Let me just say this: I’ve been patient. Really, for me, holding my opinion longer than a minute constitutes extreme patience. But I can’t hold it any longer. I’m about to get ugly on you – and it’s about the rates you’ll accept for the work you do.
Most of you here are already savvy to what you should be charging, and receiving, for your time and talent. For you, I say thank you. And I’m proud of you – you’ve shown great respect for the industry and for your own worth.
But for those of you who will accept anything below McDonald’s wages in some lame attempt to get clips, I say this: thank you for killing us in an already impossible economy. For you don’t realize that every single time you even respond to one of those “Get free exposure!” or “An excellent, ground-floor opportunity!” posts, you’re validating the existence of the scum balls who post these scams. And they’re scams, people. Check out Kathy Kehrli’s post for evidence of how freakin’ bad it’s getting out there. Two cents an article – and some fools are actually applying for that.
Look, if you want to give your work away, buy a domain, put up a template website and post your work for free. At least then you’re not dragging the rest of us down into the crapper with you. If you value your efforts more than that, AMEN. All you need to do is use this formula to determine what you need to charge in order to make more than a gig at McDonald’s. If that’s too much work for you, rethink the career choice. This is a business. It’s not for dabblers. If you don’t realize the impact your choices are on our industry, please don’t play along. Or hire a writing/editing/life coach – someone who can help you solidify your approach, your business plan, and your goals.
And if that’s something you’d rather not do, I hear those paper hats are back in vogue.
Writers, to help out our newbie counterparts, what’s the lowest amount you’ll work for and why?
21 responses to “Here Comes a Rant”
I don’t charge by the hour, but rather by the project. However, the hourly figure of $75 is my bottom line benchmark, and that’s with a four hour minimum. It ain’t worth turning on my computer for anything less than $300. If I can’t get that rate, my time is much better spent marketing.
Like you, Eileen, I have a minimum – 3 hours, as well. The lowest I’ve ever gone is $65/hr. for new clients.
That said, I’ve worked proofreading jobs for $30/hr. and formatting jobs for $40/hr. There is a distinct difference in proofreading versus editing and formatting versus any type of writing. Formatting, when the client gives instructions, is not difficult. It requires a pretty good knowledge of Word, but that’s our main tool anyway. We SHOULD know it well.
I’m still somewhat of a newbie. My hourly rate usually works out to between 30-35/hour.
Lately that seems impossible to get. I’m really feeling like the bottom has dropped out of the whole industry over the past two ot three months. I used to be able to pick up gigs within three or four days. Now I’m getting scams, requests for free work, requests for 1-cent-a-word articles, etc.
What’s your feeling here? Will things turn around, or are they already too far gone?
My basic rate is $100/hour, but I also figure rates per project or per word or per article. There’s wiggle room, and it definitely doesn’t always work out to that rate.
However, I’d rather hold out for a decently-paying gig than take on dozens of crap jobs and never get out from under the bills.
Besides, I have to keep up a steady stream of fiction and plays, which then brings in a steady stream of royalties.
This economy is a good example of why one shouldn’t lock oneself into a “niche”.
The way I figure a project is:
–how much research will it take?
–is that time factored in?
–if not, is there room to charge an hourly research fee?
–how long will it take to write/revise/polish?
–how much does the rate break down into per hour and/or per word?
–does the rate make me feel like I’m paid a reasonable wage for the work, or crap? If it’s the latter, I pass.
If I take on a pro-bono client, it’s for an organization about whose mission I am passionate, where I can get clips that will vault me into a higher payment bracket, and there’s a strong contract in place so neither sides feels taken advantage of.
The decently paying work is out there. If you’re not getting it, step back and take a look at where you’re seeking work — you won’t be able to get a good wage if all you do is pitch to assignments on the job boards.
Look at your clips, look at your marketing strategy, look at the companies around you and get pro active.
Hi Lori.
I feel your pain.
I have two technically low-paying clients, but I have what I consider solid reasons for accepting work from both. I’d love feedback on whether you all think I’m nuts!
First, I have a pub that assigns 700-800-word articles for $200 each. I do one to two per month. However, the articles involve only a few brief interviews, and then I can crank out the articles in an hour. My time commitment is typically no more than 3 hours, which turns out to be a good hourly rate despite the low-sounding flat fee.
