Twenty-eight years ago, when I started freelancing, nobody warned me the hardest part wouldn’t be the design work — it would be the client emails.

The “hey, do you have any work for me?” email. The “please just sign the contract already” email. The “you want to cancel?” email you send with shaky hands and too much coffee. I figured all of it out the hard way, usually after six drafts, five deletions, and a final send that was about 40% professional and 60% panic.

Every freelancer runs into these moments sooner or later — the awkward, the tricky, the just-plain-uncomfortable emails. So I made the thing I wish I’d had back then: 10 email scripts every freelancer needs for sticky client situations, covering the client conversations nobody warns you about.

Just swap out anything in [brackets] with your own details, adjust the tone to sound like you, and hit send. No more staring at a blank screen at 11pm trying to figure out how to fire a client nicely — it’s that easy.

If you work in design, web, writing, PR, or anything client-facing, these are built for you.