How Should Freelance Writers Determine What Price to Charge?

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How Should Freelance Writers Determine What Price to Charge?

Posted June 29, 2010 in Getting Started, How-To

One of the hardest things that any freelancer has to do is determine what to charge for his or her services.

If you’re a freelance writer (or if you hire freelance writers), then you may have a difficult time determining what the market price for writing is. Of course, your lowballing client would have you believe that nearly all writers work for practically nothing all–but, don’t you believe them.

A time-honored method of determining rates is to look at the averages of what other writers charge. When setting your freelance writing rates it’s also important to consider the amount that you need to earn for your business to stay afloat. In this post, I’ll link to some surveys that provide average writing rates and salaries. I’ll also look at some expenses that most freelancers have.

Why I Think Surveys Are Helpful

Income/rate surveys are helpful, regardless of your freelancing field, because the average tends to balance out the extremely high and extremely low figures.

I particularly like surveys from professional societies because the members tend to be more serious about their profession. Many professional societies charge for membership, so only those who are serious about networking and improving their skills tend to join.

Of course, not all professional writing societies make their rates public. Most rate studies are only available to paid members, but joining the right society will also help you to network with your peers and give you access to any job leads that are only available to members. For example, I am a member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), which publishes an annual salary survey that is available to members.

Many governments also conduct income data on various professions. In the United States, the data is collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other countries likely have their own statistics on income by profession.

Writing Income Surveys and Other Resources

Here is a list of six rate studies with a link to each study. Some are specific to freelancers. Others include data from freelancers and employees. I’ve also included a sentence describing the source of each study.

The American Society of Journalists and Authors. This professional society is made up of independent nonfiction writers.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Government). Government study based on actual income reported by various types of writers and authors in the United States.
Editorial Freelancers Association. This professional society includes a wide variety of writers including copy editors, project managers, translators, and writers.
Media Bistro Salary Survey. Media Bistro is an organization for a wide range of writing professions across many different industries.
Professional Writers Association of Canada. This writing society for freelance writers is based in Canada.
The Writers Market also provides some helpful information about rates for freelance writers (available to members only).

Whenever you review a rate survey or salary study, be sure to consider the source of the information. Often, it’s best to look at several sources to get a true picture of the freelance writing market.

A few questions to consider when reviewing a study or survey include:

How was the study conducted?
Who were the participants in the study?
How close are the jobs described in the survey to what I actually do?
How recent is the study?
Does the sponsor of the survey have an ulterior motive?

Setting Your Rates Based on Your Needs

The goal of any business, including freelancing businesses, is to earn money.

When you set your freelance writing rates, it’s important to remember that your fees need to cover your expenses. You should also earn plan to earn a profit after your expenses are met.

Some expenses that most freelancers have include:

Taxes
Internet fees
Insurance costs
Computer equipment
Telephone service
Utilities
Office supplies
Training expenses
Personal (your living expenses such as housing, food, transportation, etc.)

You may be able to think of other expenses not listed above.

Don’t to forget to consider your administrative tasks, such as accounting, marketing, and collections. Often freelancers fail to think about this time when they quote a price for a project.

Setting Your Rates Based on Your Experience

Experience counts.

Writers who have more experience are typically able to charge more for their services. In addition writers who have specialized knowledge about a particular topic can command a higher rate.

Before you decide what to charge take a good, hard look at your writing history and ask yourself the following questions:

How long have I been writing professionally?
Do I have specialized knowledge in a particular field?
How extensive is my writing portfolio?
Have my clients given me good referrals?
What can I do for a client that my competitors can’t?

What If You’re Not a Writer?

This post is geared primarily towards writers because that’s where most of my own experience lies.

However, much of this information can be adopted and used by a wide variety of freelance professionals. Government salary statistics, for example, are not just limited to writers.

A Few Additional Points

Ultimately, your rates should reflect the value that you provide to your clients. Remember that survey figures and statistics are averages.

If you have more experience than the average freelance writer, it is likely that you will be able to charge a little bit more. Likewise, if a project is extremely detailed or time-consuming you should plan on charging more for your services.

In most cases, you will be charging your client by the project and not by the hour. But, you should have an hourly rate in your own mind based on what you believe that your services are worth and what is competitive in your field.

What Do You Think

How do you determine what to charge?

