freelancers feel a little better: I miss deadlines. Not always - like I mentioned in a previous post, I tend to miss a deadline or two when I get burned out, which usually follows a period of insane amounts of work. Not all deadlines, thankfully - my brain seems to know the difference between deadlines for print publications (that have to go to the printer by a certain date), and deadlines for online venues (which are more flexible).

I mention this in response to Kristen's post, because she was clearly very freaked out about missing a deadline. The truth is, I haven't found missing a deadline here and there to be a major problem in my career (although, like I said, I have yet to miss any truly crucial deadlines). Most of my clients are wonderfully understanding and forgiving. They understand when I explain that I'm not feeling well, or that I'm running behind for some other reason.

There are three lessons to learn from this:

1) Don't miss deadlines when you can avoid it.
2) Don't worry about it too much when you can't.
3) Appreciate the clients that understand when you can't.

In response to Harmony's post... I have roughly 14 articles that I'd like to finish by the end of the week (not by the end of the month, thankfully!), as well as several (paid) blog posts. With a little luck, my productivity will hold and I'll accomplish all I set out to do...