Writer’s Worth Day
May 15, 2009 by Lillie
Lori Widmer at Words on the Page has declared today, May 15, as Writer’s Worth Day. Lori is on a mission to educate writers that they deserve to be paid a reasonable rate for their work.
I know my readers are interested in this subject. Every time I check my stats, How Much Will It Cost? Average Freelance Editing Rates is second only to the home page in number of visits on this blog. The most popular search term readers use to find me through search engines is freelance editing rates.
Beginning writers often think they have to charge very low rates to get business. They discover that low prices may bring projects, but not the projects they want. Instead of enjoying their work and making a fair profit, they find themselves doing work they don’t like, dealing with difficult clients, and never making enough money.
I owned businesses for many years before becoming a freelancer, and I learned that customers who want low prices are usually the most difficult people to work with and the most likely to pay late or not at all. In my interior landscape business, a business owner called me to order a few plants. She asked me to give her discount price to care for the plants since we maintained the plants in the office building. I thought it made sense—my technician was right outside her door every week watering plants in the corridor. It wouldn’t take but a few minutes to step inside her office and tend to the handful of plants she ordered.
That woman and her five plants turned out to take more time and energy than many clients with dozens of plants spread out over a whole floor. She screamed at the technician because one of her plants had a few yellow leaves, even though we explained that it was normal for plants to lose a few leaves each week. She called to complain that the technician was late, even though we made no commitment of when we would be there except during business hours on a specific day. She was always late paying the few dollars we charged her each month. Finally, I wrote her a letter saying that we obviously were not able to meet her needs, and we wanted her to find someone more appropriate for her needs. I refunded every penny she had paid me, including the cost of the plants, and told her to keep the plants. It was well worth a few hundred dollars to avoid the aggravation.
That lesson from another business taught me to charge a fair price for my work when I started freelancing. If you’re new to freelancing and haven’t been in business before, you may be tempted to write a custom sample or take on a project at very low rates to get experience. Imagine the woman described above as your writing client. Instead of screaming about a few yellow leaves, she’ll be screaming about a word or comma she doesn’t like. Instead of calling your boss to complain that you’re late, she’ll be harassing you about a deadline. Instead of being late paying me the few dollars she owed me, she’ll delay paying you the few pennies you agreed to.
You can build a portfolio and experience without subjecting yourself to that. Write articles for your own blog or Web site. Donate your services to a nonprofit organization you support—just ask for a byline. Submit to an article database that others recommend as a marketing tool.
But don’t give your work away to a client who should be paying for your talent and skill. Maybe you don’t have enough experience to charge $75 or $100 or more an hour, but you don’t have to accept less than minimum wage.
You can find examples of typical rates and information on how to determine your prices in the following articles:
Editorial Freelancers Association
How Much Should a Freelancer Charge?
How Much Will It Cost? Average Freelance Editing Rates
How to Set Your Freelance Writing Rates
National Writers Union Survey of Freelance and Contract Writer Rates
Professional Fee Guidelines for Canadian Writers
Putting a Price on Your Capabilities
What are your prices for writing and editing services … and how much value do you give?
I am very prone to charge lower rates for my services. I have many rationalities, but mostly I don’t know how much I’m worth.
Thank you for this post! I will keep it in mind for the future.
Have a great day!
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Beatriz,
A lot of writers undercharge because they don’t have a good idea of what a fair price is. I hope the resources I listed will be helpful in understanding typical ranges for various kinds of writing. A less experienced writer will start at the low end of the range, but she doesn’t have to work for rates far below standard.
Your story about:
That woman and her five plants turned out to take more time and energy than many clients with dozens of plants spread out over a whole floor….
Wow! I can really relate to that very much. And what a classy way in which you handled it…great job!
Knowing your own value is key to running a successful, *profitable* business.
Enjoy, Barbara
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Barbara,
Most of us have probably encountered someone like that woman at some point. People who are starting out in business or writing or any other endeavor don’t understand how difficult one person can be and aren’t prepared to deal with such situations.
Lillie, this is a subject that needs to be shared widely! Writing is a business but too often when it comes to pricing, writers use emotion (am I good enough, I have no experience, etc) rather than business logic. I had a similar experience to yours but it was with a writing client. I was trying to “help” the client who had a low budget and the project was a disaster from beginning to end. I also refunded the money. You do yourself and your clients a great service by charging a fair value.
Karen Swim´s last blog post..Writing 911
Karen,
Helping people is wonderful in theory, but when you are trying to help someone who should be paying a fair price for a service, you can get into trouble—as both of us have learned from experience.
As my Bosses at Vois.com tell me, you can’t please everyone! What a nightmare about the plants customer! The one thing I can tell you is to make sure, no matter what type of business or work you handle to make sure even if you charge the client/customer in milestones, or upfront that they sign a contract.
Jessie,
Good advice on charging in milestones and working from a contract. I don’t have contracts with regular clients for whom I do a variety of work on an ongoing basis. However, I do have a contract for new clients for specific projects.
this is good to hear because I myself am a freelance writer so it is fantastic to hear that this cause is being advocated.
