It may be I have been fortunate, but I have had several writing gigs through Upwork. I have had potential clients want me to lower my hourly rate and I have politely declined. There have been a couple clients later accepting my rate and those who continued to message me how ‘great my work was but they couldn’t afford me’ — I just stood firm. I tend to pick up leadership and athletics related gigs as that is my niche. I have had several return clients and have even raised rates, according to the workload. Upwork can be a nice ‘addititve’ to your writing gigs but is not a main source of income.