16 ways to say no as a freelance writer (and why you would need to)
This article about ways to say no is by Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoît Nadeau, authors of Going Solo: Everything You Need to Start Your Business and Succeed as Your Own Boss.
Why would any freelancer ever want to say “no”?
All successful self-employed creators know: sometimes you have push back. It’s a big ask for beginners trying to build a client list. But if the price is wrong, conditions are less than ideal, or timing is off, saying “no” to an assignment or contract can make a sale—on your terms.
As self-employed writers who have been negotiating contracts for over three decades, we have come up with 16 ways to say no without closing the door.
16 ways to say no
- I don’t have time
- This is not my specialty/I don’t do this type of work
- I don’t understand the order
- The order is not realistic
- The project is not interesting enough/I’m not interested
- The deadline is too short
- The deadline is too long
- The job doesn’t pay enough
- The job involves more work than I’m being paid for
- The terms are not good
- There were problems with the last order
- My partner won’t let me work at that price
- The expenses are too high for me
- I know of three other buyers/sellers who would be interested
- I can’t start working on it until next month
- And, finally, the bomb: I don’t like the way you are treating me
You’ll notice each “no” on the list invites a counteroffer. You are not closing the door, just asking for a higher fee or better conditions.
But before you decide which No to use, there are a few things to consider.
Be ready to explain why you’re saying no
No matter how you say no, you must be able to back it up. The more specific you are, the better. For example, we explain to some clients that we have minimum rates and won’t take on any work for less.
Make sure it’s the right no
If the previous job for a client didn’t go well or a customer isn’t paying enough, it won’t help to say their order is too small, or you don’t have time. You might end up with a bigger order that you have to deliver to an unreliable customer. It’s better to be honest from the outset.
Expand if there are several nos
There could be more than one problem with an offer from a client. If that’s the case, make sure you spell them all out from the outset. If you keep coming up with new reasons to say No as negotiations go along, you will lose credibility.
Make sure the conditions are right for you
Sometimes the conditions for saying no are just not there. If you are financially tight or don’t have much work, you might not be able to turn down a specific project. If you are just starting out in your field, you may not have the reputation you need to do the kind of work you want. So be realistic in your negotiations. Just don’t shy away from having frank discussions with clients and pushing back. This will let you figure out how much the client is willing to buy, how much they are willing to pay, what their other options are and how quickly they need your project or service—all factors that could push up your price.
Stick to your guns
Jean-Benoît once refused a writing project with a friend because the conditions were all wrong: the idea wasn’t very good, and the deadline was impossible. The friend responded by pushing Jean-Benoît even harder, saying “I’ll be stuck if you don’t do it,” and “you’re the only person who can do it.” Jean-Benoît relented. He regretted it. Everything went wrong and the project ended up taking too much of his valuable time. Jean-Benoît should have heeded his instinct and stuck to his hard no.
Sometimes the answer is “yes”
When you start out, you will probably end up saying yes to terms that you know are not ideal. That’s normal. There’s a price to pay for building your reputation. But you shouldn’t say “yes” without at trying to turn things to your advantage first. Go back through the list of “nos” and see if there’s one that fits the circumstances. And don’t forget, there are better offers out there, things will get easier, and knowing your nos will make you a better negotiator.
Off the Wire: February 2025
We’re revitalizing our series, Off the Wire. Here, we gather stories about the media business, journalism, writing, communications, and freelancing—with a Canadian focus. Who needs a water cooler?
Freelancing stories from around the web
- Canadian news publishers sue OpenAI over alleged copyright infringement [AP]
- Freelance Trends 2025 [Freelancer Club]
- These Writing Trends Are Reshaping Freelance Success [Freelance Writing Canada]
- The Rise of Gig Economy Work in Canada | Freelance & Contract Jobs [Kassen Recruitment]
- Freelancing Trends, Market Size & Statistics for 2025 [ClientManager]
- The Future of Freelancing: Trends to Watch in 2025 [Freelance.ca]
Recently published on Story Board
- 4 Pitch Templates for Freelance Writers by Robyn Roste: Learn what makes a good pitch, how to pitch, and grab four pitch templates to get started
- Forget time, try these 3 tips for working on energy management by Suzanne Bowness: With New Year’s Resolutions solidly in the rear-view mirror, consider adding “energy management” to your goals list instead
Spot a story you think we should include in next week’s Off the Wire? Email the link to robyn@robynroste.com.
Webinar: Finding And Getting Grants
We have three panelists who’ve been down the grants path more than a few times, and are ready to share their deep and extensive expertise.
Our Presenters
- Michelle Muir—Proposal Specialist
- Virginia (Ginny) McGowan, PhD—Writer/Researcher/Entrepreneur
- Kelly Henderson—Grant Writer
We do our best to answer as many questions as possible.
Take advantage of decades of experience to learn about this potentially important income stream for you, and for your clients.
CFG Experts Panel – Finding And Getting Grants
- Online: Tuesday, March 4, 2025
- 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time
- $10 for CFG members and affiliate organizations; $25 for members of the general public
You can register for this webinar right here.
