Plug into these resources:

ARTICLES/BLOG ENTRIES

"Book Packaging: Under-explored Terrain for Freelancers" by Jenna Glatzer

"Breaking Into the Juvenile Market as a Writer for Hire" by Rachel Plummer

"How to Find a Work-for-Hire Assignment with a Book Packager" - (This is a sample work-for-hire article - see how no author credit?)

"How to Write School Curriculum"

"Know Your Rights: Works Made for Hire"

"Template Work-For-Hire Packet"

"Tips for Writing for the Education Market" by Evelyn B. Christensen

"What You Need to Know About Work for Hire" by Jan Fields

"Work for Hire FAQ" by Vijaya Bodach

"Work for Hire, or How to Get Work in Children's Books Quicker" by A. Humann

"Works Made for Hire Under the 1976 Copyright Act" - United States Copyright Office

"Writing for the Educational Market" by Margo L. Dill

Some other posts on work-for-hire on my site:
"How'd You Get That Gig?"
"Diane Bailey, Work-for-hire Champion"

Work-for-Hire vs. Royalty Writing (Part 1) and Work-for-Hire vs. Royalty Writing (Part 2) with Nancy I. Sanders

Educational Markets for Children's Writers - Evelyn B. Christensen

Guide in Links: Book Packaging and Work-for-Hire - Chandler Craig

Writing for the Education Market - a discussion and resource for freelance writing and working for the education market.

Here are more words of wisdom about work-for-hire.

Bridget Heos says she's a big fan of work-for-hire for these reasons:

"1. It provides steady income. I know that I'll be paid for what I write, since the publisher commissioned it. Also the publishers pay, in my experience, one-two months upon receipt of the manuscript, which is nice!

"2. It gives me more writing time. The more you practice something, the better you get. It's nice to get paid to practice my craft, even if it's less than I would make selling a manuscript that was my own idea. I can only sell a few manuscripts of my own per year, so it makes sense to supplement that through work for hire. Plus, a lot of the books I write for hire are lots of fun. And I get to work with more editors, which is always great. (Children's book editors are some of the nicest people I know, and I'm not saying that to butter them up. I'm pretty sure the way to butter up editors is to meet deadlines.)

"3. Finally, I learn a lot. (I write nonfiction for hire.) This gives me good background information on a variety of topics. Often these relate in a small way to another nonfiction manuscript I'm writing on spec. Sometimes I also get book ideas from a small detail I learn through my research.

"My advice is to drum up work WHILE you're busy writing. That way, you'll avoid a vicious cycle of having tons of books to write followed by no books to write. And if anybody figures out how to do this, please let me know."

Prolific author Joanne Mattern said, "I've published hundreds of books for the educational market and almost all have been w-f-h, so you could say it's been the cornerstone of my career. Almost all of my experiences have been very positive. I like getting paid quickly and I love the diversity of genres and topics I've written about--many times I've gotten assignments on topics I would never have researched on my own. I often have to defend w-f-h to other authors but for me it's been a wonderful way to work."

By contrast Bobi Martin has done a couple of w-f-h jobs. She said, "One was a CD Rom product and the other was my travel activity book. I enjoyed both. The money was not stellar, but the projects were fun and the editors were nice to work with. In each case I was able to earn more money than the original contract amount because I got my work in ahead of the deadlines AND because I asked the editors if there was other work I could do on the project. In the case of the CD Rom product (Reading Search: In Search of the Lost Folktales produced by Great Wave) the editor let me do 11 vocabulary exercises in addition to the retold tales I was hired to write, and I was paid reasonably for them.

"In the case of Kidding Around San Francisco, I asked if I could do the word-based activities that would be in my book. My editor originally said no, but then called back a couple of days later and asked if I could do some simple crossword puzzles and a few 'Silly Stories' (these are like Mad-Libs). Once I'd sent those in, I got calls from the editors of other books in that series and I wound up contributing to 10 books in the series. The pay was nominal, but I got a copy of each book I contributed to and the editors listed me as a contributor in the inside credits of each book. When you're beginning your career, writing credits are worth almost as much as a paycheck."

