| Back to Home > Bulletin Board > Beginner Issues > Topic: Fees: trade-show based articles |
Topic: Fees: trade-show based articles
| Author | Message |
| Thabit | Posted – 2/12/2008 1:46:25 PM | show profile I've been asked to cover a trade show, given the size of the event, it will definitely take more than a day to cover, I'm thinking probably two days will do it. Any input on whether it's better to go for a flat fee, a daily fee or a word fee would be appreciated. I It's for a national pub, any ball park figures would also be appreciated. tx in advance |
| recovering_jersey_girl | Posted – 2/12/2008 3:03:02 PM | show profile "Cover a trade show" is waaaay too fuzzy. What do they want out of it? How many article? How many words? Are you responsible for taking photos, as well? I would get this all nailed down - in writing - beforehand. Also: are you local? If not, you'll want to keep travel expenses in mind when determining your fee. In general, I prefer per-word fees, but what that fee is depends greatly on the amount of research/work/rewriting involved. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 2/12/2008 4:12:42 PM | show profile It depends. Sometimes a magazine will ask you to go to a trade show and see what you can find out and how much you write depends on what you find. In that case, what I generally like to do is ask for a minimum. You get a minimum of X dollars, for which you'll produce Xwords. If you produce more, you get more money. In the past, I've done things like go to these events without no guarantee and ended up with nothing. So there should be a minimum payment for being the ears and eyes of the pub. |
| Thabit | Posted – 2/13/2008 1:39:37 PM | show profile Thanks Right, sounds like I need more information about exactly what they want, thanks DD and recovering jersey for giving me a better idea of what I need to ask before i figure out how much tx |
| WritingEd | Posted – 2/13/2008 3:11:51 PM | show profile My publication has paid transportation expenses for freelancers who have covered shows for us (even to someone who lives locally). And then we agree to an approximate word count for an article summarizing the show's highlights. I believe once we added a $100 per diem into the deal. From the editor's perspective, it's not always so much about wanting an article from the show as it is about wanting ideas passed along. But we haven't been so great about including that as part of the assignment, probably because of concerns about paying for "content" that wouldn't be for the magazine but used as background. I'll bet the editor would really appreciate if you offered to submit a handful of story ideas along with your proposal for writing a story based on the event. It might not be part of the formal arrangement for pay but there could be an understanding that you would be assigned those future stories if they came to fruition. (I know that's an editor getting some ideas for free, but if you had a relatonship with the publication you could probably trust that you would get the future work.) |
| Thabit | Posted – 2/14/2008 9:48:43 AM | show profile WritingEd: that's stellar advice, I wouldn't have thought of that. I always figure a certain number of ideas fall by the wayside or get co-opted, but it's definitely worth showing some initiative if it generates stories & is the kind of thing an editor might look for in evaluating a freelancer. Thanks! |
