Your portfolio is one of your most valuable resources as a writer. But what happens when you’re not allowed to share some—or even all—of your best work publicly
Maybe your client’s contract dictates that you couldn’t post your writing on social media or a website. Or perhaps you do a lot of ghostwriting and you’re not allowed to take public ownership of the finished product.
It’s a frustrating situation. You know that you’ve done high-quality work that you’re proud of. There’s just no easy way for you to promote or share it.
Been there before? Me too. So, let’s talk about how you can privately share your writing samples to establish credibility and showcase your skills—without compromising confidentiality or your client contracts.
Why (and when) would you need to share work privately?
Writing might feel like an inherently public career field, but that’s not always the case. There are plenty of situations when you can’t (or don’t want to) take credit for the work you’ve done, such as:
- Ghostwritten content: Many clients expect ghostwritten content to remain anonymous. Even if a client is okay with you claiming responsibility for ghostwritten work, adding pieces to your portfolio that appear under somebody else’s name—especially if you don’t include an explanation or disclaimer—can be confusing.
- Client contract restrictions: Some clients can be nitpicky about where and how their work is shared. For example, they might mandate that your work is shared only with vetted prospects and not the general public.
- Pre-release or embargoed content: Your work that isn’t live yet (like press releases, product announcements, or articles supporting upcoming campaigns) obviously can’t be shared publicly, even if it’s the most perfect or relevant sample.
- Sensitive topics or confidential information: Understandably, you need to be cautious about sharing any of your writing that involves confidential company data, internal reports, or sensitive industry information.
- Unpublished or draft work: Those pieces that never made it to publication? You probably don’t want to add them to your public portfolio, but they can still be solid samples to showcase your skills.
- Collaborative projects: Content you worked on as part of a team usually needs more context and an explanation of your role and contributions. Simply adding it to your portfolio can send the misleading message that it was a solo project.
From branded content to industry restrictions, there are many other times when you might not be allowed to claim ownership of the work you’ve done. Unfortunately, it’s not always as simple as, “If you wrote it, you can share it.”
Word to the wise: Check your contract (or with your client)
Even in all of the above situations, some clients might be comfortable with you sharing your work publicly, others might have certain restrictions or requirements, and others might not want you to promote your work at all.
That’s why you should consider this your golden rule: Before sharing a sample—whether you’re doing so one-on-one or publicly—it’s smart to confirm what you are and aren’t allowed to do. This could mean checking your signed contract or reaching out to your point of contact for clarification.
I get it—it’s easy to feel slighted if you’re told that you aren’t supposed to share something that you worked hard on. However, keep in mind that most freelance work is “work for hire,” meaning the client assumes ownership over whatever you produce. As long as they pay you in accordance with your contract terms, they have sole discretion and decision-making power over what happens with your work.
Even if it’s not required, double-checking is a professional courtesy that goes a long way in helping you maintain strong relationships with your previous and current clients. Self-promotion matters—but it’s usually not worth burning a bridge or losing future work.
How to use Authory to privately (and professionally) share your work samples
Now let’s talk about this sticky scenario: You aren’t allowed to put pieces in your public portfolio, but you are allowed to share them with prospects directly.
So, how can you send those samples? Of course, there’s always email. Whether you attach PDFs or screenshots of your finished pieces or include a list of links in the email body, a simple email will get your samples in front of your desired audience.
That method gets the job done—but it’s not without its issues. PDFs are clunky, don’t work well on mobile, and increase the chances of your email landing in spam. And regardless of whether you do PDFs or direct links, it’s not the most polished or professional first impression.
When you want the aesthetic appeal and organization of a portfolio but the privacy of a one-to-one email, Authory Collections are here to help.
What are Authory Collections?
The easiest way to think of a collection is like a mini portfolio. Within Authory, you can create collections—essentially “buckets” of content—categorized by topic, industry, client, or anything else that makes sense for your needs.
Each collection gets its own dedicated page. There’s space for you to add a title and a brief description, and you can adjust the order of your content and customize the cover image to match your branding. You’ll end up with a well-designed and organized webpage that showcases your selected content.
When you’re happy with how it looks, you can easily generate a link to share your collection. Only people with that link can open and access your collection, so you and your clients can rest assured that your content doesn’t end up in the wrong hands (or in front of the wrong eyeballs). You can disable these share links at any time, giving you full control over when your confidential work samples are and aren’t visible.
How to create your first Authory Collection
Ready to create a collection so you have a simple link (and a beautiful portfolio page) you can use to privately share your writing samples? Here are a few quick steps to create your first collection in Authory.
1. Navigate to your collections in the sidebar and press the “Create collection” button. Alternatively, you can start in your Content Archive, select the pieces you’re looking for, and turn them into a collection directly from there.
2. Name your collection (e.g. “Writing samples for ClientXYZ”). You can also add a short description (this is a great place to provide context about any ghostwritten or collaborative projects) and customize your branding by editing or adding your own cover image.
3. Add work samples to your collection by clicking the button. You can choose whether to import or upload new content (you can even upload PDFs of your unpublished content) or choose existing content from your content archive. In this case, we’ll select samples from the archive.
4. Now check the boxes on the samples you want to add to your collection. You’ll see plenty of helpful search options here too—like filters and a search bar—to quickly and easily find the specific samples you’re looking for. I’ll type “tax” into the search bar and use the checkboxes to indicate which samples I want to use in this collection.
5. When you’ve found and are happy with the samples you’ve chosen, click the button to add those items to your collection.
6. Your collections are private by default (meaning they’re only visible to you). However, you can click the toggle at the top to instantly create a share link that you can send. When the recipient clicks it, they’re brought to a simple, beautiful, branded, and private page that’s built specifically for them (and not the general public).
Build your (private) proof of work
As a writer, you’re bound to run into times when you can’t openly take credit for the work you’ve done. But that’s just a bump in the road, not the end of it.
Using Authory, you can create a polished and private page that showcases your writing samples. Yes, even the ones that you’d never put in your public portfolio.
The page is put-together and aesthetically beautiful in the same way a portfolio is, but it’s only accessible to the people you directly share it with—giving you and your current clients the peace of mind that you’re respecting any restrictions related to sharing and promotion.
Plus, it’s far more streamlined than sending five different links (or PDF attachments) in an email. Put simply, it allows you to get the recognition your work deserves—without the risk.
Whether they’re private or public, share your writing samples with ease. Get started with Authory today.
