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What Is Freedom of Speech?

What is a Freelancer or Contractor For That Matter?

By Canuck Scriber L.Lachapelle AuthorPublished 2 years ago 9 min read
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Photo by Anna Rye from Pexels

FOR THE LOVE OF WRITING SERIES

This is a long one so maybe grab yourself a cup of coffee. It's my 5th article on topics For The Love of Writing. You don't need to be an expert to know a few basics. The legal of fundamentals are described here to be the writer of the fittest in a day in age when survival is integral to everything. Here will be addressed the legalities of the differences between writing as contractor, sub-contractor, and employee for online media, magazine or blog. Know your place in this Writer for the freedom of happiness in your work.

Freelance: You are bringing the work to the company. You are pitching your work to an an advertised request for submissions, or pitching an idea for unadvertised submissions. Usually specific individual projects, one time or varied content for a longer duration. You set the terms, price, content, own the copyright and publishing rights can be either yours or whom you are bringing your work to. NEVER GIVE YOUR WORK TO AN INDIVIDUAL TO PUBLISH OR PRINT FOR YOU.

Contract Work: Work that is specified for a certain amount of time or number of article(s). The writer is hired for the particular project of any duration meaning 1 or 10 articles, for example. Pay is negotiated. You own the copyright, they are publishing with your permission. This applies to professional writing forums. NEVER GIVE YOUR WORK TO AN INDIVIDUAL TO PUBLISH OR PRINT FOR YOU.

Sub Contract Work: Similar to the above the work is for a specified type of work for any duration. The company provides the pay rate, no negotiation. The difference is you are working under their umbrella and guidelines. "A business practice where the chief or lead writer hires additional writers, called subcontractors, to help complete a project. You own the copyright and the company has publishing with your permission. NEVER GIVE YOUR WORK TO AN INDIVIDUAL TO PUBLISH OR PRINT FOR YOU.

Employee: You are hired by a company under standard employment terms with a set of expected hours, pay, bonuses, benefits if the company provides them. You are expected to provide material to their standards, content within their timeline and the company has control over what you write. Pay would be hourly or salary.

SUMMARY

  • Works Made by Independent Contractors — Independent contractors and sub-contractors such as consultants are the authors of and own the copyright in their works.
  • As a Freelancer, you own the copyright to most of your work unless you've signed a contract specifically stating that you're transferring it.
  • As a general rule, the author of a work is the first owner of copyright in a work unless the author is an employee who creates the work in the course of their employment. In addition, the author is the owner of moral rights in the work.
Pic by Monstera on Pexels

Writing Venues

Online Media - writing content varies from non fiction to fiction, articles or stories can be on any topic. Platforms might have categories to place the writing in but do not promote certain content as a magazine would.

Pay is piecemeal, meaning you are not paid for actual content or hired for certain stories. Therefore there is more freedom in what you can write and this is one of the many reasons people gravitate toward these platforms. You are paid based on the amount of reads that you obtain from your own audience or readings you do of others work if you are in a partnership programs. The online media platform is showcasing your work and you are bringing an audience to them and/or sharing in readership, and/or paying a monthly subscription fee.

The writer is responsible for marketing their work. Called "Creators" because the writers are creating content specifying their material along with imagery to enhance promotion.

Content is not advertising content but it is or should be designed to attract a reader based on the information in the article or story. An advertisement is designed to attract a readers attention in seconds. Realistically, if the online Ad is read the consumer is ready to purchase or already considered the product being advertised. While online media is specific already to people who read, therefore the market is covered. The contents needs to have appeal so the reader wants to read the whole article not just a few seconds of it. (HINT: Social Media is mainly visual based, people want picture posts not as many reads. So the online writer's market is each other, promoting to other writers on groups or by emails. Or to other known Readers on groups or pages.)

Pay is usually between $ 4. - 6. for 1000 reads. Popular online media is Vocal, Medium, Quora, and Simily. Vocal pays for all readings totaled, Medium pays writers for readers that subscribe to them with a $5 monthly fee. On both Medium and Vocal a Writer can pay a monthly subscription fee to enhance their pay by reading others work (called Partnership Programs). If they choose not to pay the fee they can still write on these platforms but their pay changes to $3 for 1000 reads on Vocal, and for Medium the pay stays the same (no set amount) but you can only read 3 articles which limits your pay. Simily is new and offers a $20 fee per 1000 reads. Quora pays no set fee but they are planning to change to a model similar to Medium with a $5 monthly fee program to pay their writers.