Learn more about the cost and benefits of membership in the CFG on this webpage.
The link to the Zoom webinar will be sent to you via email about half an hour before the start time.
Please check your spam or junk folders if you can’t find the email, and contact organizer@canadianfreelanceguild.ca if you haven’t received the link 10 minutes before the scheduled start time. This webinar will be recorded and posted to the CFG Video-On-Demand site. Once posted, all paid registrants will receive a link and instructions on how to view.
4 Pitch Templates for Freelance Writers
by Robyn Roste
Although pitching isn’t the only way freelancers find paid work, it’s an important skill to master.
As much as I’ve tried to avoid it over the years, pitching in some way, shape or form is a large component of my freelance business and something I need to continually practice and improve at.
Industry lingo
Pitches, also called queries, are used most-often in journalism and refer to specific story ideas for an individual publication. The freelancer crafts a pitch, which includes a headline, a brief outline and the scope or source ideas if necessary. If the freelancer is unknown to the editor, the pitch also includes samples related to the beat they’re pitching or the writer’s experience.
However, for business writing, copywriting, content marketing and other types of freelance writing, letters of inquiry are more common. This is because writers in these situations are pitching themselves and what they can do for the company, organization or trade magazine on a freelance basis. Rather than sending one-off story ideas, these freelancers look to build relationships with editors and marketing managers as they tend to assign work rather than accept story pitches.
Regardless of whether it’s a journalism story or a copywriting gig, pitching your story or yourself is both an art and a science mixed with a bit of good timing.
What makes a good pitch?
Webinar: It’s Tax Time For Freelancers
What’s changed? What qualifies for expenses? How can you get through this without setting your hair on fire?
Our Presenters
- Sandy Yang is a well-known personal financial writer
- Dr. Nadine Robinson started her career teaching accouning
Come with your questions and we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction.
CFG Experts Panel – It’s Tax Time For Freelancers
- Online: Thursday, February 6, 2025
- 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time
- $10 for CFG members and affiliate organizations; $25 for members of the general public
You can register for this webinar right here.
Learn more about the cost and benefits of membership in the CFG on this webpage.
The link to the Zoom webinar will be sent to you via email about half an hour before the start time.
Please check your spam or junk folders if you can’t find the email, and contact organizer@canadianfreelanceguild.ca if you haven’t received the link 10 minutes before the scheduled start time. This webinar will be recorded and posted to the CFG Video-On-Demand site. Once posted, all paid registrants will receive a link and instructions on how to view.
Webinar: Author Michelle Waitzman and Be as Happy as Your Dog
If you’ve ever envied your dog’s seemingly ideal life, you’re in luck. In her new book, Be as Happy as Your Dog: 16 Dog-Tested Ways to Be Happier Using Pawsitive Psychology, author Michelle Waitzman shows how we can capture dogs’ joyfulness and their ability to make the most of every day.
Waitzman brings together the latest research on dog behaviour and the leading psychological experts in the growing field of positive psychology to explain how we can ramp up our happiness and make it last by adopting a more dog-like attitude.
All About Canadian Books host Crystal Fletcher talks to Michelle about what drove her to write her book, and how she took it from concept to reality.
Our Presenters
- Crystal Fletcher, president of All About Canadian Books (AACB)
- Michelle Waitzman, author of Be as Happy as Your Dog
CFG Books and AACB Present: Author Michelle Waitzman and ‘Be as Happy as Your Dog’
- Online: Thursday, January 30, 2025
- 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Time
- Free for CFG members; $5 for members of the general public
You can register for this webinar right here.
Learn more about the cost and benefits of membership in the CFG on this webpage.
The link to the Zoom webinar will be sent to you via email about half an hour before the start time.
Please check your spam or junk folders if you can’t find the email, and contact organizer@canadianfreelanceguild.ca if you haven’t received the link 10 minutes before the scheduled start time. This webinar will be recorded and posted to the CFG Video-On-Demand site. Once posted, all paid registrants will receive a link and instructions on how to view.
Forget time, try these 3 tips for working on energy management
This article about energy management for freelancers is written by Suzanne Bowness, a longtime freelance writer/editor whose book The Feisty Freelancer: A Friendly Guide to Visioning, Planning, and Growing Your Writing Business was published in January 2025 by Dundurn Press. Find out more about the book at www.feistyfreelancer.com
A couple of weeks into the new year’s resolution season and you’ve no doubt read more than a few articles about goal setting, habit forming and time management. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a resolution fan. That’s why I wanted to add a new prescription to the mix: energy management.
How to navigate energy management as a freelancer
For me, managing my energy means paying attention to when my energy levels are strongest, and planning my most focused work for those windows. In doing so, I harness the quality of my time as well as the quantity. After all, if you could get twice as much work done at your peak energy level as you do in your low energy, isn’t that like making time?
