Most freelance writers pour their heart and soul into their work, and they make every effort to ensure each piece is perfect and completed according to the instructions presented. Of course, many freelance writers will have to deal with their work being rejected at some point. Some clients may ask for revisions before rejecting it, and that provides you with the window to overcome any objections that the client may have. However, sometimes clients don’t provide clear instructions or they don’t know how to state their intentions and desires clearly in written instructions. Other times, the writer just cannot seem to write in a tone or style that is suitable to the client. For whatever reason, you are now faced with spending your time on work that you aren’t getting paid for. So what are your options.

Hold Your Work For Another Client

The fact is that if a client didn’t purchase the piece and pay  you for it, you retain complete ownership of it. You are free to hand it off to another client who may be happy with it as-is or with a few moderate adjustments. This may be especially true if the article is a niche piece, and you typically write for several clients on the same niche topic. You may have to hold onto your article for a few days, weeks or even months, however, until another client requests an article with parameters that are close to matching the piece you have already written.

Self-Publish Your Piece

Another option to consider is self-publishing your piece. There are numerous websites that allow writers to self-publish pieces. You may have to tweak the article a bit so that it conforms with a particular website’s publishing guidelines, but this is a great way to get paid rather quickly for your piece. Keep in mind that some websites will pay you a lump sum fee up-front for your piece, and others will pay you on a per-hit basis.

Post Your Piece for Sale

While some freelance writing websites allow writers to post their own articles or other pieces and self-publish them for profit, other freelance writing websites allow writers to post their pieces for sale. Those in need of written content can search these websites for content that meets their needs, and they may either make an offer to you to purchase the piece for a price or they may pay a lump sump figure that you requested for it.

As soon as you realize that your client is not going to ask you for revisions and instead is going to reject your work, you no doubt are faced with a number of emotions. The biggest negative emotion often relates to stress and even anger over the fact that you spent your valuable time producing a piece that you will not get paid for. However, you can see that you actually can get paid for rejected work in a number of different ways. The next time a piece is rejected, consider exploring some of the different outlets available to you for getting paid for your work.