Vijaya Khisty Bodach said, "My experience mirrors Joanne's (minus the hundreds of books :) I enjoy working on wfh books and it's helped us financially. I always take on topics that I enjoy or want to know more about so writing is a great way to learn as well (and get paid for it). I have missed doing WFH books, but I decided to give myself a couple of years to learn the art of writing a novel ... there are some things I've just got to write and they will not fit in the short story format."

"I remembered another positive not mentioned: photos," added Christine Kohler "I wrote a book about refugees for Harcourt Achieve, published in 2003. Every refugee I interviewed had photos of themselves in their Mother country and/or in the refugee camp. It was remarkable! So both the editor and I knew right away that this book had to be done with photographs, like an album, instead of illustrations. Toward the end of the process the editor asked if I could recommend a photographer in my area to photograph two of the refugees for recent photos. I said I could recommend a local news photographer, or I could do it; I've done photojournalism for newspapers. The Harcourt hired me to shoot the two recent photos. (ALWAYS negotiate a separate fee for photos. The editor would have to pay extra if someone else took the photos, so make sure you are getting paid extra.)

"At the time I didn't think much about it, but five years later Houghton Mifflin bought Harcourt. I expected For a Better Life would go OP, which is common for that length of time on the shelves and during buy-outs. To my surprise, I got a call from a NYC agency requesting I grant permission to H-M to use the photos for another five years and send an invoice for payment on the renewal. I was surprised because I didn't know my photos were on a separate, limited, contract from the text, which was wfh. I asked around, billed from a reasonable amount, and was delighted H-M was picking up my refugee book as a reprint. It's an excellent book for ESL and citizenship classes, although it was intended for the public school market."

"Be sure the contract mentions author copies. The first time I did w-f-h I didn't think of that and was disappointed (multi-book contract, no less!)." - Paula Morrow

"My second through ninth published books were work for hire," Chris Eboch said. "I would have had a 10-year gap in publication credits without WFH. Experiences and pay varied. The worst case was $3000 for a research intensive 25,000-word nonfiction book working with a terrible editor at one house. (Other jobs paid less, but for less work.)

"I also had two books killed with one publisher. In one case I got a kill fee, and the other nothing after writing and editing an outline and sample chapter, because they decided to discontinue the series and we hadn't yet gone to contract.

"On the positive end, I enjoyed writing a "famous girl sleuth" book, and learned a lot from working with those editors, and I got $6,000 plus royalties for the Childhood of Famous Americans bios on Milton Hershey and Jesse Owens. (Not that they've paid royalties yet....) I've gotten fan mail on Milton Hershey.

"WFH is not ideal, but I would not have been able to survive as a writer without the pay, and the publishing credits also help when you're trying to establish yourself as a professional."

Amy Houts said, "The majority of the 40 picture books (both fiction and nonfiction, mostly for the education market) I've written have been w-f-h. I've had great experiences with supportive editors. The money varied, but mostly was good. I've only had one success in submitting a picture book proposal on my own. W-f-h has worked for me."

Wow, what a nice variety of experiences. Thanks, Bridget, Joanne, Bobi, Vijaya, Christine, Paula, Chris and Amy for sharing. (Again, there are links to these authors from their names above.)

Next up: Work-for-Hire Resources

Recently, when planning a talk on work-for-hire, I asked some other writers about their experience. What they had to say was so good, I am sharing it here and in my next post, with permission.

Linda Carlblom said: "One of the things I love about work-for-hire is that once you've gotten that first writing assignment, you're in that publisher's stable of writers. When they have other needs, they contact you to see if you're interested in another job. It's like jobs just land in your lap! Since my first WFH job I've had 2 other assignments in the field I love (writing for children) that I didn't have to even look for. It's awesome!"

"Writing work-for-hire has stretched me so much," Stephenie Hovland said. "I took on projects that I never would have done on my own in some tight deadlines I wouldn't have thought possible (for me.) It's given me lots of confidence."

When someone asked a question about getting WFH jobs, here's what Stephenie said:

"Here are two strategies that may (or may not) work for you. One worked for me. One worked for a writer friend of mine. (I could not make her strategy work for me.)

