Comments on: When to Turn Down a Writing Gig

By: Incurable Disease of Writing » Blog Archive » Just Write Blog Carnival December 19, 2008 Edition

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 06:03:19 +0000

[...] Mattern presents When to Turn Down a Writing Gig posted at All Freelance [...]

By: Sharon

Sharon — Tue, 01 May 2007 23:24:27 +0000

I also turn down clients who have a history of late payments. The rate might be good, but that doesn’t help me if I have to spend hours chasing for payment.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:32:24 +0000

I agree that there’s no problem with rewriting PLR content. So maybe instead of “copyright” make sure the client has legitimate rights to the work. Honestly, if someone asked me to rewrite PLR content, I’d require proof of purchase first, with a copy of the rights bought. If they can’t provide that, it’s the writer often taking on the legal problems for copying the work if it turns out they didn’t really have the rights to begin with. So I’d suggest the same to anyone taking on rewriting work.

I sell PLR articles too, so I feel your pain. But at the same time, my primary concern is making sure writers know what they’re getting themselves into if they’re putting their career at risk. Any way you cut it making a career of rewriting others’ work isn’t exactly a “safe” job. I don’t really worry about it in the sense of them not buying PLR content anymore though. There will always be writers who will write anything for a buck, so they’ll never run out of rewriters.

By: latoya

latoya — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:13:19 +0000

I’m glad you brought this up, Jenn. Just last week, I was reading the U.S. Copyright Office’s website on fair use. Even if a work is rewritten 100%, you cannot claim copyright unless the owner has not given consent.

I only find a discrepancy with number one on your list in the case of PLR articles, where the client has rights rewrite the work, but not to claim copyright. Rewriting to alter the content from its original form is different from rewriting in an attempt to claim copyright.

There’s definitely a fine line, but I fear that if writers stop offering rewriting services, clients might stop buying PLR articles.