Work-For-Hire Assignments

Author: Alyice Edrich

Whether you’re new to writing or have been around the block a few times, getting paid for completed work isn’t always easy. Writers have been scammed, fired, ignored, abused, and mistreated on numerous occasions—simply because the company didn’t value the time these writers put into completing their tasks and not because the quality of work was poor. That’s why it’s important to make sure you, as a writer, understand what work-for-hire projects really entail and get a legally binding contract before you begin work.

Work-For-Hire Means

When discussing a work-for-hire contract it’s important to remember that “work-for-hire” means you are giving up all rights to the work. You cannot sell it as a reprint. And you don’t receive a royalty check based on sales or how well the piece did in bringing in potential business―unless you negotiate it in your contract. (And yes! It's been done.) You get paid once and that’s it.

Work-For-Hire Projects

Work-for-hire projects are usually used for materials where a writer’s byline would not be in the best interest of the company; materials such as advertising materials, catalog copy, marketing materials, website copy, brochures, and white papers. But work-for-hire projects could also be for books and articles where the author taking credit isn’t the same one who wrote the piece.

Determine Your Fee Structure

As a freelance writer, you’re used to working with magazine publications that charge a specific rate regardless of your expertise and that’s okay. That’s how the publishing industry works. But as a writer for work-for-hire projects, you have much more say in what you charge for your time.

Depending on your area of expertise, how long you’ve been writing, and your talents, you can pretty much right your own ticket. In other words, if you have a good track record of producing only the highest quality of work, have several testimonies and/or stats to back up your claims, and have a specialty in a certain niche, you can pretty much write your own ticket. But if you’re fairly new to working in an area, you’ll have to be more tolerant about your fee structure.

That being said, you know your talents and worth better than anyone out there. You know how much you need to make, per hour, to support your family and not live below the poverty line and you shouldn’t settle for less.

But you also have to keep in mind the audience you are targeting. A small home-based business cannot pay as much as a small corporation. If you want bigger paychecks, you have to find bigger fish.

Another thing to keep in mind is when you’ll get paid. When working with small, home-based businesses, mom-and-pop shops, or small brick-n-mortar business, it’s always a good idea to get the money up front. But large companies and corporations work differently. They’ll give you an advance on the project, but the balance will not be distributed until the project is completed.

Understand The Scope Of Project

Approaching a work-for-hire assignment should be taken with complete and utter caution. Since the writer will only be paid once and the hiring party will reap years and years of monetary compensation from the piece—whether directly or indirectly—it’s important for the writer taking on the assignment to make sure he/she understand the complete scope of the work involved.

In other words, the writer needs to ask for specifics about the project. The writer needs to get very detailed and not settle for a generalized overview of the project. The writer needs to ask questions like:

What is the project really about?
What is the main emphasis or reason for the work?
Who is the target audience?
Does the company have any previously written material to help with the project?
Will the company provide any type of research assistance?
What does the company want the final outcome to look like?
Schematics, word count, certain information contained within the project, etc.
Who will have the final approval on this project?
The writer should never get caught in the middle of a he said/she said battle of wits.

Get A Contract

A contract is vital to your livelihood. It is important to have some form of written agreement in place before you begin any project or you could find you’ve spent several hours working on a project the company never intended to pay you for.

Depending on the company and your payment structure, your agreement could come in the form of an invoice attached in the email with the request to pay by credit card (i.e. Paypal), or it could come in the form of a formalized contract where both parties sign the contract before any money or work exchanges hands. The important thing is to make sure you have some form of agreement in place, and don’t settle for a verbal handshake!

So what goes into a work-for-hire agreement? That depends on the scope of the work, but your agreement (or contract) should include the following:

The name of the person responsible for cutting you a check.
The name of the company you are working for.
Your contact information.
The scope of the project in great detail.
Estimated hours it will take to complete the project.
Your fee should the project go over those estimated hours.
Your fee should the project change direction after you’ve begun your research or completed the project as requested.
How many revisions are included free of charge.
Your price to revise the work, after the free revisions are used.
Project completion date.
Payment information: how will you be paid, when must the check reach your office, how much you will charge if the check bounces, etc.
Expense fee: who pays for long distance calls, faxes, mileage, etc. with research related to the project.
Kill fee: how much will you get paid if they fire you, cancel the project, etc.
Who owns the rights to the work in question: make sure you specify that the company does not own the rights to the work until the payment if made in full. If the payment is not made in full, all rights revert back to you, the writer, and you can sell that work to another company.
Arbitration clause: who pays legal fees should you not receive payment and have to take company to court.
Anything else that may be relevant to making sure you get paid. Including addendums should the contract be changed at a later date.

And don’t forget to include a clause in the contract about how much money you get to keep should you decide to fire the client.

The bottom line is: work-for-hire contracts can be a wonderful staple which ensures a steady paycheck, but not all companies treat writers fairly. Whether you charge by the hour, or per project, you owe it to yourself to protect yourself by getting everything in writing.