Here are a couple of ways to find your flow and go with it:
Use your high energy windows for focused work
Maybe you’re already familiar with the hours when you tend to be most productive. Maybe you’ve been fighting them. As a certified night person, I know that early morning is not my best time despite how virtuous some people make it sound. Late morning is when I hit my stride, and same with mid afternoon. So that’s when I schedule my deep work, from writing an article to editing a report to planning client outreach.
In those important hours between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. (hello from my desk at 3:45 p.m. writing this post!), I’m the strongest version of myself, more impervious to email or social media distraction. So I protect these windows. I even augment them by shutting down distractions entirely, often keeping just writing program open, my notifications on silent.
If you want to confirm what time windows work for you, spend a few days tracking what hours bring the most energy. After you’ve identified your focus time, think about how you can start planning your work around them.
A caveat here: while I’m a night person, I also know I have to live in the world alongside my clients, and most of them are at their desks from 9 to 5. So while I might jive with a workday from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., I balance what’s realistic for doing a great business. At the same time, I never plan meetings for 9 a.m. unless a client specifically requests it (grrr).
Use your downtime too
Just as you can treat your high energy windows as sacred, you can also make the most of your low energy. Fill them with those boring but necessary tasks that keep your work and life running. To prepare myself for these fallow periods, I keep a list of low-energy tasks that need doing so that I can take them up in these periods. As a freelancer, some regular ones include invoicing, bookkeeping, and planning client outreach. Others that pop up might include research a new tech tool, background reading for an upcoming story assignment, worrying about AI, or learning the new particulars of a style guide update.
Make the most of your breaks
Ironically, another way to build energy is taking time off. I find this works at the macro level as well as in the daily context. While vacations take me away from my work, they also fill me up with fresh energy in the long term. If I’m ever feeling grumpy about overwork, I try to plan a long weekend to give myself the space I need to refill my energy.
Even though I’m self-employed and could work non-stop, I try to build in regular breaks and fill them with something other than work, whether it’s 20 minutes of TV or a walk outside. That bit of space and distraction really helps refresh my mind before returning to my desk, and put it into that higher energy zone I need to do more work.
Speaking of which, it’s time….
How freelancers can respond to crisis in a proactive way
by Robyn Roste
Freelancing at the best of times is a careful balance of optimism, drive and risk.
So when a crisis, like a global pandemic and looming economic recession, hits, this balance is upended, thrusting freelancers into limbo where everything is uncertain, leaving us desperate for stability.
At the outset of any traumatic event, common emotions are shock, denial, anger, depression, fear, anxiety and feelings of hopelessness.
And it makes sense. We’re facing a threat, which is causing great stress to every aspect of our lives.
In any crisis situation we have to make choices, which will impact our future freelance business—although we may not be sure how.
Many of us have seen contracts cancelled, clients bail and projects put on indefinite hold. So how should we respond?
Do we close up shop and wait for the storm to pass? Do we slash rates and take anything that comes up, grateful for the work we do have? Or do we hold firm to our pricing and risk bringing nothing in?
Here are three suggestions for how freelancers can respond to crisis in a proactive way.
Read the rest of this post »
Webinar: Digital Marketing for Freelancers
Marketing your services has undergone a sea change since the turn of the century: it’s digital, it’s everywhere, and it’s changing almost daily.
New platforms, new tools, new ways of doing things.
Do any of the traditional rules apply?
Let’s ask our very own experts. We’re putting this panel together as this is being written.
Turn this into a Master Class with your questions about this essential activity for freelancers.
CFG Experts Workshop – Digital Marketing for Freelancers
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- Online: Thursday, January 14, 2025
- 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time
- $10 for CFG members and affiliates, $25 for members of the general public
- CFG Events Rewards Valid for This Session
You can register for this webinar right here.
Learn more about the cost and benefits of membership in the CFG on this webpage.
The link to the Zoom webinar will be sent to you via email about half an hour before the start time.
Please check your spam or junk folders if you can’t find the email, and contact organizer@canadianfreelanceguild.ca if you haven’t received the link 10 minutes before the scheduled start time. This webinar will be recorded and posted to the CFG Video-On-Demand site. Once posted, all paid registrants will receive a link and instructions on how to view.
Webinar: The Business of Travel Media
It’s not all fine dining and glamour. But if you like to write and you yearn to travel, why not turn travel media into your niche?
Our experts will walk you through what it takes to make a success of it, from a personal and a business point of view.
Come with your questions for people who’ve done it and continue to earn revenue and bylines doing what they love.
CFG Experts Workshop – The Business of Travel Media
- Online: Thursday, January 9, 2025
- 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time
- $10 for CFG members and affiliates, $25 for members of the general public
You can register for this webinar right here.
Learn more about the cost and benefits of membership in the CFG on this webpage.
The link to the Zoom webinar will be sent to you via email about half an hour before the start time.
Please check your spam or junk folders if you can’t find the email, and contact organizer@canadianfreelanceguild.ca if you haven’t received the link 10 minutes before the scheduled start time. This webinar will be recorded and posted to the CFG Video-On-Demand site. Once posted, all paid registrants will receive a link and instructions on how to view.
