The term 'WHAT MANY FREELANCERS WORK ON' can be summarized by the four letter word 'SPEC'. This acronym stands for 'speculative work', which is a type of freelance job that involves creating a piece of work without any guarantee of payment. Freelancers who do speculative work are often paid only if their work is accepted and published. This type of work is common in creative industries such as writing, graphic design, and photography.