My main freelance writing niche is writing supplements and ancillaries for college textbooks. I’ve made a decent living for the last 16 years, and I make at least $50 per hour. If this interests you, check out my Writing College Textbook Supplements e-book (and the clickable cover’s in the side column to the right).
Today I’m sharing a recent Writing College Textbook Supplements blog post about freelance writing for nonprofits:
I recently started a textbook supplement project – test questions and an instructor guide — for a nonprofit organization, the first one I’ve ever done that wasn’t for a college textbook publisher. Here’s how it happened.
They found me through my website.
I wrote recently about how having a website showcasing your textbook supplement writing can lead to more assignments, and it’s definitely getting me work, even though I haven’t yet started actively soliciting work here.
They asked me to bid on the project.
They said they had two other writers under consideration. I asked for a sample chapter and got all the details of what they wanted done for each chapter. I computed how long it would take to do the project, and then created a bid based on my desired hourly rate. (All the details of how to do this are in Chapter 2, “Negotiating Payment,” of my e-book Writing College Textbook Supplements.)
There’s a nondisclosure clause in the contract.
Such clauses are common when creating college textbook supplements as well. (See Chapter 5, “Negotiating Contracts,” in Writing College Textbook Supplements.)
It’s steady work every month.
It’s an on-going part-time project that pays about $1000 per month into this summer. I like knowing I have some steady work, which is rare for a freelance writer.
It pays well.
Let’s just say it’s definitely north of $50 per hour. I’ve heard that some nonprofits have limited budgets and pay less than for-profit businesses, but that’s not the case here.
Payment is prompt.
In fact, it’s far faster than the 4-8 weeks most college textbook publishers take to send a check. I get checks within two weeks of submitting an invoice.
Overall I’m very happy with this work. It’s always good to expand into new areas of writing and develop a larger list of clients.
Have any of you written for a nonprofit organization? What was your experience?
