Writer’s Worth Day 2010

Lori Widmer at Words on the Page  is once again sponsoring Writer’s Worth Day, part of her ongoing campaign to help writers recognize and value their own worth.

Lori has written a series of posts this week about the subject, and her blog is consistently filled with advice and encouragement for writers to be paid what they’re worth.

I know there is a big interest in what writers and editors charge. “Freelance editing rates” is the most popular search term bringing readers to my blog.

Here are a few of the posts I’ve written  about writer’s worth and determining your freelance rates:

• Freelance Rates – Part 1: Determining Your Worth as a Freelancer
• Freelance Rates – Part 2: Hourly vs Project
• Freelance Rates – Part 3: Setting Freelance Writing and Editing Prices
• Freelance Rates Survey Results
• How Much Will It Cost? Average Freelance Editing Rates
• What are your prices for writing and editing services … and how much value do you give?
• Writer’s Worth Day
• Writers Worth Day 2

Bottom line: Writing and editing are worthy skills that provide value to clients, often helping them improve their own bottom line. Everyone providing those skills should be paid commensurate with the value of the services. Experienced writers should make more than beginners, but even beginners should make a decent income, certainly more than minimum wage and more than they could earn doing unskilled labor!

Happy Writer’s Worth Day! Celebrate your worth as a writer and accept jobs and payment that reflect your worth.

May Is Stroke Awareness Month

May is Stroke Awareness Month. Entertainer Della Reese is a stroke survivor and encourages others who experience stroke.

Learn more about stroke from the National Stroke Association. You will find information about risk factors, prevention, and recovery on the organization’s Web site as well as in National Stroke Awareness Month: Stroke Risk Factors and Symptoms

This is a very important subject for me, as, like Della Reese, I am a stroke survivor.

You can read my story in the following posts:

• National Stroke Awareness Month: My Stroke – the Beginning
• National Stroke Awareness Month: My Stroke – The Next Three Days
• National Stroke Awareness Month: My Stroke – the Aftermath

Knowing the signs of stroke and acting FAST can save a life or prevent serious problems. Last September, my husband showed signs of stroke, which I recognized immediately. I called EMS, even though he kept insisting he would be fine. When the paramedics arrived, I told them I thought he was having a stroke, and they agreed and rushed him to the emergency room.

I called my priest and we prayed all the way to the hospital. Thanks be to God, Jack was diagnosed with a transient ischemic attack (TIA), sometimes called a mini-stroke, rather than a full-fledged stroke. However, about 40% of the people who have TIAs have strokes, often within a few days of the TIA. I am convinced that a combination of prayer and FAST action to get medical treatment for Jack prevented a serious stroke.

Blog Jog Day

Welcome to  Blog Jog Day. Thank you for stopping by my blog! If you’re a first-time visitor, click on find your way around to explore all this blog has to offer, then jog on over to Relationships – The Therapeutic Process, http://soulmatetips.blogspot.com/. If you would like to visit a different blog in the jog, go to http://blogjogday.blogspot.com.

Memories of My Mother

Today on Mother’s Day, I’m remembering my mother. She departed this earth for Heaven nearly seven years ago, but I still miss her.

 She was born in California, where her parents were migrant workers. Her family lived in migrant camps with people who were all poor and mostly minority. She was comfortable with diversity long before it became a buzzword. As a teenager, she moved to Utah to live with her grandmother after the death of her grandfather.

She and Daddy met when he was stationed in Utah during World War II, and she moved to Texas to marry him when he came home from the war. She left her family and became part of his, gave up her Mormon religion and joined the Methodist Church my father attended.

For the nearly fifty years of their marriage, they lived on the farm where my father had been born and would eventually die. Mama was a good farm wife and wonderful mother to her six children.

Both of my parents always put their kids first and supported us in everything we did—driving to football games to watch the girls march in the band or the boys play football, going to dances to hear my brother play drums in a Western band, attending school plays and concerts, and cheering us on in all our activities. 

They were strict disciplinarians and expected us to do well in school. Seeing the look of disappointment on their faces when I did something wrong was worse punishment than a spanking.

After my youngest sister entered school, Mama took a training course to become a licensed vocational nurse (LVN). She was an excellent nurse, showing the same love and attention to her patients as she did to her family.

Mama was quiet and unassuming, but she also enjoyed a good laugh. She had a little pillow on her favorite chair embroidered with the words: “My family tree is full of nuts.” All of those nuts found a sympathetic ear and wise counsel whenever they went to Mama for advice or help.

After they raised her family, Mama and Daddy raised four more children. They treated the two grandchildren and their half siblings who had no blood or legal relationship to my parents exactly like they had treated their own children. From time to time, they took in other children who were having problems.

Daddy was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s shortly after my sister and I went on a fabulous cruise with my parents. Mama spent the next seven years or so caring for him. She was in poor health herself so had to have help. My siblings and nieces and nephews and I helped, but eventually she had to put him in a nursing home for advanced medical care. The nearest facility that could handle his needs was more than fifty miles away from the farm. Mama could no longer drive; someone drove her to visit Daddy two or three times a week, even after he no longer knew her. She cared for him until the day he died, then she spent the remaining eight years of her life showering her love and care on the rest of the family.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mama. I miss you!

Socialnomics (Refresh)

I posted a video about social media last September. The maker of the video and author of the Book Socialnomics, Erik Qualman, recently updated the video: Social Media Revolution 2 (Refresh).

National Day of Prayer: For Such a Time as This

Today the United States commemorates the 59th annual observance of the National Day of Prayer.

