Back to Basics: Part 2 Writing Clips vs. Writing Samples
October 11, 2008 by Deb Ng
Filed under Freelance Writing
by Deborah Ng
It’s a fact of life. We writers and bloggers don’t usually get hired on our good looks alone. We’re expected to send a potential employer proof of our talent. Though it should be apparent by our finely crafted cover letters there are still those who insists on seeing some of our previous work. These are called clips.
Many times employers want us to write something on the spot specifically for them to see if we’re a good fit for their organizations. This is called a sample.
Should You Send in Clips or Samples?
I often tell writers who don’t have any clips to write up relevant samples and send them in when clips are required. The writer owns this clip and will continue to use it to enhance his portfolio. The writer can sell the piece of writing if he sees fit or not if that’s his desire.
When an employer asked to see a sample of your writing he generally means clips. Send links to published writing or your blog or online portfolio, or attach some previously written samples of your writing. If the employer accepts attachment, you can even attach a .pdf featuring your published work. (Some of us hate that, though.)
If an employer wants you to write up something specifically for him so he can see if your writing style fits in with his publication or website, he’s essentially asking you to work for him and you should be paid for your work. If his request is for you and many other writers to submit writing for free, especially writing he owns and can do anything he wants with, he is scamming for free writing.
A sample is a sample is a sample
Here’s the thing. If I sent this blog post to a potential employer he would see how I write. He can tell a little about my writing style, he can tell if I know how to form a sentence properly and how my words flow. My clips plus my experience should be enough to tell any employer what he needs to know. If he insists on a writing sample after that, it will cost him.
If someone asks you to craft a sample having to do with a specific topic of his choosing, ask him these questions:
- What will a sample tell you that my clips didn’t?
- How much will I be paid for my sample?
- If I’m not being paid for my sample, who owns the rights?
- If you own the rights what will you do with my sample?
If the employer only wants to see if you can write with knowledge on his topic, hopefully you have some clips that will do. If he insists on your writing a sample for him anyway, determine whether or not he’s truly looking for the best fit or trying to scam for free writing.
Remember, we don’t ask plumbers to fix our toilets for free to determine whether or not they’re a good fit for future bathroom problems, nor do we ask our doctors to see our sick kids for free to see if their bedside manner meshes with our personalities. The only reason people expect writers to give it away is because we’re always so willing to do so. We can change things. Not giving out free samples is a good place to start.
Great post Deb. I must admit I have done free samples for clients in the past, but no more! Last week someone asked me to do ten articles as a “trial.” I asked her three times how much she would pay and she didn’t answer. Ten articles for free?? Ha!
Deb, thanks for this post. I’ve sometimes (not often) written a short email to someone I think is legit but who doesn’t understand what s/he is asking. In the future, I’ll send them a link to this post.
I found creating a portfolio to be the biggest challenge when I started freelancing full time (after many years of working in a job writing confidential in-house documents that I couldn’t use). The writing samples I created to fill that portfolio helped build my business, so that now I’m only sending/displaying published work. This is great advice!
I give clips of other work I’ve done, relevant to the topic where possible.
One trend I’ve started noticing in responses is the “you write 1000 words as a sample and if we like it, we’ll pay for it.” Those always get an instant “no thank you” from me.
Let me be quite blunt: out of all the proposals where the poster was asking for samples (usually a Craigslist ad, no doubt), I’ve heard back from none of them. Perhaps they thought I wasn’t following directions, but in every case I sent them a clip which clearly demonstrated I knew the genre/topic/tone of voice that was required.
Nevermind, I’m doing just fine with more than enough work coming in. Now if I could only make the switch to full time….
I provide links to appropriate clips.
@ Krista: Good for you for sticking to your guns and requesting payment. A client of mine sent one of his clients to me about two weeks ago. I sent her writing samples and she asked me if I would do one small project before we agreed to work on large projects together. I wrote a sales letter for an e-book she wrote, and when I sent it to her, I said, “shall I invoice you through Paypal, or send you an invoice through e-mail?” She wrote back that she was surprised to hear anything about an invoice, as she had “gifted” me her $67 e-book (she sent it to me so I could write a sales letter about it!) and she felt that was an even exchange for the value I provided. Hmph.
AMEN!
“Remember, we don’t ask plumbers to fix our toilets for free to determine whether or not they’re a good fit for future bathroom problems, nor do we ask our doctors to see our sick kids for free to see if their bedside manner meshes with our personalities.”
That is similar to what I tell people about free samples. We are professionals, and as such we have a right to be paid for our work. PERIOD.
If we want to end the problem we can personally create a policy to not do free samples and we can ‘educate’ fellow writers about their right to be paid a fair wage for a fair day’s work.
Kudos and Thanks Deb!
Thank you for this post. My work experience/freelance jobs are mainly editing, so clips/samples are new to me. I am actually blogging for free (!!) for a couple of sites to get more writing/blogging clips for paid jobs. And it’s working.
But I never really knew how to tactfully address when a potential client asks for samples. Now I know.
Thanks!
OK. newby question here – what is the difference between a “clip” and a “sample?’
Very good post. Thanks for the great info
Great post, I wrote an article on “How to submit a writing sample”, but yours is very detailed and informational. Thanks
In my six years as a full time freelancer, I’ve discovered the clients who want to pay the least are often the most demanding. And keep in mind the clients who are small time will pay small time. So you beg a client to double the pay — you go from $3 an article to $6. Why not look for client that pay you $600 per article instead?
Someone that asks you to pump out 10 articles in a week obviously doesn’t care about the writing. Someone that asks you write for free is a scammer. There are some cases where you get something in exchange for free wrting, but that should be decided up front. Writing for exposure is pointless. Do plumbers fix toilets for the exposure? (I’m not talking about plumber’s butt either!)
In six years I’ve only had one job come from a client seeing my name in another publication. And he was an old college buddy, so we had a pre-existing relationship.
If you want to be treated as a professional, act like one. Don’t apologize for charging money, and don’t apologize for sending invoices or following up on payment.