Are you aware of any other salary/rate surveys for freelancers (in any field)? If so, what are they?

Are you a member of a professional society? Which one?

Leave your answers in the comments.

Image by dolfi

About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 20 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts. Laura is also on Google+.

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53 Comments

James Chartrand - Men with Pens
June 29th, 2010 at 8:37 am

Setting writer rates is a tough one – there are some guidelines, but everyone seems to charge what they want (at least, that’s the way it looks when you’re new to it all).

I’d say set two rates: your ideal, and your “don’t go below”. That way, you have a bit of wiggle room to work with, and this is handy when you’re just starting out and aren’t sure whether you’re charging accurately or just really want the job. (If you know you’re worth the money, stick to your guns and don’t discount yourself, of course.)

Also, remember you can raise your rates any time you’d like. You don’t have to stick with a rate that isn’t working for you after three months. Send a polite letter to clients, let them know, and away you go!
Salma Jafri - Killer Content!
June 29th, 2010 at 8:41 am

Timely post Laura! I was just writing out some rates to send to a buyer who’d asked to see a rate sheet. And on that note, wanted to ask you a question: Do you think its absolutely essential for writers to have a rate sheet? Carol Tice (http://www.makealivingwriting.com/?p=73) suggests that since each project (and each client) is unique, she doesnt use a rate sheet.

What would be your take on this? I’m very curious to know.

Thanks!
Salma.
Freelance FactFile
June 29th, 2010 at 8:42 am

Also, when charging by the project (and not by the hour) you need to scope out exactly what’s required before quoting your price. Just because you charged ‘x’ for writing your last 10-page website doesn’t mean you should charge the same amount for the next one. Your new project may require lots of face-to-face meetings, or two rounds of edits rather than just one. Or it may take you longer to gather all the information you need than the previous project did.

I always specify exactly what my quote covers. Too often project creep means the site ends up with 20 pages rather than 10. So you obviously need to charge for the extra work. And I always state in my terms and conditions that if the brief changes then my price will change accordingly.
Jordan Walker
June 29th, 2010 at 8:42 am

Those are great guidelines, I am aware of what others in my field charge and like to be in the same ball park.
Freelance FactFile
June 29th, 2010 at 8:45 am

Salma, I agree with Carol Tice – since every job is different, it’s hard to fix a rate card.

Also, I know some people who regularly add in a hassle factor into their price if they think a client is going to be particularly tricky.
Sara Hamil
June 29th, 2010 at 8:48 am

I’m a freelance public relations consultant and I struggle with this one a LOT as I continue to refine my rate sheet.

On top of the factors that you’ve listed here, I find that location is also a pretty big one when determining your fee. I live in a small area and as such I’ve found that I need to charge less than I would if I was still working out of the big city (which is understandable given that the cost of living isn’t as high).

I’ve tried to have a lot of conversations with others in my field in order to help determine pricing, especially for services that involve social media as that tends to be a service that doesn’t lend itself as well to traditional pricing schemes. Still, I find that most people prefer to keep their rates and systems to themselves.

One thing that I’ve found has helped has been to speak to people who teach in my field in colleges and universities. I think that their priorities are different (which is to say, they’re probably less likely to look at you as competition) and therefore they’re a little more willing to help.

That having been said, any and all tips are welcome! Thanks for the great post :)
James Chartrand - Men with Pens
June 29th, 2010 at 9:01 am

@Sara – That’s a really good point. Location does indeed affect how much you need, or want, or charge. I feel that too many writers get upset at others (“They should charge more! So that I can get jobs!!” or “They should charge less!! I can’t compete!”) over what often boils down to economies of regions.

I know that what keeps me nicely comfy here in Montreal wouldn’t go very far in Sydney, and it would be a king’s ransom in Belarus!
Alexa Steele
June 29th, 2010 at 9:17 am

Thank you for the post and the links to the surveys. I have found this part of the writing business so confusing (for me and the clients) that for the month of July I’m running a “name-your-price” promotion. I’m hoping it’ll accomplish 2 few things:

1) Attract traffic and new customers.
2) Find out what the customers think copywriting services are worth (yes I know they will low ball me, but a low ball at $10 per page is very different from a low ball at $100 per page.)

