Where to look

There are a number of places you can look online to find someone who’s capable of writing your release.

• Freelancer platforms like UpWork and Freelancer will give you access to a large audience of freelance writers, and they also provide some level of security for both writer and client if a job goes south. But be wary: they’re full of under-qualified applicants, and some of the most skilled candidates avoid them because of the fees they take out of client payments. (UpWork, for example, now takes 20 percent of what freelancers earn).
• Generic job sites like Indeed, LinkedIn, and even Craigslist can also work well. You’re likely to get fewer applicants from these sites, but the applicants you do attract will often be of higher quality than the ones you’ll find on UpWork. Be sure to include terms like “remote” and “writing” in your job description, as freelancers will search for things like “remote writing” when trying to find jobs.
• Writing-specific sites are another option. You can post jobs on sites like ProBlogger and Freelance Writing or look into platforms like Ebyline. These sites have the smallest audiences, but also the most qualified ones.

Terms and price

Once you’ve found the candidate you’re looking for, the last thing you need to do is work out the terms of the job and settle on a price. There are no industry standards for this, but in general here are some of things you’ll want to be sure are ironed out in advance:

• The deliverables and the due date
• Any specific requirements you have (a word count, for example)
• Who is providing what information for the release’s content (will the writer need to do any research independently?)
• How the final price will be billed
• When and how the writer will be paid

This can be arranged through a legal contract (safer for both parties), but these terms are often just agreed over email. For the sake of both parties, it’s good to be sure there’s a digital paper trail of what everyone has agreed to, so don’t make these arrangements purely over the phone.