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This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world for material to help other writers. Today I discuss a blog post about rush writing jobs…
Are you a freelance writer who needs to make more money?
Start specializing in rush jobs.
That’s clever advice from a recent post on the Make A Living Writing blog.
Here’s how writer Carol Tice puts it:
“I had my first business in the mid-1980s. I lived near a couple of the movie studios in Los Angeles, and I had a script-typing business.
- I had a fee for typing scripts
- I had another fee for typing scripts in a big hurry. It was nearly double the regular fee
Sometimes, screenwriters would come to me all disheveled and hung over and say, “Oh my God! This draft is due in two days, and I just finished it. Can you get it typed up tomorrow?” And I’d say, “I sure can…at my rush rate price. Occasionally, they’d ask me to do it at the regular price. But I’d say no. It’s the rush price, take it or leave it. And they’d take it, every time.”
If this strategy sounds too mercenary, remind yourself how difficult it is to succeed as a freelance writer.
Doing rush work at regular rates means you’re taking a client’s crisis and letting it become your crisis.
Tice suggests that you put out the word that you specialize in rush jobs in the following four ways:
- Let folks know you’ve got what it takes to crank out writing under the gun, and you’ll have a great new niche that raises your rates
- Contact local marketing agencies and pitch yourself as a rush specialist
- If you write for publications, let your editors know that if they ever have something that needs a quick turnaround, they can call you
- If you have any background in filing same-day news stories, either in traditional news or for online blogs, mention your ability to do rush work.