If any of the more experienced writers on this blog are willing to share their pricing secrets please email me via my website.
Laura Spencer
June 29th, 2010 at 9:25 am

This is a great discussion already, and I just started work. :-)

James Chartrand–Good advice. I’ve found that if I gave out my best rate first some clients would try to negotiate me down from it (even though it was already my best price).

Salma Jafri–I think Carol’s partially right. I would recommend having an internal rate sheet to guide yourself when giving quotes, but also looking at each project individually. For example, I have three types of editing that I do and I have a basic rate for each type of editing. But, I also ask the client a lot of questions such as: will they require a lot of meetings, how many rounds of revisions do they need, will they be available for questions, and so on. Depending on how they answer, I adjust my rate. Also, when editing, it’s a good idea to get a sample of what you will be editing. (Ask for the end of the document if possible, the beginning is usually cleaner.) If the stuff needs a lot of work, there’s yet another adjustment.

Freelance FactFile–Exactly. Negotiating scope is crucial.

Sara Hamil–The location of the client is important. If the client is local, they may also expect you to meet local rates. I do a lot of work for foreign clients, and I don’t vary my rates too much based on where they are located. The one exception was when a client from a very poor country contacted me. When she shared her budget I realized she couldn’t afford my regular writing or editing rate. I adjusted the scope and did some consulting for her instead.
Laura Spencer
June 29th, 2010 at 9:27 am

Alexa Steele–That’s an interesting approach to drum up business. It’s a bit risky, but I assume you can still turn work down if it’s too unreasonable? Let us know how it works it out. :-)
Project Center
June 29th, 2010 at 9:43 am

Laura:

The ever important subject of how to set prices and the factors that have an impact on how much we charge for our work.

With so many individuals starting their own business due to the fall of the economy it seems that many are under-valuing their services which may have some impact on those who have been established for a longer period of time.

I’m sure there are several reasons why that may be happening – the need to feed a family, pay a mortgage, improper research or lack of belief that their services have value.

Reviewing surveys can certainly be helpful as well since often freelancers are somewhat fearful of sharing their pricing structure to other freelancers.

Thanks for the wonderful, detailed post as well as the resources you included.
Lindsey Gregory
June 29th, 2010 at 9:59 am

Freelance Switch has a freelance calculator that takes into account everything from the portion of your rent that goes into your home office (if you work from home, if not, the rent you pay for your office) to insurance needs, to disposable income, etc. This also calculates your billable vs. working hours and the ideal income you’d like to make. You end up with two hourly rates: your baseline rate, which, when calculated against the number of hours you work comes out to your ideal income, and your break-even rate, which is the minimum amount you should be charging per hour (or per project) to break even. I’ve found it very helpful in determining my hourly rate and I’m trying to figure out how to better use to determine project rates. It’s a work in progress.
Men's Online Magazine
June 29th, 2010 at 10:58 am

They should first figure out how much they are worth per hour
Deb
June 29th, 2010 at 12:23 pm

Does no one here get paid per word?
Laura Spencer
June 29th, 2010 at 12:56 pm

Thanks Project Center!

Deb–I believe billing by the word is left over from journalism, but is also used for web content. However, I advise against it whenever possible. The reason being is that there can be a huge difference in what you are doing. 1000 words of writing is not always the same. (It all goes back to asking those questions and defining the scope. Have a base rate, but adjust it accordingly.)

If for some reason you can’t define the scope, then you may have to charge by the hour.
Salma Jafri - Killer Content!
June 29th, 2010 at 1:41 pm

Thank you for your thoughtful answers Laura and FactFile. I’ve fixed some base rates and given this buyer a range with some variable factors outlined. I have a meeting next week with her so we’ll scope it out better then I guess! Thanks again for your help!
Alexa Steele
June 29th, 2010 at 1:45 pm

Laura,

Yes, I’m structuring it so that I can turn down any project for any reason. I’m charging extra for revisions, too (I normally include at least 2 free in my quoted price).
I’ll be happy to let you know if it works out.

To see the promotion visit writteninsteele.com/services/promotions
Pawel - Self Employed Cafe
June 29th, 2010 at 1:50 pm

Setting up writing rates well is something I am having a problem with right now. When it comes to web development, my main job, it’s dead easy but writing is a new thing for me (a hobby for years though).

