by Leo Wiles
21 January 2015
I’ve freelanced for a few years, but only for one person – who’s now decided, with the state of the industry, to get out of media altogether. I know, I know, I’m an idiot for putting all my eggs in her basket… but what now? Help. Anon
You only have to have this happen to you once before you learn the importance of having a finger in several pies. I know from experience, for there was a time on a Monday morning when I’d routinely call my two favourite editors and end the call with three if not four articles to work on that week. It was great, consistent work. The downside? It made me complacent.
So when, in the space of two months, one of those editors was poached to edit her own magazine and the other moved on from women’s titles to motoring mags, I found myself feeling very uncertain about the future indeed. Especially as the incoming editors had their own pool of favourite freelancers to draw upon.
This situation can happen when a mag gets a revamp and is looking for fresh (read: new) voices, or hires someone in-house to take on the mother-load. Or, they close the section/column that you’ve devoted the past four years of Thursdays to writing (yes, I’m still bitter). Other instances are the mag folds, the company gets bought out and changes their commissioning structure, they decide to go with a cheaper writer, you have a falling out with your editor. There also seems to be departmental budget cutbacks at the end of the fiscal year where section heads realise they have a backlog of already written and paid for articles that they now need to use – creating a freelance dry spell.
In a career spanning twenty-plus years, I think I’ve experienced pretty much all of the above. But I learned my lesson after that initial fall-out, never again yoking myself exclusively to a single client. More importantly, I never took a regular gig or a rock solid contract for granted again. Ditto being the golden child of an editor – that wasn’t to save my bacon either, much as I once thought it would.
So how can you safeguard against losing your favourite editor or client in the future?
Spread the love. If you love the title, invest in more than just one contact. Crossing the room to say hi at functions can go a long way to helping you survive editorial fallouts.
Touch base. Ask your existing commissioning editor whom you should be in touch with when they’re on holiday or can’t be reached.
Write a note. Congratulate your contact on their new adventure, with a few pitch ideas for their new outlet. It illustrates that you’re not just a one trick pony.
Request an introduction. When your main contact has left of their own free will, it makes sense to politely ask for an introduction, and endorsement, to their replacement.
Make the time to pitch. Spend half a day each week minimum on pitching story ideas to editors or cold-calling potential new clients.
Locate a part time bread and butter job that handles all the important expenses in your life such as food, mortgage, vodka.
Make like a squirrel. Bank enough money that you can ride out the rough patches between contracts.
Have you ever been left high and dry after working for a single client or being too dependent on an editor?