In addition, though I’m an attorney, I haven’t been able to break into as many legal publications as I’d thought. I’ve broken into the biggest one, but the smaller ones have been more elusive. This is a legal publication, and I like having the additional legal clip.
Second, I have another client for whom I earn about $.33 per word. However, it’s a $1,600 monthly gig, and I really appreciate having that monthly staple, especially now. In addition, the work takes no longer than three, at most four, days each month, so that works out to be a respectable daily rate whether it’s three or four days’ work.
My philosophy has always been that I prefer $1 per word jobs, but I’ll reduce that rate for an ongoing commitment or if the per-hour rate is respectable in the long run.
With editing, my rate is $60 per hour, and I’ve never negotiated it down.
One more thing: I’d also like feedback on posting yourself on the services section of craigslist. Another writing blogger suggested that as a no-cost marketing tool, but it doesn’t feel right to me. I don’t want to look desparate because I’m not. And I don’t want to deal with cranks.
Thoughts?
Thanks!
Good rant, good sentiments, good god!
It’s unfortunate that people in general have such a low opinion of writing that they consider it the least worthy of payment, but t’were always so. Publishers pay janitors, web designers (many of whom do less work than the janitor, by the look of some websites), the kid who delivers the coffee, but writers are there for “exposure” and “clips”. I don’t think anyone has ever gotten an assignment from the New Yorker because they had a free clip from WackyNews.com.
As others have said, my time is valuable; I pitch $1 word/$100 hour and if they say no – or say nothing – I move on. And on a self-satisfying note, many clients take a few days and then come back and say yes. It’s the quality of the work that’s important, not how many clips.
Will things turn around, Anon? I see one of two things happening. Either it will turn around because the majority of writers decide enough is enough and refuse the crap job offers, or it will sink lower because more “employers” will think now’s the time to get free or cheap help. In the end, WE ARE THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THE CONTINUATION OF THIS CYCLE. I won’t work for 10 cents a word any more than I’ll work for 2 cents an article. I have my limits based on what I need to make in order to turn a profit. Reread what Devon posted – she’s right. If you look in different areas (offline is better than online), the rate you can demand is higher. I remember Anne Wayman saying when she raised her rates, she lost some existing clients, but she gained clients who stopped arguing her rate. It’s true.
Devon, I’m going to bottle you. You’re just the remedy we need. :))
Gabriella, I don’t think $200 for an article of that length is all that bad. It’s not the best rate, but it’s decent. They’re small articles – I’d definitely take something like that myself. And I sure don’t think making $1,600 a month is anything to turn down! Again, it all depends on the output required by you. If you can handle it easily, do it. What you don’t want to get into is a situation where all your time is sucked up by one client and you can’t find time to look for, or work for, anyone else who pays what you need in order to survive.
Joseph, that’s exactly the attitude that’s needed. The price is the price – take it or leave it. If you leave it, you leave behind mad skills and exceptional talent. 🙂
You asked about posting your services on Craig’s List. My post is there as we speak. 🙂 I’ve not received any actual work that way yet, but I do get inquiries. Perhaps it will turn out to be a case of attracting bargain shoppers, but I feel it’s our job to educate clients and new writers on what the industry rates are for writing and editing. If that means disappointing a few potential clients, so be it.
Thanks for your feedback, Lori.
I agree with your point of not having too much of your business coming from one client. As I mentioned, that one client takes only 3-4 days, which I think is reasonable.
Having too-big clients has always made me nervous. I’m always trying to add new clients, and I even turned down work from a client this summer because I didn’t want to be too committed to that one client. I was glad I did when that client started having financial trouble!
Problem is in the past six months, each time I’ve added a new client, it seems a long-term client has told me its buget has been cut.
Two steps forward, one step back!
See? That’s why you’re adding new clients, Gabriella! Budgets get cut, clients change ownership, direction, etc. We have to be on top of it always or we end up with nothing to do and no money for the gas bill (hence, we can’t stick our heads in the oven!).
I agree – 3-4 days for that kind of money is a great deal! I’d hang on to them!
Gabriella, I took that bloggers advice and posted two ads on Craigslist. I haven’t received a single response yet, scam or otherwise. Lori, keep us updated on your results.
