Clients are changing; we have to change too

Craig Silverman, author of Regret the Error, proprietor of self-same-named website and freelance Globe and Mail columnist, has posted some thoughts on his own website suggesting how freelancers and editors might divert themselves from lamenting their circumstances and doing something about fixing them.

Being a freelance writer today is remarkably different than it was when I sold my first article 12 years ago. To name a couple of the more discussed points, pay rates haven’t changed much over the last 30 years (at least in Canada), and new contracts being offered by publishers demand more rights than ever before, which can make it tough to resell and republish work.

I know: wah, wah.

I’m not interested in complaining about the situation because I’m equally tired of hearing editors and others complain about their plight: falling revenue and subscriber numbers, fragmentation of the audience etc. These are serious challenges, but it’s time to focus on solutions.

And then he suggests some specific ideas and invites more. Interesting.

[By the way, readers may be interested to know that I am working on a project on behalf of the Professional Writers Association of Canada, Magazines Canada and the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors (funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage) to determine what the "new norms" are or should be in the Canadian magazine market. In the weeks to come, there will be an opportunity to complete an online questionnaire that gives your own views on relationships in the industry and the challenges and opportunities that exist for freelancers, staffers and management.]