C,
Too many writers take what is offered by the people out to get the most for the least. We want to be fair—both to ourselves and to our clients.
Very nice post Lillie, I will add your blog to my list of 100 blogs that use CommentLuv for my daily comments!
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Thank you, Hesham. I appreciate being added to your list of CommentLuv blogs.
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
I haven’t yet gotten to the point where I write for money. Well, I guess I do a little, because I have to write for my job.
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Ronnica,
I’ve subscribed to your feed for a little while but haven’t commented before.
If you write in your job, you are paid for writing, perhaps along with a lot of other things.
Great post, although I don’t write for other people, I write tons of articles for my business and I know how difficult it can be, especially on topics I know little about. Writers deserve every penny they are paid.
Josh,
So many people who aren’t professional writers don’t recognize the value, so I appreciate your support for writers.
well that’s a sensible thought… and not only does this apply to writers, but to various lines of work… it’s really quite hard to determine your ‘worth’, but it seems reasonable not to go below the minimum wage… i’ll take note of that..
James,
Yes, writers aren’t the only people who don’t always get paid what they’re worth. And it is often difficult to know what a fair price is. I hope the resources I’ve listed will be helpful for writers to see typical ranges for various kinds of writing. At the least, though, at least expect to make what you would make as an entry level employee in an unskilled job!
Lillie, Thanks for the post because it is a big hope for those who are disappointed. I think we always exploit ourselves due to low confidence and lack of knowledge. Writers always get lower rates by finding writing tasks on most popular webmaster forums which are very cheap and full of scam people(take DP as an example).
Note: confusing sentence removed.
Steve,
Lack of confidence and lack of knowledge about fair rates contribute to people working for far less than they should. Let’s hope Writers Worth Day helps educate both writers and clients about writers’ worth.
Very informative! I’m glad you posted this. Sorry you had to deal with that client. Maybe I should rethink what I charge for editing, too.
Dawn Colclasure´s last blog post..I clicked, I wrote, I conquered!
Thanks, Dawn. Although dealing with that client was difficult and frustrating at the time, it taught me a valuable lesson.
I encourage you to review the typical rates in the resources I listed and evaluate your own rates based on industry averages and your experience. If you’re charging too little based on that evaluation, it’s time to consider increasing your prices.
Lillie, you’ve done the right thing to deal with the arrogant woman! Like the old saying, “It takes two to make a quarrel”. After all, it’s better to be peace with other than starting off the fight.
Talking about the unreasonable editing rate, I was one of the victims of this matter as well!
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wilson,
You are so right. It’s much better to be at peace than to be involved in a quarrel.
The more a potential client tries to nickel and dime you, the more you need to add an aggravation fee.
Happy Writers Worth Day!
Devon Ellington´s last blog post..Monday, May 18, 2009
Devon,
Thanks for the sage advice and for the good wishes. Happy Writers Worth Day to you as well.
It all depends on the selfesteem one have. I am also a writer and I will not work for free. I have that principles, that I have a standard price and if they don´t want to pay the price, then it is there loss.
Excellent point, Figgie. A writer with poor self-esteem doesn’t think her work is good enough to earn a fair wage.
Thanks for the post. We should remember that confidence in writing should be first step to making a living from it.
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Kuba,
You’re right. If we aren’t confident that our writing is of value, why should a client/prospective client?
Great post. I have had so many times in my internet business where people just demand the world from you. Those people, if cut down to size enough times, may learn their lesson.
I feel bad for those people on Digital Point who feel like they offer 1c or less a word just to get business.
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Jonk,
I hope those people who think they have to work for peanuts will come to value their own worth and will learn what is reasonable compensation.
Exactly. I think the main thing for many people is though they are either too lazy to build their own business or unaware of other options available to them.
Jonk,
I’m not sure people who work for peanuts are lazy, though some may be. If they do the work, it’s more likely they aren’t aware of the value of what they do.
There are several types of writing. I write in first person and I am aware of how difficult it is because the story must be interesting to be successful. I think that if you do not appreciate yourself, others will not appreciate the good that I always take the good money for my work.
Ana,
It’s good that you are having success in writing in first person. That’s usually the best POV for blogs and nonfiction, but it’s difficult to maintain in novels.
A lot of writers are not acknowledged for the wonderful stories they’ve made. For example, whenever great TV shows are at the peak of its success, only the directors and especially the actors are recognized. I am glad that writers will be given a “special” day recognizing their worth.
This is truly an inspiring post. Keep up the good work.
Dominic,
Writer’s Worth Day was created by a writer for all writers. If others won’t recognize us, we’ll recognize ourselves.
Lori is trying to motivate all writers to recognize their own value and also to educate consumers on the value of writer’s work.
lillie, this is my second time comment here. I’ve been reading your posts again and again because I really want to write and develop this craft. In my previous comment, I have already thanked you. But once again, I’m thanking you for being such a good inspiration and you’ve impart your knowledge so well. Such a good act. Thanks again
Dominic,
You’re welcome. Thank you for reading and commenting. I’m glad you’re finding the posts helpful.
You are a good writer Lillie and the younger generation of writers have a lot to learn from you. You are such a talent!
Thank you, Cornelia.
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