Rates

[Redlass]

OK, I'm going to get personal here, but I'm curious and think sharing information can be helpful.

What do you typically charge for freelance work?

My rates vary depending on the customer I'm working with, but if it's an hourly rate, I'll turn down any job that is less than $20/hour. I usually do $20/hour for proofreading, $25/hour for editing, $30/hour for editing/writing or writing. I've had friends tell me my rates are way too low.

Fixed fees get more difficult. I usually try to look at how much time something is going to take. I've had several projects that took an entire year, and I've charged between $5,000 and $10,000 for those. If the job is only going to take a month, I charge closer to $1,000 (though my most recent completed contract was $1,000 plus a small percentage of royalties).

Magazines and similiar publications are usually pretty set in what they pay. I've done so little magazine writing that I'm still in the 10 cent a word bracket. I have friends who won't write for less than $1 a word and usually get more.

Another cavaet to everything above is that I'm in the Midwest. I don't know whether that affects rates for freelancers, but it is worth throwing out.

So, how do you determine your rates?

[phoenixx]

I take into consideration the expenses of running my home office, and make sure to account for those in my complete rate structure.

I break the rates out into relevant specialties, such as writing, web design, graphic design, etc. and stagger the rate according to the demands of the specialty.

I take into consideration the project and it's many possible facets, combining specialties and rates to get an average rate for the bid.

I do take into consideration national industry standard rates for freelancers, but only in a limited way - my rates are generated by my experience with the work and it's demands over the years, charging enough to reflect my talent and the expense of running an office without overcharging.

I take into account the higher cost of living and raise my rates to reflect that every year or so.

In some cases where publication of original writing is involved, I take into consideration whether or not I will be keeping the rights to my work and may lower the rate to account for future revenue.

In the case of fixed fee bids I find out the facets of the project in as much detail as possible and the estimated date the project is due and use that to estimate the time i will spend and the specialties I will use to complete the project. Then I use that to average a rate.

It is very complicated at first, but now that I've been doing this for a while it has gotten easier with time.

Leslie <- whose rate ranges from $20 to $40 per hour depending on the scope of the project and what specialties it will require.

[THMeeks]

Most of the jobs I've done recently asked for a bid by project. I do my best to estimate the amount of time I will have to spend and then base my bid according to $20 - $25.00 per hour. Since I just went full-time freelance less than a year ago, I am keeping my rates at what I would consider to be appropriate given my rather new status as a full-time freelancer (although I've been writing at least on a part-time basis for 20 years).

I used Writer's Market's guide to rates to base my rates. You might want to check them out. I think, based on their guide, that your rates are very reasonable and, yes, perhaps even a bit low. For instance, they list proofreading at $15.00 - $50.00 per hour (for businesses), which definintely puts you at the low end of the scale.

Of course, I think you also have to stick with what you know your clients can afford. Ma and Pa's Grocery will obviously not be able to withstand the same fees as Big Shot Advertising Agency.

Terrisa

[Trebor1415]

Bridgette,

Check out "The Well Fed Writer." The author has some interesting theories about how to set rates for corporate writing. Basically, his thesis is that how you set your rates helps the client determine how much YOU value your work.

Based on that book, I'd say that you your are WAY undervaluing your writing for the corporate client.

Rob

[satan]

Hiya folks,

i've been asked to take on a short term proofreading & editing project. It involves looking at slightly over 100 pages of quite technical writing (no, neither software release notes nor hardware functionality—it's a paper discussing the primary results of a CFD [computational fluid dynamics] study, if you must know). The project would require me to understand the material presented so that i can ask the writer valid questions about the work and edit for clarity of ideas.

While i've never done this sort of work for pay, i know i can do it, and could use the money. i was wondering if anyone has a clue as to what average rates such projects command. Any info you have would be gratefully accepted.

Thank you for your time!

[Redlass]

Because it requires you having technical knowledge, I'd say that you could charge a little above the average rate. I'm probably the wrong person to ask as I think I undercharge, but I'd start somewhere between $25 to $30 an hour. You could also charge a per page price if you wanted, but what you would want to charge would depend on how fast you edit and proofread. Also, the per page charge works a lot better if it is just straight proofreading, not editing and querying the writer.

Good luck!

[quasar]

For editing physics stuff? $50/hour minimum.

Janice who is very very jealous