May Lunch and Learn: Find the right mix of assignments

Finding the right mix of assignments can be a challenge. In our May Lunch and Learn, participants discussed their strategies for making sure they have plenty of work without getting overwhelmed.

Covering conferences

One participant who regularly covers conferences for a client said these assignments are reliable and the pay is decent at 75 cents per word. But the client takes three months to issue her a check, which covers travel, a small per diem and the story fee. She usually writes one short daily story from the meeting and several stories after the conference over a couple of months. That allows her to fill in with other work.

Another person mentioned that she is attending her first medical conference and has two assignments. One publication has agreed to cover her lodging, and the other has agreed to cover her transportation. She has another publication that has encouraged her to pitch them stories from the conference. She followed the advice in this AHCJ tip sheet about covering conferences.

Per word rate

Everyone agreed it's not a good idea to get hung up on the per word rate because some of the assignments are quick turnarounds, and so the hourly rate is not bad. For example, one participant has a standing client for whom she writes explainers about medical conditions at 25 cents per word. She considers this low rate a good starting point for her because she is new to journalism, no interviews are required and each piece takes just a few hours

Standing clients

It's always good to have several standing clients to ensure a reliable, minimum stream of work. One person explained she has two standing clients, one that assigns her long-form, complex pieces of about 10,000 words - she has been doing anywhere from three to five of those a year but is cutting back to two - and one that assigns short, quick turnaround articles of about 850 words. She writes one or two of those shorter articles a month. For both clients, she does not have to pitch.

Longer v. shorter stories

One person said she's trying to do more long form because she makes as much doing one longer article as for 10 shorter ones, and she finds the longer stories more engaging and interesting. It also means she doesn't have to pitch as much and find sources for so many different stories.

Time management

One person talked about how to find the time to do the long pieces that she loves. She frequently goes overboard with the reporting and ends up working until 3:00 am. She's not sure how to fix that.

Someone else talked about what to do when an editor calls to assign a quick-turnaround assignment that you're too busy to take. Once you turn down assignments one or more times, the publication drops you. But if you take them when you have no time, you'll be working around the clock.

To specialize or not

One person said she likes writing about different health topics and learning new things, but the downside is that it takes extra time. Another person specializes in cardiovascular topics and that works for her.

Pitching newsy story ideas

Sometimes the pitching process can take so long that by the time a reporter gets the go ahead for a newsy story, it has already hit the mainstream press. One person advised her to not let that stop her. Just because it appeared somewhere doesn't mean that she can't write it for someone else, maybe from a different angle.

Sponsored content

Someone did some sponsored content for the first time but didn't like the experience because it was difficult to find sources who would talk to her. They didn't want to be quoted in a sponsored post. Another person had the same experience. And two people said the line between journalism and sponsored content is getting blurry.

Don't limit yourself to writing

One person has taken on editing work and said it has changed the way she approaches her own writing.

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