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Topic: Cost of doing business
| Author | Message |
| CA Writer | Posted – 6/23/2008 9:59:49 PM | show profile | email poster I've been a magazine editor for 9 years, and I've been taking on freelance assignments for the last several months while I look for a full-time job. Most outfits only seem willing to pay between .10-.25/word. Some have told me never to take such a low rate, while others think it's fine. I'm confused. I've turned down a job or two due to the low rate, but I'm wondering if I should just take the low pay. Thoughts? |
| web | Posted – 6/23/2008 10:36:40 PM | show profile | email poster with no experience.. My first writing gig, I made 10c a word. I didn't know I was getting paid. A few years ago a local business journal paid me 40c a word. I wrote one article and told them they either pay me more or I can't write for them. They chose not to pay me more. I'm glad. :) |
| flight risk | Posted – 6/23/2008 10:59:52 PM | show profile When you say most outfits, do you mean community papers, small dailies and weeklies? Maybe you should set your sights higher. Try pitching a big daily (.30 to .75 a word), a regional magazine, a trade or a national consumer mag ($1 - $2 a word)? |
| westsidestory | Posted – 6/24/2008 12:45:27 AM | show profile welcome to our world Carol, I feel your pain - but only to a limited degree. These days we are seeing lots of magazine and newspaper people who were let go, and now finding themselves astounded at how little freelancing pays. Often, these are the same editors and staff people who have been telling freelancers for years, "sorry, but this is all we can pay." This is the work environment that you and your peers created, all the while you were safely cushioned behind your salaried job. My standard advice to folks "starting out" in freelancing is to take a few low-paying gigs to get recent clips, which in the long run or more valuable than the pennies they bring in. A few new clips and nine year's experience should garner you some higher paying gigs in time. And, one would hope, in your next staff job you'll be a champion for higher rates. Good luck! |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 6/24/2008 2:11:25 AM | show profile Freelance rates are highly variable. There isn't a "right" and "wrong" rate. There are different rates depending on the needs of the publication, the skill of the writer, the expertise in a specific subject matter. etc. Frankly, you are trolling on the low end of the magazine market. ---'ve been a magazine editor for 9 years, and I've been taking on freelance assignments for the last several months while I look for a full-time job. Most outfits only seem willing to pay between .10-.25/word. Some have told me never to take such a low rate, while others think it's fine. I'm confused. I've turned down a job or two due to the low rate, but I'm wondering if I should just take the low pay. Thoughts?-- |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 6/24/2008 2:15:05 AM | show profile That's a little harsh. Honestly, if a magazine can find writers who are willing to sell them copy at a satisfactory level for X dollars why should they pay X dollars plus 1 cent? Every time an editor says, "Sorry this is all I can play," a writer is free to say, "I pass." --Often, these are the same editors and staff people who have been telling freelancers for years, "sorry, but this is all we can pay." This is the work environment that you and your peers created, all the while you were safely cushioned behind your salaried job.pp |
| WordyBird | Posted – 6/24/2008 11:25:04 AM | show profile Was writing part of your duties as an editor? Do you already have bylined pieces? If so, someone with your experience can make a lot more money than 10 to 25 cents a word. You don't need to tap into such low-paying markets for the sake of your career. Now *where* you can make a higher rate is part of the sleuthing that goes into a freelance career. You can always start with Writer's Market--just make sure you double check the contact names with the place you'd like to pitch because there may have been turnover since it was published. Tap into your own network--people who've already worked with you and know what you can do might be more likely to go to bat for you and your talent with their budgeting people. Remember that your time is worth money. I've read in a few places that freelancing is 2/3 marketing and chasing down payments and about 1/3 actually engaging in writing or editing. For your experience, spending 20+ hours looking for a $150 piece doesn't seem worth it. |
| JimmyG | Posted – 6/24/2008 12:48:43 PM | show profile If you make $200 for writing an 800-word article (.25 a word), but it takes you a day or less to research and write it and you get the job via a simple phone call you're coming out ahead on the deal. If you have to spend a day writing a pitch letter, two weeks waiting for an answer and a week researching and writing it, with one or two subsequent rewrites, not so much. Time, as they say, is money. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 6/24/2008 1:46:18 PM | show profile Yes and no. First, yes, it is a good idea to gauge how much you are making per hour for writing and consider marketing (obviously, whether $200 for a day's work is good pay is in the eye of the beholder -- grossing $200 a day as a freelance, once you factor in benefits and taxes and expenses, is probably equivalent to a $35,000 a year staff job.) At the same time, a $200 a day article may be losing money if it is keeping you from doing $500 or $1000 a day articles that you could get by marketing yourself to a better class of clients. In my experience, writers who tend to think in terms of making adequate, small amounts tend not to survive freelancing in the long term. --If you make $200 for writing an 800-word article (.25 a word), but it takes you a day or less to research and write it and you get the job via a simple phone call you're coming out ahead on the deal. If you have to spend a day writing a pitch letter, two weeks waiting for an answer and a week researching and writing it, with one or two subsequent rewrites, not so much. Time, as they say, is money.-- |
| abqwriter | Posted – 7/7/2008 1:13:42 PM | show profile I've turned down several full and part-time jobs because I like the freedom of freelancing. I've sold articles at a wide range of prices and continue to accept work based on whether I like the assignment and the editor. For a struggling local weekly, I've written an 800-word piece for a paltry $27. However, it was a remake of a story where I'd already done the homework and interview, so all it took was a half hour to write it up. I was happy to help out an editor trying to get a new publication off the ground, and it wasn't a sink hole for time. Between the higher paying pieces and those that pay less, it evens out to better pay than my last job offer - and I'm at home and able to volunteer in my kids' schools and serve on a local community board. My advice is to pick assignments based on the amount of time they'll take, whether the editor is easy to deal with, and then worry about the pay. If they continually underpay and require a lot more work, then I'd drop them. Otherwise, just keep the work coming in. |