"1. Choose a publishing company or two (or three) who publish what you want to write. Send them samples that would fit into their current offerings and a writing resume with clips (if you have them.) Let them know you are available to write for them. Send it to a specific editor, if possible. Send via email and paper (unless you know the email was well-received. ) Check in every 6-12 months, letting them know you are still available. Watch their site and tweets like a hawk. Try out for any calls for writers that are anywhere near what you write. If they will have their editors at any conferences, make a friendly connection. If you have any writer friends who already work for them, let the friend know you want to write for that company. The friend may have information that can help you or know about needs that aren't public.

"2. Use Guru.com and/or Elance. Start with broad topics, taking anything you can get, but only for a reasonable wage. Your goal is to get a good reputation, not to make money, but you don't want to work for people who don't value your time. The people who pay decently often give good, heartfelt reviews for writers who meet and exceed their expectations. Once you've accumulated some good reviews, you can start narrowing your focus. If all goes well, you will have a few clients who repeatedly invite you to bid. They want you to write for them. Using these sites is a good idea, because they handle the money and any disputes. Eventually, you may not need to search for jobs, because you'll have several clients who look for you."

"I would add only one other thing to Stephenie's answer," Linda said ". . . on how to get work-for-hire jobs. Stay well connected to other authors. I found out about the work-for-hire opportunity that landed me a four book contract through an author friend who had written for this company in the past. They sent out an email to all their previous authors saying they were looking for six authors to write a girls book series. My friend wrote for adults and wasn't interested in trying out for this, so she passed it along to me, knowing it was exactly what I'd love to write. I would never have known about it if she hadn't been kind enough to share her email from the publishing house with me. It pays to maintain friendships in the writing world! "

Mary Scarbrough agreed. "I have had wonderful referrals from other writing friends who do wfh (Thanks, Amy Houts and Cindy Kane in particular!) and have been able to refer writers to editors as well. I'm not sure exactly how much of my wfh is attributable one way or another to referrals, but it's been significant. One regular gig--a referral from Amy, in fact--is writing Sunday school curriculum. It has given me monthly income for the last 4 1/2 years."

Thank you, Linda, Mary and Stephenie for sharing!

Note: their names link to their websites/blogs, so you can learn more about them if you like.

More quotes from other authors on work-for-hire will be on my next post.

I just read a fantastic kids book! You know the ones--unforgettable, award winning, really really good. Will I ever write like that? Can I ever write like that? My first reaction is: NOT LIKELY! The book was so real, so powerful that I just want to give up. Yet, I can't stop writing--the ideas and characters in my mind won't let me. "Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what," Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, said. If she feels that way, then it is okay for me to as well.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint," author Marilyn Singer said. "Don't throw in the towel, use it." She's seen what she calls the TOWEL principal in her successful career. "TOWEL stands for talent, optimism, widespread interests, endurance, and luck." I can't change talent and luck, though I can definitely work on craft so that when a chance comes my work is the best I can make it. But I can work on the other three.

Optimism
This is where it is helpful to have a good support group. It might be your family, your critique group, or as Jenn Bailey, Social Media Expert, calls them: your Jedi Council, aka writing partners. I get encouragement from all three. Let them know when you're down and want to quit. Read an inspirational book where someone succeeded because they worked hard and endured. Remember you aren't alone; many authors had many many struggles and rejections on the road to publication.
• Margaret Mitchell rewrote the first chapter of Gone With the Wind 70 times.
• Madeline L'Engle had a ten year dry spell before she sold A Wrinkle in Time.
• Dr. Seuss received the following rejection: "...too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling."

Widespread Interests
Shake yourself up. Don't just read in your genre. Maybe you should try writing a picture book or a magazine piece for a change. Learn something new. Maybe you need to learn more about a hobby or career that someday you'll give to one of your characters. C.S. Lewis said, "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." What other dreams do you have? Can you follow up on them?

