Comments on: Writers Worth: Beyond Sticker Shock

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By: Sharon Hurley Hall

Sharon Hurley Hall — Fri, 16 May 2014 00:27:18 +0000

Which is a good reason to charge by the project, Eileen. 😉

By: Eileen

Eileen — Thu, 15 May 2014 19:00:02 +0000

One thing I've noticed over the years is that the hourly rate tends to elicit more sticker shock than the project rate. I can quote $125 an hour and the client can't hear a thing after that. But if I quote brochure copy at $750 or $1000, they don't blink. I don't know what's up with that.

By: Sharon Hurley Hall

Sharon Hurley Hall — Thu, 15 May 2014 17:33:38 +0000

Thanks, Ashley. Even if you don't use these exact arguments, you fell in a much stronger position if you KNOW what you bring to the table. And that's good for any negotiation.

By: Sharon Hurley Hall

Sharon Hurley Hall — Thu, 15 May 2014 17:32:35 +0000

Thanks, Paula. The great thing about writing for other writers is that you can use words like "subsuming" without getting funny looks. :)

Good for you on refusing to let the client mess with your deadline. Today, I emailed a client to let her know that since she was four days late with the brief, she couldn't get the work by tomorrow as originally agreed.

By: Ashley

Ashley — Thu, 15 May 2014 17:06:24 +0000

These examples are awesome, Shirley. It's hard to explain professional writing's value, even though I know how I help my clients. This is a great way to verbalize your worth!

By: Paula

Paula — Thu, 15 May 2014 16:26:36 +0000

Everyone else beat me to the punch. As soon as I read "subsuming" I said, "Sharon gets bonus points for using subsuming." (Every time I use that word in conversation people looks at me like I'm making up a word.)

I need to come up with a letter similar to yours. I'm so shy about asking for raises. And almost every time I've done it I've gotten the "It's not within our budget at this time" response.

Your point about itemizing your work is important. Too many people assume writers just write when the actual writing is maybe 20% of the job.

(Just today a publicist who knows tomorrow is my drop dead deadline to turn in an article tried to push a key interview to 11 AM tomorrow. I said no, and explained why that was impossible if I had any chance of meeting my deadline. Either she gets the exec on the phone today or they're not in the article.)

By: Sharon Hurley Hall

Sharon Hurley Hall — Thu, 15 May 2014 14:01:39 +0000

I've had those "cringe" moments, too, Cathy, Lori, but they are far fewer now.

@Laura: I gave that template a lot of thought and it's worked pretty well. I had one failure (after writing this post) but that's because his budget was maxed out.

@Anne - thanks; I bet you have some good ways of doing this too.

By: Lori Widmer

Lori Widmer — Thu, 15 May 2014 13:46:18 +0000

Laura, that helps, doesn't it? I remove their negative comments and replace them with "We don't have the budget for your price." That's usually the truth.