Part of our "Start a Successful Freelance Writing Career" Video series
( Read the transcript )
Pay close attention to the terms of the deal.
You need to stay out of legal trouble when you're writing, and this means that you should always understand the terms of your contract when you are working for someone. If you go against the terms of the contract you might actually be sued by the company, and that can certainly ruin your writing reputation.
You should also pay close attention to any exclusivity agreements you may have with the various companies you write for. Not all freelancers need to sign complicated contracts, but some companies require their writers to sign one stating that the writers will not write similar content for any other company. This means that if you contribute some content to a website - for example, maybe you write a series of articles about dog grooming for a dog site - your content contract may state that you cannot write about dog grooming on any other websites, even if you do not receive a byline.
Pay close attention to these contracts because the last thing you want to do is wind up getting sued by a company for breech of contract. Use caution and always be sure to keep every contract you sign so that you can quickly reference it if necessary.
You need to stay out of legal trouble when you're writing, and this means that you should always understand the terms of your contract when you are working for someone. If you go against the terms of the contract you might actually be sued by the company, and that can certainly ruin your writing reputation.
You should also pay close attention to any exclusivity agreements you may have with the various companies you write for. Not all freelancers need to sign complicated contracts, but some companies require their writers to sign one stating that the writers will not write similar content for any other company. This means that if you contribute some content to a website - for example, maybe you write a series of articles about dog grooming for a dog site - your content contract may state that you cannot write about dog grooming on any other websites, even if you do not receive a byline.
Pay close attention to these contracts because the last thing you want to do is wind up getting sued by a company for breech of contract. Use caution and always be sure to keep every contract you sign so that you can quickly reference it if necessary.
