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Freelancers, insist on contracts
Make sure you’re being treated and paid fairly by getting it in writing
“I don’t do contracts.”
I stared at the email from a freelancer I had just hired for a writing project. They had almost immediately returned the contract that I’d sent right after our face-to-face Zoom interview, with the simple, four-word statement.
Right away, I called them. “Is everything okay with the contract as it’s written? Do you have any questions about it? Is there an issue with the rate we negotiated?” I asked, genuinely confused.
The freelancer paused, and then said, “I don’t trust contracts. They always seem to favor the client, and I’ve been screwed over by other contracts. So I just don’t accept them.”
I frowned, wondering what to do next.
The importance of a contract
I’ve never before had a writer outright refuse to sign a contract.
I’ve worked with plenty of freelancers who asked for changes to the contract terms. I’ve hired freelancers who insisted on negotiating their rate for each and…
