More on the Freelance Writer Contract: Q & A

Although I’ve touched on freelance writing contracts a bit here, I get a lot of emails from freelance writers asking about contracts or letters of agreement. Keep in mind that although I’ve worked as a paralegal, I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t grant legal advice. From one writer to another, here are the answers to some of the questions I’ve received. I can’t emphasize enough that I’m answering these questions only out of the best of my own knowledge. I recommend that every freelancer consult an attorney about his or her freelance writer contract. The below questions are posted here with permission.

Maggie asks: What are the very basic things I should include if I’m writing my own agreement letter?

Answer: Here are the basics of what I feel a freelance writer contract or letter of agreement should include: Services offered or summary of services provided — get specific, because if an unsatisfied client wants to argue that you haven’t done the work as requested, you want to be able to point to this section and say, “Sorry, pal. I did what you wanted. Says so right here.” Spell out as clearly as you can what the client has asked you to do, including word count/page count/or length, format, delivery method, due dates. Include your policy about revisions/re-writes (are they included in your price? how many will do you for that price?). Your contract should include the rights you’re selling, and how long it’ll be before rights revert back to you (if applicable). Include the agreed upon pay rate and payment method for the project, and when payment is due.

Madeline asks: Is having a client fax or scan in a signed contract as good as having an original signature?

Answer: When using a formal contract, I’ll take a scanned copy before I’ll begin on the work, but I’ll also mail a hard copy and ask for the original to have for my files. Perhaps I’m anal-retentive, but I like to have all my grounds covered, especially for large projects.

David asks: I have a small client who has never given me a contract. I never gave him a letter of agreement or wrote my own contract but all the correspondence is by email. Is that the same thing?

Answer: While email doesn’t take the place of a signed document, email correspondence has been known to hold up in court. However, it can get hairy if the person makes accusations that the emails are doctored. I’ve seen cases where the hard drives had to be brought into court. If I were you, I’d save not only the hard copies but the electronic copies in an email folder (displaying the full headers of the emails). In the future, a simple letter of agreement summarizing the terms stated in the email could save you a lot of trouble. Just make sure the client signs it.

Abigal asks: I recently got a gig to write bulk articles for a company website. If I want to give the client a discount for bulk work but not have him expect me to lower my rate for smaller jobs, should I put this in a contract?

Answer: When I give clients a discount, I keep my regular rate listed but then indicate that I’m giving the client a discounted rate for this job only. For example: “… fifty (50) articles at the rate of $15 per article, discounted from Writer’s standard rate of $25 per article, for this job only…”

Jessica asks: A client fired me because I didn’t deliver my edits by the date stated in the contract. I couldn’t get the edits to the client because he held onto the draft and didn’t provide revisions for two weeks longer than he said, which pushed the whole thing back. When I said it is impossible to make the edits in a turnaround time of three days, the date on the contract, he fired me and hired someone else. He paid me less than he quoted me because of the trouble he had to go through hiring a replacement. I know I will never see the money but how can I avoid this happening again?

Answer: First off, depending on how much you’re owed, I’d consult a lawyer. Depending on how the contract is worded, you might be able to get him to pay up. In the future, if part of your work process requires you to wait for the client to make revisions and get them back to you before you can begin the next phase of the project, make sure your contract includes a clause that states you will have edits done within a week (or whenever) of the date the client’s revisions are returned to you, rather than just stating a date you’ll have edits back by. This way, if the client takes two weeks longer than quoted to get the revisions to you, he can’t hold you responsible to rush to get them done by originally stated date.

Darryl asks: If you use a bidding site do you still need to use a contract?

Answer: I don’t use bidding sites, so I have no idea. I assume it would vary based on the bidding site, what they offer, and whether or not they get involved in client/provider disputes. I’d start by checking the terms of use on the bidding site you use (or are planning to use).

Have a question? Post a comment or email me at amy [at] write-from-home [dot] com.