At a conference author Lorie Ann Grover used the analogy of filling a soup pot. Before you can scoop out any stew, you have to put in some ingredients and let them simmer. Live some life and you'll have more to write about or more breadth to add to your writing. "Writing tends to spring from what you know, what you think, what you imagine, and you can build on those by reading and being actively involved in life and remaining curious about things you see, hear, read, etc." - Victoria Sherrow, author

Endurance
Elizabeth George in Write Away: One Novelist's Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life said, "You will be published if you posses three qualities: talent, passion and discipline. You will probably be published if you possess two of the three qualities in either combination--either talent and discipline or, passion and discipline. You will likely be published if you possess neither talent nor passion but still have discipline. But, if all you possess is talent or passion, if all you possess is talent and passion, you will not be published."

Discipline goes hand in hand with endurance. Keep on keeping on. Two things that keep me going are my critique group and my writing partners. If they're going to endure, so am I. And one last quote from Harper Lee: "To be a serious writer requires discipline that is iron fisted. It's sitting down and doing it whether you think you have it in you or not. Every day."

So I shouldn't give up. And neither should you.

"I wish I'd thought to use a pen name," children's author Jennifer J. Stewart says after discovering another children's author with the same name. "I've been confused with her (wrong books ordered for events)." Using her middle initial J, as she does now, might have helped avoid confusion. "But what's worse," Jennifer says, "is the 'Jennifer Stewart' without the J who is an 'actress.' Yeah, she acts without any clothes on! You get more than an eyeful if you go to her website instead of mine." Most creators of children's books don't have Jennifer's identity problem, but for writers not yet published, searching the internet for their real name or potential pseudonym could save some later grief.

Pen names are also developed because they are easier or more memorable than a writer's real name. Pam Bachorz thought about writing as Pam Bayshores. "My last name isn't exactly pretty and could be hard for kids to remember when talking about my book and looking for it on the shelf." Spelling her name how it is pronounced would simplify the issue, but in the end she went with the correct spelling.

Other women authors use their maiden name as a pen name. Alexis O'Neill says she had already established a reputation in her field before she was married. "I decided to use a pen name, my pre-marriage name, because I had always liked it and because Quimby is a much less common surname than Johnson," says Katherine M. Quimby. And, "It is who I was when I first thought about writing and storytelling..." Of her pen name, Carol Nevius (rhymes with devious) says, "It honors my parents, and there is no other pb author using it."

Another reason for employing a pseudonym is to separate it from a writer's every day life--personal privacy or job related--or from their writings in other genres. "I wanted some variation of my name so friends and family would know what I'd written, but not a name that would appear in a phone book or a lookup search engine," says Michele Ivy Davis. Using yet another name for articles for law enforcement/safety force magazines keeps Mickey's adult articles separate from her children's writing. Similarly, Lynda S. Burch says, "I only use a pen name for my books written in another genre. I write romantic suspense and have had published over 20 children's books. I did not want a person picking up a book of mine and thinking they were getting a kid's book instead of an adult." Cheryl Zach agrees. "I wanted to distinguish the adult books from my teen and children's books, both for readers and book sellers." Verna Safran says, "My legal name is the name of my ex-husband, who was a reporter for the New York Times. Since I am no longer associated with him, I wanted a name of my own."

Pen names are sometimes created by two authors collaborating or at editor request. The latter was the case for David Harrison. "I used a pen name on a dozen or more books, mostly in the 70s. At the time I was writing a lot of assignment work for Western Publishing. Because of the number of assignments, an editor asked if I would consider taking a second name." Ruth Vander Zee wrote some board books with friends and they used a pen name to make it easier for the publishing company. Robin Koontz says, "I also use them for work-for-hire (curriculum texts mostly) when the publisher doesn't want to seem to have a bunch of books by the same author." Stephanie Jacob Gordon and Judith Ross Enderle ended up with the pen name Jeffie Ross Gordon, because they wrote for a series of historical YAs that had set covers with little room for the author's name. "Two names wouldn't fit, so rather than leave one of our names off the cover, we combined our names."

