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Topic: 80 cents a word at amex publishing?
| Author | Message |
| sophiesMOM | Posted – 7/2/2008 3:25:14 PM | show profile i've been offered an oppy with amex publishing for a reported, sourced article for which the pay is .80 a word. am i crazy to turn this down? i've never gotten less than $1 a word, and eventually that client came up to $1.25. any advice? |
| spacedesign | Posted – 7/2/2008 3:59:47 PM | show profile | email poster negotiate. simply tell them that your given rate for everyone is $1 and that you want more. go get 'em! ------ http://senseofplacewriter.blogspot.com/ |
| InsomniacNOT | Posted – 7/3/2008 12:50:42 AM | show profile It's been said many times on this board, but I'll say it again. You should be worrying about what you make per hour not per word. Some high word rate stories are time eaters than end up paying less than lower word rate stories that can be whipped off in half a day. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 7/3/2008 3:05:37 AM | show profile Well, yes and no. It's good to evaluate per hour, but you should also have an idea of market rates. Let's say a pub is paying 20 cents a word, but you're a fast writer and can turn around a story fast enough to make $50 an hour. Good? Maybe not. Maybe the market rate is 80 cents a word for this kind of piece and by turning down this client and seeking a better one you can make $300 an hour. --T Posted ? 7/3/2008 12:50:42 AM | show profile It's been said many times on this board, but I'll say it again. You should be worrying about what you make per hour not per word. Some high word rate stories are time eaters than end up paying less than lower word rate stories that can be whipped off in half a day.-- |
| web | Posted – 7/3/2008 5:45:02 AM | show profile | email poster let me tell you a story.... That has nothing to do with writing... but all to do with money. As weird as this sounds, Chambers of Commerce don't pay speakers. Nor do professsional groups. They think that lunch is payment and you should be glad you're speaking. And lots of people say OK and I used to. Now I get paid. Money or in-kind = to my usual speaking fee. Some people tell me I"m crazy and others appreciate that I'm asking. Moral of the story -- ask for what you want and dont' be afraid to turn a job down because you're not getting paid what YOUR sklls are worth! I'll get off my soap box now. :) |
| sophiesMOM | Posted – 7/3/2008 10:45:46 AM | show profile this story would have required, oh i don't know, maybe 15 hours in total. they wanted 1,300 words..would have required research, several interviews, etc. at .80 a word it's just not worth my time. i tried to get them to come up and got the usual "my hands are tied" response. they tried to talk me into doing it anyway but i had to stick to my guns. if i agreed to the rate this time, they'd try to hire me again at the same rate. |
| writethis | Posted – 7/3/2008 12:06:09 PM | show profile it all depends... There are so many factors to weigh when taking a new gig. Money is one, for sure. But also, is this a client/assignment you really want? Could this be a good clip for you? Could it possibly turn into regular assignments? All that said, at .80 cents a word and 15 hours that's about $70 an hour or $1,050. At a dollar a word it's $1,300 and $86 an hour. While I agree you should always ask for what you are worth, do you want to turn down a good gig for $250? I'd say you did the right thing asking for more, but you should consider taking the gig. Maybe you can do it in 3 fewer hours, which would nearly make up for the lower rate. Maybe in lieu of the higher fee you can negotiate regular assignments with them, or ask for more money on the next assignment. Hope this helps put things into perspective for you. Good luck, whatever you do. |
| jcpatterson | Posted – 7/3/2008 3:39:43 PM | show profile It also depends on how valuable this "bird in the hand" is at the moment. If it is going to take you 15 hours this week, and you can sell those same 15 hours immediately to someone paying $1.25 per word for the same number of words (or the equivalent), then you go to the highest bidder. But if this week you have 15 hours available, and this is the only thing you have in hand to fill them, you may decide 80 cents a word is better than nothing. |
