All posts in the ‘ Negotiation Strategy ’ Category

Sometimes you don’t need a long post about how to look deep inside yourself and find your inner negotiation ninja.

Sometimes you just need to know what to do to get what you want.

Here are my top three tips to make your negotiations better.… Read More

One of the many side benefits of writing this blog is that I get to hear about a lot of really cool projects that people are tackling.  A book idea they’re hashing out with a collaborator; an anthology contribution; a brand new webcomic.

But all too often when I hear about one of these projects, the creator will tell me, “But I can’t use any … Read More

A few weeks ago I asked Twitter followers to send me questions they’d want to see addressed on the blog, and one of them struck my fancy in particular:

What do you do when you have one thing to offer, like a manuscript, and there are two different parties who want to negotiate with you for it?

How do you make sure you get the … Read More

That’s right, don’t ask for it.

But that goes against this blog’s near evangelical belief in the value of questions, you say!

You can’t get something if you don’t ask for it, you say!

Katie, you’ve finally gone off the deep end, you snicker.

But I mean it. If something is really important to you, don’t ask for it.

Demand it.… Read More

You should raise your rates.

Hourly, flat, all inclusive, cost-plus; you should raise them.

You should especially raise them if, after reading those first two sentences, you have a long list of reasons why you shouldn’t raise them.

Here’s why:… Read More

You’re negotiating.

You’ve prepared, thought about your interests, studied up on the other side, and asked open ended questions to elicit helpful information.

And it is sucking. Hard.

The other side is being jerkish, and every time you try to steer the conversation to problem solving, they drive right back to arguing over details.

You are now trapped in a back and forth about shaving … Read More

Not all negotiation work happens in the midst of fleshing out the details of a job, with the sweat of contract terms glistening on your brow and the fire of fee arrangements in your belly.

Some of the most helpful negotiation work you can do is when you aren’t negotiating.  And one of the best opportunities you have is when you bill your clients.  You … Read More

A good portion about negotiation is crafting a deal that the other side will want to agree to.  It is about building something that works very well for you and well enough for the other side to say “yes.”  But we’ve never talked about how to build a good deal.

Until now.… Read More