How often do you get an e-mail from a prospect who asks, “I need help with my web site’s content” or “I need five articles on such ‘n such topic”… “How much do you charge?”
Web content — one page takes less time than five pages. Even on page can vary depending on the page’s content. Will you provide information, content, etc.? Or do you want me to come up with it from scratch?
Five articles. 500 words vs. 1000? About social networking or some obscure medical topic targeted to those in the medical profession? Big difference. Writing doesn’t have a standard process like other jobs.
New writers have emailed me asking how much should they charge for a project. As if I can give them a magic number. Like Deb says, our experiences vary so what I charge won’t work for most people. Not only does our writing experience differ, but also our topic knowledge.
This formula should help most writers get started in the scary world of coming up with rates. Yes, it’s scary. After lots of practice, I’m more comfortable providing quotes — but my stomach still stirs whenever I press, “Send” with my quotes.
- Start by figuring out how much you want per hour.
- Estimate how long it will take you to get the job done.
- Add 10% to that time because there is almost always something to make the assignment take longer.
After gaining experience, you won’t need to focus on how long it takes to do an assignment. You’ll get faster in some assignments. So if you charge $20 per hour and an assignment originally takes five hours, that’s $100.
With experience, the assignment takes you only one hour. $20 isn’t fair anymore. Instead, charge a flat fee such as $100. You factor in experience.
However, for some clients — I charge by the hour because they’re open engagements. I adjusted the hourly rate based on experience.
Doing enough assignments and quoting will help you come up with rates to use as the baseline. Experience will help you get a handle on rates and feel good about giving quotes.
So when a writer asks me how much to charge, don’t be offended when I don’t offer numbers and point to resources instead.
What works for you?
Not too many entries ago, I wrote an entry on how much to charge for writing. Since then, I’ve come across a few helpful articles on the topic. It’s rare that you’ll find actual rates outside of Writer’s Market and an $100+ ebook. Too many factors and variables can affect the quote.
The best way to learn is from experience and learning about the process of coming up with a quote. I edit graduate theses (edit, not write it unlike those term paper mills).
The first time I landed a thesis editing project, I charged too little. It far took more time than I expected. The second time, I quoted a better rate… but still short of what it should be. By the third time, I had it figured out plus I had a backup in case a couple of rounds of editing turned into 30 revisions.
The following sites explain the process of coming up with a quote (some are general articles for different service-based business and some are specific to those in the writing business):
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