If a writer decides to use a pseudonym, how do they pick one? Some choose family or friend's names that have special meaning. For an article for adults, Susan Kneib Schank chose "a combo of my mother's nickname and my 'other mother's' name--representing two very strong women in my life." Lori Cardwell-Casey needed multiple pen names for a magazine. "For one, I used the middle names of my two children. For another, I used my first two initials as my first name and my favorite book of the Bible as my last name." Lisa Rojany Buccieri took an interesting route; "I chose my middle name and Latinized it and the Hebrew name of my rebound boyfriend at the time." "I chose Kennon (my wife's maiden name) and Graham (for the college Professor who inspired me to become a writer)" says David Harrison.

Others select a name that hides gender or links to the book's audience. J.M.G. Anderton decided to use initials for the former purpose. "Also, I think middle readers and YAs like the initials." "I use my Armenian family name," Marianne Markarian says. "I decided to use a pen name in order to connect more directly with my target market. My children's book is an Armenian cultural story."

Another possibility is to assume an allonym, which is the name of another person--usually someone historical. Robin Koontz uses the name of her great aunt. "Nettie Mullins was also a writer. I have a rejection letter to her from 1890. She is one of my muses."

Newcomers to the field might wonder how editors know whether a writer wants to use a pen name or not. It's really quite simple: the writer's real name is at the top of the manuscript and following the title is the "byline" to indicate the "to be published" name.

Writers should think about the pros and cons of having a double or triple identity--anonymity, privacy, and freedom versus confusion or not receiving kudos for what you wrote.

"I can be incognito when I want to. I'm 'famous' locally, so introducing myself as Lee Jaffurs instead of Lee Wardlaw will give me a certain amount of anonymity when I want or need it." "It can produce an interesting psychological effect," says Lee Braff. "When I was starting to write, it fell very protective and freeing; I could say anything I wanted to, because who would know? I was protected by my pseudonym! I hadn't expected to feel that way." "As to using a pen name, I love it. It frees me to be me. It uncovers a very silly side of myself that was hidden away in my sketchbooks," says HildaRose. "I have less evaluation of myself as my pen name. It is like having another person in myself who I can joke with as I draw." On the other hand, Lori Cardwell-Casey wishes she hadn't agreed to use pen names in a parenting magazine. "Every time something was published, it felt as if it was lying to the readership, somehow. I also felt odd about sending these clips when I sent queries."

Elizabeth C. Bunce says, "It confuses people initially." But to lessen confusion she has both her real name and her pen name printed on her business cards. When Alexis O'Neil books a hotel room or flight, her hosts can't find her since she's booked under her married name. "People who know me first and foremost as my husband's wife or my daughter's mother don't necessarily connect me with my pen name," Katherine M. Quimby says. Hope Slaughter concurs. "Friends and acquaintances who don't know this don't recognize work by me, or articles written about me, but that's not a big thing." When Stephanie Jacob Gordon and Judith Ross Enderle started writing picture books under their joint pen name, people at appearances sometimes wondered where the "guy" Jeff was. Cheryl Zach says, "You become used to answering to two names at conference and book signings!"

Writers might want to take a field trip to the library or bookstore to see where books would be filed under a potential pseudonym. Will it be alphabetically next to some best selling author? Will its neighbors be complimentary or detrimental? It's a minor factor, but interesting to consider.

And what is it like signing this name? Will the author be wishing he'd chosen a shorter one or does he struggle against writing his real name? Practice can help in both cases, making the signature automatic in the appropriate setting.

How does a pen name affect a writer legally? Books can be copyrighted under the creator's pseudonym, legal name or both. Copyright laws provide protection either way (see length differences on a copyright site). Many legal documents do ask for other names a signer goes by and it would be appropriate to list any "bynames" at that time. Another option is to go to your city, county or state and follow their instructions to create a DBA - doing business as - name. Your DBA pen name becomes a legal name.

It's mostly a personal decision whether to use a pseudonym or not. But writers or illustrators, who have considered the angles, will be happier than those who just wish they'd done it differently.

Here's a recent blog with the opinion of another author on pen names: Why Pen Names Suck & Can Make Us Crazy.

I do use a pen name. Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this topic.