New to Freelancing? 

A Resources Guide

Welcome!

This is a guide to support media workers who are freelancing for the first time. This tool is maintained by the Freelance Solidarity Project, the Digital Media Division of the National Writers Union.

Why does this guide exist?

Many workers go freelance to escape the brutal working hours, looming threats of layoffs, and often-abusive power structures that characterize many full-time jobs. Workers with disabilities and/or who are parents, people of color, queer people, and women are especially poorly served by contemporary workplaces, and turn to freelancing to work when they might not otherwise be able.

Some media workers might find themselves forced into freelancing after layoffs. Others are trying to break into the industry while struggling to find jobs that provide healthcare and a living wage. 

In some cases, workers find greater stability and autonomy as freelancers than they would have in staff jobs; in many cases, they don’t. But all workers benefit when knowledge and resources are freely shared. Whatever your situation, if you’re seeking support in navigating freelance work, this guide is for you.

How to use this guide 

This guide is not exhaustive and will evolve over time. Members of the Freelance Solidarity Project (FSP-NWU or just FSP) are currently developing resources to fight back against exploitative contract terms (like those that strip creators of their copyright while offloading companies’ legal liability onto freelancers) and building tools to help contingent workers navigate the social safety net (such as it is).

➔ FSP-NWU is committed to making this resource guide widely accessible. If you have any accessibility or formatting requests, please reach out at freelance.solidarity.project@gmail.com.

➔ Have an idea for a new resource you would like FSP-NWU to create and/or an existing resource you think should be incorporated? Please submit suggestions here! 

What is the Freelance Solidarity Project?

We are a union of freelance media workers—including writers, editors, illustrators, photographers, videographers, designers, audio workers, and more—who organize to end the exploitation of freelance labor and build a world where all workers have what they need to thrive. 

The Freelance Solidarity Project is fighting back against the labor conditions that necessitate a guide like this. The media industry will continue to exploit its workers as long as we are isolated and forced to compete with one another for diminishing resources. 

Learn more about FSP-NWU via this one-sheet. Reach out to freelance.solidarity.project@gmail.com to get involved, ask questions, or set up an informational 1:1 conversation with a member-organizer. Also see our LinkTree for a quick rundown of current core projects.

We’re on Twitter @FSP_NWU, Mastodon @FSP_NWU@union.place, and Instagram @fsp_nwu. You can also sign up to receive updates on our work, campaigns, and invitations to events including quarterly General Info Sessions.

When freelancers organize together, we are harder to exploit.

Resources

This guide was last updated in January 2024.

Freelance Solidarity Project & National Writers Union resources

➔ FSP’s baseline principles for how freelance media workers deserve to be treated: This outline of transparent and equitable working conditions is a floor, not a ceiling.  

➔ Find out what fellow freelancers are getting paid — and share your rates: Sharing rates empowers fellow workers to demand what they deserve, and sheds light on the industry as a whole. All kinds of media workers—photographers, writers, editors, audio producers, illustrators, and more—are encouraged to submit to the database.

➔ Who Pays Writers: A database of freelance writing rates, now under FSP stewardship. Submissions are anonymous. Follow WPW on Twitter.

➔  Late Payment? No Payment? Experiencing Discrimination? You Might Have a Grievance: Grievances are when an employer violates a worker's basic rights. The NWU has recouped hundreds of thousands of dollars in money owed to freelancers by publications through the union's grievance process.

➔ Contract Advice Form: Reach out to request a contract review or seek support on specific questions. If you fill out this form, a representative of NWU’s Grievance and Contract Division will contact you within approximately two business days. Follow up at advice@nwu.org. 

➔ FSP public events calendar: Join FSP members for labor film IRL and virtual screenings, “know your rights” events, panel discussions, happy hours, and more!

➔ Ready to fight together for a better media industry? Join FSP-NWU.

Other organizations

These organizations offer a variety of resources including contract templates, discounts, financial tools, trainings, grants, mentorship opportunities, and freelancing 101 tools.

