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Charging for Your Freelance Writing Services: 7 Factors to Consider

Posted on January 9, 2012 Written by Pinar Tarhan

deciding on what to charge for your freelance writing — Image via 3.bp.blogspot.com.

Pricing your work is a tricky issue. You have to know your market, how much your expertise could bring you if you found the right markets, how much you want/need to make, how much time writing for that project will last….So while tips like “Don underestimate your value“, “Know what you need to earn to make a living as a freelance writer” make for great advice, it is a little bit more complicated than that.

Here’s what you need to pay attention to when pricing your work (and deciding whether or not to take a job with a certain price tag on it):

1) How will you charge?

By the hour?

If you will be paid by the hour, how many hours are you expected to put aside for the project?

Will you be compensated if the work takes more hours than anticipated and agreed upon?

(How) will you be controlled? Will the client want daily reports, e-mails, skype conferences, office meetings….? Or did you take a job from odesk (a bidding site like Elance) and the client expects you to have your webcam on so that they can keep an eye on you?

It is all very well that you’ll be charged by the hour, but does the job take more than its giving? You have to weigh advantages and disadvantages to decide if the job will be worth it. Don’t just look at the price tag. Look at what the job expects.

By project?

If you are paid by the project, you should be clear on the terms. But you should also have a good estimation of how much time will be spent. What if you want to make $50/hour, and you end up making $25/hour because the job took twice as much time and effort you expected?

2) On how much research it will take?

Again, it comes down to how many hours you will really work on the project.

3) How demanding is it?

Do you just need to write an opinion post? Or do you need to enhance the piece with expert opinions? Do you need to educate yourself first about the topic before getting all the information you need? And are you expected to just write, or do they want you to find pictures, put the post online, optimize it for the search engines, promote it….?

4) Do you get other benefits?

Such as byline to your blog, bonus for extra page views, etc…

Some jobs offer a fixed rate, with a promise of a bonus if your article performs well on the web.

While there is no guarantee that your piece will be the next new love of social media, you might feel more motivated to help with the promotion.

For instance, popular web development site SitePoint offers a retainer of $100 to its writers, and bonuses starting from $50 for a certain amount of views. For my details, you can read the write for us page on SitePoint. They also give you a byline, which means more traffic and authority for your site.

I’d love to query them, but they don’t really cover the areas I’d have lots of ideas from. And they do expect a minimum of 1,500 words in length.

5) How do you get paid?

Will you get by check or PayPal? I’ve always preferred the latter as it is faster, and there are no cuts just because I happen to live in a different country than my editor.

6) When do you get paid? On publication or the acceptance of your piece?

It is much better to be paid on acceptance. What if you send them the piece, and they decide never to publish it. Or they publish it 8 months later?

7) Is there future? Or at least a potential for the future?

Do you think this is a one off, or you think you can (or will want to) build relationships so that you might write for them again later?

If you wrote a 2000-piece on a subject you totally hated just to make money, you might not want to return to that topic again. But if you chose an area because you loved it and paid well, you will get to take advantage of your earlier research and your passion for the subject and avoid depression in the process.

For instance, I’d rather spend 60 minutes on a small, fun project and get paid a little less rather than work on weeks for an exhausting and emotionally draining piece that takes ages and its hourly pay will just about amount to what I made from the small project.

So your decision depends on many factors including your expertise, project’s and your expectations, your level of passion for the topic, the time it will take, other incentives and more.

Below are some of my favorite resources on deciding what to charge for your work. I might not agree with every point made, but they offer valuable perspectives and I learned a lot from them:

Must- Read Posts and Resources on the topic:

7 Reasons Why I Won’t Write a $15 Blog Post by Carol Tice

Well, for the record, I’d take a $15 blog job- if you asked me to write a 500-word opinion post on where Mel Gibson’s career is going. He is my favorite actor, I know all the dates of his movies, and I’ve more trivial info on the guy then Wikipedia and imdb.com combined. So yeah, I’d.

If the job was that easy, fun and research-free. So yeah, time and fun are big factors for me. But since blogging jobs are never quite like that, I’d really stick to Carol’s advice.

Mailbag: How Much Can Freelance Writers Charge for Blogging? y by Carol Tice

In response to a reader’s question, Carol offers some tips on how you can get more out of a blogging gigs-given that you pay attention to certain factors.

How much should a freelancer charge? by Moira Allen

Moira Allen has included some great pointers that I overlooked, such as your relationship with the editor. Just like any job, relationships matter- a lot! Take a look at her post.

Two other incentives for you to devour her post: Writing-World is an amazingly thorough resource for any question to you might have about writing, and it is a paying market. So not only you’ll find helpful information, it will also help your research- should you decide to query the site about writing related topics.

Oh, and on a similar note, Carol pays for guest posts on her blog, so you might want to check my post 5 Authoritative & Popular (Writing / Blogging) Sites That Accept Guest Posts for details.

Writer’s Market’s How Much Should I Charge E-book

Now, I believe this is only free for Writer’s Market members, and it includes a successful survey including low, average and high rates for almost any kind of writing. If you are thinking about become a member of Writer’s Digest’s online market database (Writer’s Market), complimentary e-books is only one of the perks.

5 Reasons Why I Love Writing for the Web

Posted on December 19, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Research is easier and cheaper. If you are writing for a publication that is only internet based, all you have to do for research is to go to their website and read their previous posts. This helps when you are pitching, and this helps when you are writing. You need to get an idea of the target audience, the tone of the writing, word count, titles, format, the style, the vocabulary, amount of jargon…etc. You also so what’s been written and what’s not.

It is free, and it is all there. Sure, it is still hard work, but with a little organization, it is managable.

