The WMF Archives: Writing Fees: How Much Should I Charge?

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Writing Fees: How Much Should I Charge?

8:14 AM

As freelance writers, a very difficult aspect of the job is often determining how much to charge clients for your writing skills. It is not uncommon to feel nervous about whether or not you are asking too much money for your services or if you are asking too little. Determining how much you should charge for a writing fee can easily be made into a simpler process be taking a few things into consideration and following a few simple tips.

What type of job is it?

Before pricing a job, it is important to determine what the assignment is. What kind of piece are they looking for? Does it have a word count? When is the deadline? Asking yourself these questions will help determine how much to charge. For example, it they want to hire you to write a newsletter, you would charge less than if they wanted you to write a researched project. 100 words will pay less than 2,000 words. If the client is offering you the project very close to the deadline, you will have to work harder to meet it and therefore should charge more.

Who owns the rights?

Determine who will own the rights to your work. If you maintain the rights, set the price lower because you can later republish or resell the piece again. If the client wishes to retain the rights to the work then you will want to charge more for the piece.

How much time will project require?

When you are trying to set a fee for a project, determine the amount of time that will have to be spent on it. If it will require a lot of research, the fee should be set higher than a project that requires little research or time.

What is the going rate?

To help determine the fee of a project, look online or in books for the current rates that are charged for similar projects. If their are any expenses that will be need to complete the project, they should be added into the fee as well. The National Union of Journalists is a great place to help you with fees to charge clients.

When setting a fee, it is important to not feel guilty or nervous about asking a certain price. If the client thinks the price is too high, you may be able to negotiate on the price. If the client asks you to do the work for a extremely lower fee, the project may not be worth it. It is important to remember you are a professional and deserve to be treated and paid like a professional.

Photo: "3D Money" By owaisk_4u