I just had an incident like this. A firm that manages ghost writing for executives was looking for someone who understands data science and is also a writer. As a practicing data scientist consultant I get the subject matter. And, I have been an industry analyst (lots of writing), published magazine columns and have a website with lots of current work available to read.
It was interesting they expected me to provide a free sample, which they wouldn't publish (really?) before proceeding. I told them "I don't work for free." In the end I offered them a compromise. You read my portfolio of work and decide whether in theory you would like to engage me. We then set rates. At that point I write the first piece for your client. If you like it you pay the agreed upon price and publish the work. If you don't like the work, I will publish it, minus any references to your client or quotes he provided.
So even though they admitted they didn't have any writers who could understand the subject matter they still wouldn't budge from demanding a free sample. Obviously we are not working together.
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[ 6.3 ms ] story [ 31.5 ms ] threadIt was interesting they expected me to provide a free sample, which they wouldn't publish (really?) before proceeding. I told them "I don't work for free." In the end I offered them a compromise. You read my portfolio of work and decide whether in theory you would like to engage me. We then set rates. At that point I write the first piece for your client. If you like it you pay the agreed upon price and publish the work. If you don't like the work, I will publish it, minus any references to your client or quotes he provided.
So even though they admitted they didn't have any writers who could understand the subject matter they still wouldn't budge from demanding a free sample. Obviously we are not working together.