Even if the magazine is both print and online, the online stuff is already on the web.

*If you are looking to write for the print version, you’ll need to see if previous issues are available online. You might need to pay a little fee, but if this is a magazine you truly want to write for, it is worth it. Sometimes you can subscribe to the digital versions of the print issues, and this saves a lot of time waiting for the issues coming through regular mail (this is is of course true for the publications that are not readily available at the local library and/or at nearby bookstores).

The article/post you write doesn’t have to look like a short story. Let’s face it, magazine articles, especially features, are long. You need to be compelling and fun and/or professional for over 2.000 words. It takes a lot of time and effor to write it. I am not saying I am not pitching to magazines. Or I can’t write an article that long. But there’s something really fun about pouring your heart, knowledge (and depending on the publication, your sense of humor) in mostly 500-1500 words.

The publication is likely to pay via PayPal. Which is my favorite method of being paid.

You have lots of options. All you have to do is dig into the search engines with the right keywords, and subscribe to the current list of online markets.

It is relatively easier to get into. My first job was writing for a travel blog in 2009 (which got published later). You just have to keep looking at the right places.

Do you like writing for the web? Do you prefer the print? Or are you a freelancer who combines both media?

Balancing Showing and Telling in Writing & Why “Show, Don’t Tell” Can Be Easier in Screenplays than in Novels

Posted on December 10, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Writing a novel is like a novel — Novel writing is indeed tricky. Image via 1.bp.blogspot.com

“Show, don’t tell” is a great advice. You-as the writer-need to make the readers see, feel, smell, touch…You want them to understand the characters and be immersed in the story without spelling everything out them. You want to them to see that your character is smart by the things he does or says. You don’t just tell them he is so smart. Or you might, but you also prove your point by showing that he is smart.

“But Show, Don’t Tell” is easier said than done, especially when it comes to writing novels. I can’t tell you how many novels I put down because they tried to tell me a million things, while also showing them to me. And ideally, no matter what kind of writing that you do, you have to balance the two.

There are many screenplays that just tell. Remember the movies where characters talk all the time, and never actually move their butts to take action about anything? The movies that bore you to death? Yeah- the screenwriters just told things, and the director went with it.

But with fun screenplays, the writers do a good job of balancing what to tell and show. But of course the screenplays are written for the screen, and everything will be shown by the actors. If they want to show the progress of a romance, they put on a good song and show us what the actors do together instead of giving us dialogue.

And this is exactly what I do when I write a screenplay. Sure, I sweat over lines and details, but sometimes it is more effective to choose the song with the right lyrics and let the reader/viewer get the message. But I can’t take advantage of music when I’m writing the novel. Well, I can- to motivate myself. But I can’t give my audience a soundtrack to go with it (although that would be pretty neat). I need to sweat over the thoughts, setting, and scenes- all the time. There’s no shortcut. This is a pretty hard thing to do.

Yes, I watch a lot of movies and pay attention to a lot of scenes. I also analyze novels on how much and how they showed and told. I keep my fingers crossed, and keep working on my first draft where I try to entertain, engage and make readers feel. But it is a tough road. Wish me luck.

How about you? Do you write fiction? Do you have problems balancing showing and telling? Please let me know in the comments.

Writing a Romantic Drama (Novel) That Will Appeal to Both Sexes

Posted on November 28, 2011 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Sophie_Kinsella_Undomestic_Goddess — This is one of my favorite books, by one of my fav authors. But I doubt guys would read it. Image via media34.onsugar.com

Can it be done? I have nothing against chicklit. In fact, if it is written well, I am a huge fan. Hell, I am a romantic, and I am a chick- and a fun chicklit provides great escapism and some good laughs. But I highly doubt guys actually read any. Maybe some are dragged into the movie theaters if the book was adapted, but then the overwhelming pop soundtrack probably annoys the hell out of them, and minus the hilarity of the author, the comedy is easily lost on them. Well, I know that pop soundtrack definitely destroys the romance for me.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I want to be read by women. They will be the majority of my readers, and I am happy about this. I just don’t want the book totally ignored by guys just because the cover and tagline screams for women only.

OK, let’s get back to the novel. I’ve had this great idea for a romantic drama/comedy. Earlier, I had written about my indecision about the medium and why I’d decided to try writing it as a novel instead of a screenplay.

So, I collected some decent resources about how to write an engaging novel (and how to go about selling it.) And of course being the fan of romantic escapism, I dove into the novels of similar genres and started studying them.

Unfortunately, almost all of them had either been written in first person and in present tense or in third person limited from the girl’s point of view. And therein was my problem: I don’t have one protagonist. I have two. I don’t just want to get into the girl’s head- I also want to get into the guy’s.

And I have some pretty decent subplots which are also highly related to the main plot so I want to get into several heads. Don’t I have lots of books that were told in third person, unlimited? Sure, I do. Unfortunately they are all thrillers!

So what does a girl have to do to write a romantic novel that is not sappy? That isn’t all about the girl?

Yes, I want to be able to flesh out all my characters, and convey what they all actually think-as opposed to just the girl’s interpretation of what they think…I don’t want a pink cover. I love the color pink, it just doesn’t reflect the core.

So guess what I want? I want a novel that is as unisex as the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love. I loved everything about that story, and as much as it had a bromance of a sort, it was just a sweet, hilarious and universal story. And I know how to write one into a screenplay. I don’t have point of view problems there.

The question is, how to write its novel? Well, I’m writing and rewriting scenes from my first draft, and eventually it will all look right. Of course then the actual nightmare of looking for a publisher will start. But hey, let’s worry about one thing at a time, shall we?

What gets in the way of your storytelling?