➔ The Freelancers Union (free)

➔ Freelance Investigative Reporters and Editors (free, requires application)

➔ Freelance Journalists Union · Industrial Workers of the World (another labor union, sliding-scale member dues)

➔ Investigative Reporters and Editors (tiered membership fees)

➔ Study Hall (tiered membership fees)

➔ WGA's Resources & References for Writers (free)

➔ AIR (Association of Independents in Radio) (tiered membership fees) 

➔ SoundPath, AIR’s online training platform for audio makers of all experience levels

➔ Transom's Tools + Starting Out: a column and newsletter for early-career producers (free)

➔ Diversify Photo (free, requires application)

➔ Women Photograph (accepts applications for new members on a rolling basis, to be reviewed once a year)

➔ Economic Hardship Reporting Project (awards grants to “support independent journalists so they can create gripping stories, often countering the typical narratives”)

➔ International Women’s Media Foundation (funding, grants, reporting trips, and safety training for female and nonbinary journalists) 

➔ Rory Peck Trust (financial assistance, psychological support, and safety training for freelance journalists)

➔ Rachel Meade Smith's "Words of Mouth" newsletter (free, but with suggested weekly donation of $1)

➔ Study Hall's "Digest" & "Opportunities" newsletters (paywalled, SH members only)

➔ Successful Pitches (free)

➔ The Open Notebook (free)

➔ The OpEd Project includes submission guidelines with information about major news outlets that accept opinion pieces and “Ask A Journalist” office hours (free)

➔ "The Everything List for Audio Opportunities" by Talia Augustidis, via Transom (free)

Content & copy gigs

Because freelance rates are so low and assignments so unpredictable, to make ends meet many freelance writers and editors take on contract work for companies, nonprofit organizations, or individual clients. 

These resources aggregate freelance copywriting and -editing, content writing, and marketing gigs. But contracts are often distributed through personal networks, rewarding preexisting privilege and reinforcing structural inequalities. FSP organizes to increase transparency around these issues.

➔ Best Writing newsletter (free weekly, paid daily)

➔ Kaitlyn Arford's "Freelance Opportunities" newsletter (free with suggested membership fees)

➔ The Writer's Job newsletter (free)

➔ American Copy Editors Society Job Board (free)

➔ Superpath (free)

➔ Peak Freelance (free and paid membership options)

Finances, logistics & tracking

➔ Sample freelancing organizational spreadsheet 
(via FSP member Rose Eveleth) 

➔ Income / expenses / estimated tax worksheet
(via FSP member Olivia Schwob)

➔ Brass Taxes Freelance Expense Tracker

Health care

Freelancers generally have to secure their own health insurance coverage, which means navigating an often senseless insurance system that can confuse even the most experienced among us. Check out these practical resources, compiled by FSP-NWU members to help demystify health insurance for media workers impacted by layoffs — as well as old hands who still struggle to keep the acronyms straight. 

But remember: as freelance media workers, we understand better than most that tying health care to employment just isn't right. FSP-NWU is a member of the Labor Campaign for Single Payer, and our members are organizing to win health care justice, an inclusive safety net, and Medicare For All.

Know your rights

Freelance Isn’t Free

This law guarantees freelancers’ right to a written contract and payment within 30 days, has been signed into law in NYC, New York State, Los Angeles, Columbus, Seattle, and Illinois (with small differences between jurisdictions) following campaigns led by FSP-NWU, the Freelancers Union, and other coalition partners. Campaigns are active in California, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

Taking parental leave as a freelancer

It's tough but not impossible! See this helpful NYT article and  Freelancers Union blog post to learn more.

Misclassification

Learn more about misclassification of employees as independent contractors at the Department of Labor, and keep an eye out for these common myths about misclassification.

Legal Resources

➔ Freelance Investigative Reporters and Editors (FIRE) (includes legal resources and tip sheets)

➔ Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Legal Hotline 

➔ Script registration service resources (compiled by FSP member John Williams Sr.)

Recommended reading

These are recent selections from FSP’s Solidarity + Political Education reading group. 

➔ Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maree brown

➔ To 'Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women’s Lives and Labors after the Civil War by Tera W. Hunter

➔ No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age by Jane McAlevey

➔ Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor by Kim Kelly

Do you have something to add to this guide? Please submit suggestions here!