No, I Will Not Write Your Book for $20
…and other misadventures of a rookie freelancer
I’m relatively new to the world of freelance writing. One of the things I’ve learned is that, since there’s no inherent job security that comes with being a freelancer, I need to create my own.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of people out there who are ready to take advantage of my freelancer status in order to get something for nothing, or next to nothing.
For example, I went on some freelancer sites like Upwork.com in order to get established, make a few connections and build a portfolio.
One of the first postings that matched my profile was for someone to write an ebook about food in their city. The payment they were offering in exchange for this service was…twenty dollars.
Now, they didn’t specify how long the book needed to be, but a quick Google search revealed that the average ebook is in the range of 2000–2500 words.
That’s not a ton, but still…twenty dollars?!
Let’s say hypothetically I can write the book relatively quickly. I still need time to research, fact-check, edit, etc. (I live in Toronto, a city of almost three million people and growing, which offers nearly every type of food on the planet).
Even if I’m being generous with myself and say I can crank this thing out in one eight-hour day — that still works out to only a couple of bucks an hour, well below the minimum wage unless you’re working in an off-the-grid Amazon warehouse.
Another potential employer I connected with at the beginning of March wanted me to write a 35,000 word book by April 1. When I asked what the budget for the project was, they responded simply, “low budget”.
Now, I’m not a mind reader, but I have a pretty good idea of what “low budget” means, and I’m guessing that it rhymes with, “dwenty tollars.” Of course, she didn’t actually say that, but if you’re going to be that vague up front, you can’t blame me if the alarm bells start going off in my head.
Just for the heck of it, I threw out a (very low) quote for what it would cost for me to write their book. And by low, I mean well above twenty dollars, but low-end for a freelancer who still likes to eat food and pay rent.
I never heard back from them.
The third and final story I’ll share is about a company that contacted me on a Friday evening. Part of their application process included a written test. Since it was now the weekend, I asked if I could respond to them on Monday morning and do the test then. They answered that the they expected the test to be completed that night if I wanted to be considered for the job.
I declined, because if they expected me to drop everything as part of a last-minute job application process, I could only imagine what it would be like to actually work for them.
My question for these people who don’t think I need money to live on or time to spend with my loved ones is, what do you think I do all day, and why do you think I can afford to live on $2 an hour? I’m not some eccentric billionaire moonlighting as a freelance writer for kicks. This is what I do for a living, and while I enjoy it, it’s still my job.
It doesn’t help that there are freelancers out there who are willing to accept these low paying jobs. It creates a “race to the bottom” effect where, in order to get a certain gig, you have to be willing to accept low pay.
But, as I said, this is what I do professionally, and I need to earn enough money to actually live on. I’m fine with starting at an entry-level rate. I’ve done it before in other jobs and industries, and I can do it again in the freelancing world.
What I’m not OK with is someone trying to take advantage of me, either financially or in terms of my time, because they assume I’m desperate.
I guess the lesson here is — know your worth. Stand up for yourself, and don’t work for anyone who doesn’t appreciate that.
It means that I could potentially lose certain clients, but at the same time it’s better to weed out the people who are either unable or unwilling to pay me what I need to earn a living.
Because if I’m not willing to stand up for myself, who will?
