More Than Just a Handshake

Managing and negotiating contracts can be one of the most challenging bits of freelance work, so this week Wudan sits down with KJ Yossman, a long-form writer who was previously a lawyer with expertise in contacts. KJ talks us through red flags to watch for when signing a contract, including rights and indemnity clauses; how to make sure you get paid for your work in a timely manner; whether or not you even need an official paper contract; how to go about negotiating if you do need to change something; and much more.

May we recommend some resources?
1. Now that season one is over, we've compiled every episode's resources into a workbook, which you can buy here.
2. Our best contract negotiation training tips are available now @ The Writers’ Co-op Academy! In our new course, Navigating and Negotiation Media Contracts, you'll get access to modules that explain the different elements of contracts, plus boilerplate legalese you can use to negotiate and access to real contracts. The whole course has been evaluated by a lawyer. Enroll here!


You're invited to support the podcast by becoming an official Writers' Co-op member on Patreon. All members $3 and up get access to event discounts, a Q&A form, and more. All-Access members receive special worksheets and other downloads along with each episode, plus an exclusive episode at the end of each season, and access to our Slack channel. And if you're a VIP or Pod Squad member, you also get monthly coaching sessions along with the aforementioned resources. If you're not a member, you can buy each episode's accompanying resources a la carte on our website. Episode transcriptions are also available there.

Recommended add on: A few weeks after this episode went live, we also held a live webinar with KJ and Jeremy Eggleton (another media lawyer) to talk about contracts, media power dynamics, red flags, and how to protect yourself legally during a recession. You can listen to that event recording here.