The Importance of Reading Writing Contracts

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My eagerness to earn more extra income these days can be blinding. Many times, it's led me to say "yes" to projects when I was already stretched thin. I've also fought the temptation to "try out" a project when I knew deep down I wasn't suitable for it. 

But lately, that terrible habit of mine has changed, and I'm thankful to God for it.

I only came to realize that part of me has changed when I talked to an editor about a possible writing job. It was well-paying and not outside of the kind of topics I'm interested in writing about.

Then I googled the company. And it turns out, it didn't have the greatest reputation but was not a company that fell in the "scam" category. Its issue was that it inflated growth numbers, which isn't good, but in my mind, I figured, "Well, I'm not looking to do award-winning journalism, so I can't imagine I'll be that impacted by all of this mess."

Of course, that should have been my first red flag.

Then I thought, well I see how it goes, so I told the editor I wanted to move forward and she sent me a few agreements. The first was a standard scope of work agreement. 

Then I got another agreement that talked about non-disclosure policies and who has rights to my work, etc. All standard, until I read closer.

 

That's when I noticed they wanted me to agree that if I wrote an article for them, I was supposed to agree to not write about that particular topic for another website again without their permission. 

WHAT? 

Never in my time of writing have I seen this type of expectation. Sure, I've seen non-disclosures and even non-compete agreements but never something that wouldn't even let me write about a topic again.

I told the editor I didn't want to move forward. She understood although she told me she hadn't ever seen that pursued by the company. Still, I didn't want to take that risk and I'm glad I declined the opportunity.

So, my lesson from this is: know what you are signing. Don't sign something without understanding what you are agreeing to, and make sure to always read the fine print.

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