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I’ve been a fulltime freelancer for over five years now and the business of freelancing still surprises me. I think one of the biggest surprises is how many publishers—RPG or fiction—have asked me to supply them with a contract for a writing gig. The conversation usually goes something like…
“We have this work we want you to do.”
“What’s the details?”
“Due date, word count, pay rate.”
“All of that is doable. I’m in.”
“Alrighty, send over your standard freelancer contract.” (Or) “Do you have a standard contract you’d like us to use?” (Or) “We don’t have a standard contract. What details would you like in yours?”
All of these have happened to me. It was shocking the first time a publisher asked me to provide them with the contract. I had no idea what to do. I ended up telling them, in my most professional-please-don’t-think-of-me-as-a-hack email voice, that I “preferred to start with the contract the publisher usually used and we would modify it from there.”
I chickened out in other words. And we did work with their contract and modified it and everyone lived happily ever after.
However, I suddenly realized that I needed to create my own boilerplate contracts. Ones that would be legally binding. Ones that wouldn’t screw me or the publisher. I ended up going to back to the contracts I already had and modified them. It’s surprising the number of contracts I now have to keep track of.
As an Author:
• RPG – set number of fiction words for a project
• RPG – RPG book as author
• Fiction – short story in an anthology
• Fiction – short story for the web
As an Editor:
• Anthology – buying a short story for an anthology
• Anthology – buying a reprint story for an anthology
• Anthology – selling an anthology to a publisher
• Anthology – commissioning art for the book cover
• Anthology – licensing art for the book cover
• Webzine – buying a short story for web
• Editing – Novel consulting
• Editing – Short story editing
That’s a lot contracts right there that I’ve had to create specific to me and make sure were fair, legal, and appropriate.
But wait, there’s more. Invoices are a type of contract between the freelancer and the person who hired them. It used to be that my employer would tell me how to log my hours and get paid. As a freelancer, you frequently provide your own invoices. This means they need to be clear, concise, and specific to the project so you don’t lose track of who has paid you and who hasn’t.
If you plan to freelance at all, you need to be prepared to provide your own contracts. You need to make certain they are legal and appropriate. Documentation is part of a freelancer’s world. I knew this from the start. I just didn’t know that I would be the one providing the contracts as well.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDUSTRY TALK PRESS RELEASE MAY 2012
Industry Talk; Your guide to breaking into games, editing anthologies and managing your career
Release Date: May 10, 2012.
“Want to write for games? Want to navigate the dark labyrinths and endless mazes of freelancing? Let Brozek be your guide.”
– Chuck Wendig, author of Blackbirds and 500 Ways to be a Better Writer
Apocalypse Ink Productions brings you INDUSTRY TALK, by award-winning editor and veteran freelancer Jennifer Brozek, a collection of her previously published columns Dice and Deadlines and The Making of an Anthology. This insider’s guide for freelance game writers and editors contains brand-new content addressing frequently asked questions like “How to pitch an anthology”, and includes advice on managing a freelance career.
“If you’re going to make that leap, though, and come over to the freelance side to join us, don’t go blind. Do your research. Ask questions. Read this book.”
– Matt Forbeck, author of Amortals and Vegas Knights
Available: May 10th, 2012
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Industry-Talk-Insiders-Anthologies-ebook/dp/B0081WAGEE/
Drive Thru Fiction: http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/101746/Industry-Talk%3A-An-Insider%27s-Look-at-Writing-RPGs-and-Editing-Anthologies
Nook and ePub forthcoming.
For more information, please contact: Apocalypse.ink.productions@gmail.com
Cover design by Ivan Ewert
Industry Talk is a collection of two previously published columns by Jennifer Brozek, Dice & Deadlines and The Making of an Anthology. The collection also contains brand-new content including step-by-step instructions on how to pitch an anthology and advice on managing a freelance career.
I’m over at editor Gabrielle Harbowy’s blog talking about Five Truths About Publishing that Nobody Told Me.
My life would have been better had I known them.
Jennifer Brozek is a multi-talented, award-winning author, editor, and media tie-in writer. She is the author of Never Let Me Sleep and The Last Days of Salton Academy, both of which were nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. Her YA tie-in novels, BattleTech: The Nellus Academy Incident and Shadowrun: Auditions, have both won Scribe Awards. Her editing work has earned her nominations for the British Fantasy Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and multiple Hugo Awards. She won the Australian Shadows Award for the Grants Pass anthology, co-edited with Amanda Pillar. Jennifer’s short form work has appeared in Apex Publications, Uncanny Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, and in anthologies set in the worlds of Valdemar, Shadowrun, V-Wars, Masters of Orion, Well World, and Predator.
Jennifer has been a full-time freelance author and editor for over seventeen years, and she has never been happier. She keeps a tight schedule on her writing and editing projects and somehow manages to find time to teach writing classes and volunteer for several professional writing organizations such as SFWA, HWA, and IAMTW. She shares her husband, Jeff, with several cats and often uses him as a sounding board for her story ideas. Visit Jennifer’s worlds at jenniferbrozek.com or her social media accounts on LinkTree.