Thanks for the your advice Laura!
Jae Xavier
June 29th, 2010 at 2:16 pm

don’t forget about

Advertising and Marketing Costs: These tend to be a fixed cost unless you are going all out on promotion (spiking interest).
Sara Hamil
June 29th, 2010 at 2:31 pm

Laura – Considering the location of the client is definitely another interesting way of looking at it.

One question that came to mind while I was reading all of this discussion is what are everyone’s thoughts on having different rates for different types of clients? For example, would you charge more for a corporate or more established client vs. a non-profit or start-up?
Laura Spencer
June 29th, 2010 at 7:03 pm

Great comments!

Alexa Steele–I’m glad you have some safeguards in place.

Sara Hamil–I wouldn’t charge different prices for the same services based on how much money I thought a customer had. I know that I wouldn’t like it if a business treated me that way. However, if a customer does not have the full price of the services that they want I think it is acceptable to lower their expectations and limit the scope of what you will do for them to fit within their budget.
TLC
June 29th, 2010 at 9:55 pm

My price for writing depends on what goes with it. If it’s just writing a newsletter article and nothing else, I charge about 15% less than my usual rate. But much of the time, writing goes with something else: photography, research, editing, project management, graphic design, Web design. So I charge my full rate multi-tasking such as this.

I will also lower price if I know the work will repeat over a long period of time, if it’s for a non-profit organization, or for a special circumstance. Last year I was hired by our Chamber of Commerce to write press releases and newsletter articles. Since it led to ongoing work and it was a prestigious client, I charged a lower rate.

Whatever you do, DON’T give your skills away. I was on a temp assignment this week where they were trying to get me to rewrite a Web site, complete with keyword research and SEO — for 16 bucks an hour. I declined because of what everyone on this blog says, over and over: stick to your rates. Stick to your rates. Stick to your rates!
Stephanie
June 30th, 2010 at 2:36 am

Since there are a lot of factors to consider when charging your rates, I tend to look at the average rate being charged by a big number of freelance writers to see how much clients are accepting as a suitable rate for a particular writing skill.

I also agree with you on the bit about charging based on what is being consumed and spent on. I take into consideration the bills to be paid, the needs of my family, transportation to and from home for errands, and savings/profit. The profit I receive from my work is equally important to me when charging rates.
Lisa
June 30th, 2010 at 10:28 am

Excellent topic, links and comments, Laura and readers!

I fall within the translator category of writing right now, but am branching out into my own writing assignments. In translation, it is completely verboten to discuss rates within professional associations and I find individuals hesitant to share, so it’s particularly wonderful to get hard data about writing.

In that regard, how accurate do you find the rates quoted on sites like writers.ca and the-efa.org? Both sites include translation rates and those are high. As a freelancer with some fairly major clients, I charge at the low end of their range (in the neighborhood of $0.20/word), but know for a fact that I’m at the top end of what the market will bear – unless you’re a large agency and subcontract out for half or even less of that.

Also very interesting to learn that writers have moved away from the per word model – I completely understand why and hope that translators can make a move in that direction. One 1000-word document is never equal to another! ;-)
Laura Spencer
June 30th, 2010 at 12:13 pm

What a great discussion!

TLC– I think it’s okay to lower your rate for repeat business (just be careful not to go too low). I think you made the right call with your temp assignment.

Stephanie, you are so right about covering your living expenses. I don’t think anyone could last long if they couldn’t pay their bills. :-) I lumped that all under personal above, but every freelancer should take the time to figure out what they need to live.

Thanks Lisa–I think your market depends on the type of clients you are targeting. For example, if the respondents to the survey target larger clients or corporation and you target small businesses and individuals I can see where the rates would be different. I’m curious as to how you know for sure that the market won’t bear a higher rate, though. Many freelancers have shared that they raised their rates and were surprised to find out that they lost no clients and actually gained some. I don’t think all writers have moved away from the per word model quite yet–but, I definitely discourage its use. It also doesn’t fit well with many specialized types of writing such as technical writing, copywriting, and other business writing. I still see it used by some who specialize in web content, but hopefully that will change.
Fraser
August 3rd, 2010 at 2:22 pm

This has actually been quite insightful, I’m on the look for a decent copywriter right now…it’s good to see how or why the would charge what they do. Thanks!
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