Several months ago, I applied for an unpaid work placement with a local Educational Publisher. Ultimately, I missed out on said role. Instead, the Publishing House offered me a role as a freelancer to help update their online learning platform. I have been grateful for this serendipitous opportunity to enhance my editorial and design skills, especially as the Publishing Industry has seen an exponential rise in workers turning freelance in recent years. Literary agent Dotti Irving attributes this trend towards freelancing to the desire for ‘autonomy around time-management,’ an aspect that certainly appeals to me as I appreciate being able to work at my own pace when balancing this role alongside university assignments.

While it has been enriching to learn about freelance-specific processes such as adapting to new software and creating invoices, research by The Bookseller into this line of work reveals that ‘[freelancing] isn’t the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.’ Likewise, the realities of freelancing are disclosed by freelance designer Steve Leard to Philip Jones at the Bookseller, including the lack of a team environment and networks which can often make it a tough field to work in. Joseph Clark at BookMachine emphasises the importance of such connections as ‘effective and exciting [ways] to develop your career.’ The shortcomings of freelancing are reiterated in a report by Creative Access which outlines that ‘1 in 2 freelancers say they “don’t feel supported by employers” they work with.’ Luckily, I promptly receive support from the Publishing House anytime I have queries or need copies of the learning content to more accurately contextualise my work. However, being aware of the helplessness felt by half of all creative freelancers makes me wary of a future in this role. And so, Creative Access’ conclusion that the ‘overall satisfaction is waning among the self-employed’ is unsurprising.

Read more: Does Freelance Publishing Have a Future?

Since in-house workers are leaving Publishing Houses to work freelance to avoid burnout, but are still mistreated in this new role, it is conspicuous that managerial staff within the industry are habitually robbing workers of their passion for Publishing. This pattern is recognised across the Publishing Industry as companies including one of the Big Five (Hachette), the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), and Creative Access urge for fair working conditions for freelancers.

Hachette is a beacon among the industry for providing freelancing hopefuls with the opportunity to enrol on a Freelancer Training Programme which requires no experience (just good old passion!); they also offer freelance editors the opportunity to be added to their freelance database for the chance to work on Hachette’s projects. Hearing about the ALCS advocating for the UK government to understand the issues faced by freelancers and protect their income rekindles my hope in being able to grow as a freelancer without the fear of being paid below my level in the future (as is common among 54% of freelancers). To supplement their initial findings about the treatment of freelancers, Creative Access has released a report on the ways that employers can support freelancers which includes helping them to ‘build their network,’ ‘opening up access to training and employee assistance programmes to freelancers,’ and ‘[making] it clear [employers] will make reasonable adjustments for disabled freelancers,’ which is an issue by 91% of disabled freelancers.

These plans to uplift freelance workers allows this line of work to remain sustainable through maintaining the passion, remuneration, and community that is necessary for long-term work in Publishing. I am glad to declare that my hope for a future in freelance editorial has, therefore, been reignited. It remains, however, that the conditions for workers in-house need to be drastically improved; this will allow both forms of work to feel individually fulfilling, and eliminates workers’ need to escape into freelance work.

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