There’s another rate calculator that I really like:
http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/
There’s some ads covering some of the boxes that weren’t there before, so I think it might be optimized for Firefox, which I don’t use. But if you can see it properly, it’s a really great calculator for determining rates!
Regarding posting an ad on Craig’s list, I haven’t found it useful at all. I only got requests from people who wanted to argue the rate down to about 1/20th. No,thanks.
Hey, Lori, you wanna peddle me as “Bitch in a Bottle” Just might work! 😉
LOL! Devon, you are an original! Hey, if Bitch in a Bottle is as effective as Spouse Be Gone (discussed heavily a decade and change ago on a divorce forum), I’ll by the first shipment!
Great link, Katharine. Thank you!
While I’m in the same range as most of you, I do find myself giving more for the money on the back-end these days…
I’ll quote a client’s mailer at full rate, but may throw in an email follow-up or discount down a landing page or special report quite a bit to sweeten deal.
Every metro area is different… mine is ranked among top 3 worst hit in U.S. Plus there are many freelance writers working here, especially with all the layoffs. So supply far outweighs demand.
While there are still good clients paying decent rates, most now want “extra” value for their buck.
By the way, spoke with a contract plumber complaining about the same thing! All his customers are demanding way MORE for the same money they spent in past and his colleagues are all undercutting each other! Sound familiar?
This is a great discussion, everybody. I really appreciate it.
I have two more points. Don’t overlook Joseph’s understated comment about letting clients stew over our rates. We all have to have the patience not to bid against ourselves.
That $1,600 a month client first wanted me to accept $1,250 per month, and I said it was too low. We parted ways professionally, and the guy came back less than two months later and said the two other writers he’d hired to do the work weren’t worth the lower amount, and did I still want the job at my original price? “Of course,” I said!
The point? We can’t panic when clients try to undercut us. If people don’t want to pay our rate, let test try the market. If they can get what they want for less, great. But often clients realize they can’t, and our patience will be rewarded–as long as we’re professional throughout.
Second point. How would we all handle the following situation? I have a freelance friend whose long-time and regular client asked her in January to drop her rate by one-quarter because the client’s budget had been cut.
Dunno, but for a long-term client that provides a monthly staple, I might agree to it with the stipulation that we revisit the rate in six months. That’s where our calls to stand firm get complicated, don’t they?
Anyway, I really appreciate all your comments. It really makes a difference in this tough market.
I meant, “If people don’t want to pay our rate, let them test the market.”
Tired!
This post is kismet. I JUST sent out a message increasing my rates to my clients. The rates weren’t unreasonable, and I had some freelancing friends telling me I was crazy to do so in this economy. The truth is I was undercharging some of my services, and hey – I got to eat too.
Someone in one of my writer groups informed me that when he joined a small advertising agency as a copywriter four years ago, $75 an hour was standard entry-level pay. I charge flat rates, but use that rate as the base of the formula that determines how much to charge.
Gabriella, you’re so right. Joseph’s comments were exactly what we needed to hear – DON’T PANIC. Set a rate, stick by it, and negotiate only if you think it’s in YOUR best interest to do so.
Kimberly, you’re not crazy. 🙂 You’re showing your clients a lack of fear of the market and a confidence in your work and your worth. I think it will be received positively.
Gabriella, I’m in agreement with you. When a long-time client lowers rates a bit and they’re a steady source of income, roll with it if you can afford to. And yes, revisit the rates later on. It may be a temporary thing (as most things are right now). Being flexible when they need you to be will leave a good impression.
But again, IF you can afford to be. If the price goes entirely too low, I’d be reconsidering that relationship. It’s okay to compromise when the client hits on hard times, but it’s not okay to take on the majority of their suffering.
Sheri, didn’t mean to overlook your comments! For local work, yes, the area sometimes does dictate your rate. However, most of us can work nationally (and do), and there’s where the majority of work comes from and where the rates can be more easily accepted and absorbed. Do I think you should stop marketing in your area? No. Your cost of living is probably lower as a result and you could probably justify doing the work at a lower rate for that reason. Me, I live in Expensive City, so I have to charge higher to pay the bills. 🙂