These are not small time or fly-by-night companies because of their pay arrangements. The platforms all started as Blogs. They have a multitude of Writers and Readers. The readership of these platforms is in the multi-millions of monthly readers. The assortment of writers includes celebrities, journalists, professional bloggers, and novice writers on any topic you can think of.

The freedom to write what you want is a big attraction for writers but the pay is a deterrent also. It is a good way for writers to showcase their work and build a base of followers.

Online Media Writers are Sub-Contractors. They companies can suggest changes to a story/article based on grammar, for example, and some would say that is a stretch if you read across the platforms, and only because many people regard the platforms as blogs with looser guidelines and more journal-like. While others approach them as professional journalistic writing opportunities or online magazines with varied content. It's about how You as the writer want to present yourself and or your work. The companies cannot decline material based on freedom of speech laws. They also cannot drop a writer without just cause.

Magazine - Whether online or in print are about a specific topic with various articles only on that content (other than Ads). A fashion magazine is about fashion only. Auto magazine are about vehicles and mechanics; Politics, Archeology etc, magazines have a broad spectrum in subjects. Perspectives, trends, styles, and industry topics with multitude of photographs.

The writer could be writing articles or may also be researching, going out in the field interviewing people or responsible for getting photographs themselves or through someone else. Pay is based on the size and scope of the magazine and their readership. Articles can be paid for from $50, 100, 150, 300 - 1000.

The writer is usually a Contract writer or Employee but most magazines will also occasionally hire freelancers or subcontractors. More online magazines are open to the latter but again there is flexibility. Be careful who you pitch to. I once read a story about how a Writer pitched four different ideas to a magazine that had a call out for freelancers to boost a topic. Her pitches were not accepted and the magazine turned around and had their staff writer do articles on all the topics she suggested.

News Platforms - The hardest to get into. You need to apply for most writing jobs and submit samples. Material must be newsworthy or topical, on events, lifestyle, or sports for example. Competition is enormous and so is the readership. The most read of any platforms is news. All major news outlets have their own online pages and apps. They are bigger with farther reach and therefore pay better.

These also can be contract, employee or sub-contract positions but usually writers are employees. The big difference with writing for News companies is that being syndicated is desired - in that way your stories are published by numerous newspapers on all platforms. While magazines will often want exclusivity when publishing.

Blogs - Once considered amateur, wow have they blown up in scope. Anyone can write a blog, no former experience required. What you put out there is your own. Usually free to produce and self managed by the writer. There are many free website and blog options out there to use. Also free to read or people can subscribe by a small fee to read a person's blog.

Topics can be on anything from make up tutorials, travel, housewares, relationships, family, children, literally anything. Key to blog success is that a) you either know a ton of people who will read your work or b) your blog is linked to what you do. For example, if you are a Cook at home or by profession and you have a You Tube Channel or Cook Book. Your blog will be about recipes or cooking techniques. So it maximizes exposure all over the place. You also get to engage with readers on blogs by commenting back and forth or by emails.

Newsletters - These are for writers to promote their work to people who have already indicated an interest in it but subscribing to their emails. Some people use only emails to promote their original writing. Or you can use them to advertise your work that is promoted through a publication. While this is not a typical structured work as in contract or freelance people can charge fees to be part of a writer's personal email program for original content. Some writers promote their own books solely through Ebook email programs they design themselves.

Keep in mind federal laws trump policies and this is important to know. Check your local employment standards and labor laws.

Photo by Jessica Lewis of Pexels

WHAT IS FREEDOM OF SPEECH?

"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. U.S. Constitution - First Amendment Library of Congress"

"Freedom of expression in Canada is protected as a "fundamental freedom" by Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter also permits the government to enforce "reasonable" limits. Hate speech, obscenity, and defamation are common categories of restricted speech in Canada. Freedom of expression in Canada - Wikipedia"

Plus More

  • JK Rowlings and Margaret Atwood on free speech: Global News
Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA from Pexels

Past Topics in This Series

For The Love of Writing, A Little About the Writing Industry. This is about the differences between Self-publishing, Traditional publishing and Indie-publishing.

A Beginner Writer's Cheat Sheet, To Start or Start Again. Some basics on writing (not formatting), including writing techniques to get through Writer's Block.

Clicking and Networking, What It's All About. Some networking basics.

Writers, What You Can Include In Your Writing Legally, All About copyrights and when you need to reference and source.

More of Lachapelle's work HERE

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About the Creator

Canuck Scriber L.Lachapelle Author

Published Poet and Author. Making rainy days feel like Sundays with words.

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