Americans have been praying for our country since before there was a country. In 1775, the Continental Congress called on the people to pray for wisdom in creating this new great experiment in freedom. Since then prayer has been an integral part of our national history.

The Presidential Proclamation for the 2010 National Day of Prayer says:

I call upon the citizens of our Nation to pray, or otherwise give thanks, in accordance with their own faiths and consciences, for our many freedoms and blessings, and I invite all people of faith to join me in asking for God’s continued guidance, grace, and protection as we meet the challenges before us.

The First Amendment to the Constitution gives us the right to pray in accordance with the religion of our choice:

Amendment 1 – Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

As a Christian, I will practice my faith today to pray to Almighty God for the United States.

ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favour and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honourable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogancy, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ~ Prayer for Our Country, 1928 Book of Common Prayer

2010 Prayer for the National Day of Prayer

by Franklin Graham – 2010 Honorary Chairman

Lord,

We are thankful for the abundant blessings You have bestowed on America.  Our forefathers looked to You as Protector, Provider, and the Promise of hope.  But we have wandered far from that firm foundation.  May we repent for turning our backs on Your faithfulness.

We pray that this great nation will be restored by Your forgiveness.

From bondage, You grant freedom.

Through Your own sacrifice, You offer salvation.

From the state of despair, You offer peace.

From the bounties of Heaven, You have blessed – not because of our goodness – but by Your grace.

You have given us freedom to worship You in spirit and in truth as Your holy Word instructs.  May our lives honor You in word and deed.  May our nation acknowledge that all good things come from the Father above.

President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that our nation should set apart a day for national prayer to confess our sins and transgressions in sorrow, “yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon… announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

“We have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our own hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own… we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us!  It behooves us then… to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”

Help us to pray earnestly for our president and leaders who govern, that they will humble themselves and seek Your guidance so that everything we do will shine the light of Your glory in a darkened world.

May our prayers as a people and a nation be heard and blessed for such a time as this.  We make this plea in faith, believing in the mighty name of Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

Freelance Rates – Part 3: Setting Freelance Writing and Editing Prices

We’ve talked about recognizing your worth as a writer or editor, and we’ve looked at whether to charge or hourly rates. Regardless of what you are going to quote to your client, you probably want to begin the process of setting your rates by coming up with an hourly rate. Then you can convert that rate to a project rate based on how much time a given project will take.

Determine how much money you want to make:

• Determine the income you need to pay your living expenses and have something left over for savings and investment.
• Remember that you will have to pay both the employer’s and employee’s share of your Social Security as well as cover your insurance, vacation and sick time, and any other benefits you were accustomed to as an employee.
• Although you will need to make more money than you would as an employee, be realistic. If you are just beginning as a freelancer, you shouldn’t expect a six-figure income.

Allow for business expenses:

• Account for business expenses such as your computer and office equipment, Internet service, telephone, office supplies, legal and accounting fees, and marketing.
• Think about the possible future need to hire employees or subcontract work to other freelancers, either because you have more work than you can handle or because you are unable to work if you are ill or face a family emergency.

Decide how many billable hours you can work:

• You earn money only when you are doing client work, but you also have to perform administrative and marketing tasks.
• The amount of time you devote to client work will likely be half or less of the time you actually work.

Calculate your fees:

• Add your the annual income you need to receive, your anticipated annual business expenses, and the amount you want to save/invest each year.
• Figure the number of weeks you will work in a year: subtract the number of weeks you want for vacation, sick days, and holidays.
• Determine the number of hours you can bill per year: multiply the number of hours you work per week by the percentage of time that you can bill to the client by the number of weeks you will work.
• Divide the total income you need by the number of hours you will work during the year to arrive at your hourly rate.
• Compare the number with typical rates (for editing rates, see the Editorial Freelancers Association). If the rate you calculated is outside the typical range based on your skills and experience (either high or low), review your calculations and see what parameters you can change. Keep experimenting until you come up with a number that you are comfortable with.
• If you have decided to charge a flat rate rather than an hourly rate, simply estimate the time required for each type of project you do and convert the hourly rate to a project fee.
• Review your rates regularly, at least once a year or more often if you are new to freelancing, and raise them as your experience merits.

Get paid your desired rate:

• Exhibit self-confidence when talking with clients. If you act like you don’t deserve your fee, the client will probably agree with you.
• Be prepared to demonstrate your worth to the client. Show samples of your work; explain your unique skills and expertise that set you apart from other freelancers; do as I do and give a short sample edit.
• Never negotiate out of desperation. If you choose to discount your work during slow times or for certain kinds of projects, do so because it’s in your best interest or because you want to do a good deed for a favorite charity, not because a client intimidated you or because you are in a panic about lack of work.
• Be willing to walk away from projects that will hurt your future. Only you can decide the minimum compensation you will accept for your work based on what is best for you, your business, and your family. Just remember that when a client chooses you because you’re the cheapest, they are likely to walk away from you if they think they save a few pennies somewhere else. Passing up a project like that may give you the chance to find long-term clients with higher-paying work.

Calculators To Help You Set Your Rates:

• Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator, Jennifer Mattern, All Freelance Writing
• Hourly Rate Calculator, Freelance Switch

More Advice on Setting Freelance Rates:

• Guide to Setting Freelance Writing Fees, Jennifer Mattern, Business.com
• How Much Should I Charge, guest article by John Carpenter, About Freelance Writing
• How to Set Your Freelance Rates (An Overview), Laura Spencer, Freelance Folder
• Setting Fees, Anne Wayman, About Freelance Writing
• Setting Freelance Writing Rates the Right Way, Jennifer Mattern, All Freelance Writing

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