How do you set contract pricing rates?

Rating: 4 after 1 vote

I am hoping for your input...an article I submitted to a local newspaper's parenting supplement was published, and now I am one of their "freelancers". When I pitched my next ideas, they were well-received (one as a possible cover story!). I had also (slyly) mentioned that now that he had sampled my work, would he consider setting a contract freelance rate? He said, essentially...sure what do you have in mind?"

Help! The first article I wrote was in the 500-750 range, a cover story would be more. This is a special quarterly supplement of a local, rural newspaper. I have not been a paid freelance writer in the past, this is all new to me!

Any advice? Thanks in advance!
Danielle

Tags: contract, freelance, rate, writing

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Permalink Reply by Jyl on September 25, 2008 at 4:38pm: Honestly, I don't know about rates for that type of writing. I do book writing and I charge by the hour. I generally try and stay within a certain range, but I do some loss-leader type work every once and a while--charge less if I think it will give me great exposure, lead to more business, or enhance my resume in any way.

The best thing I think is to find others in the exact field and see what the going rate it. Then, ask for the mid-to-top range of that. When I was a project manager and had to hire contractors, I was always leery of hiring folks that were amazingly cheap. I always questioned whether they would produce top-rate stuff. It's all a fine line I think.

Hope this helps somewhat :). Thanks MommyGossip; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mary on September 29, 2008 at 7:24pm: It's hard to give any hard and fast guidelines on pricing. It depends on what publication, its readership, audience and overall budget. I was editorial director of a small, monthly magazine and would never write for them on a freelance basis: they only pay $75 for a 1,200-word article. A newspaper I worked for in the same area starts out its freelancers at $175 for a 700-800 word piece. (Or at least it did a few years ago; it may have gone up since then.)

I agree with Angel about breaking down your payment by word and then figuring it out from there.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by DeAnna S. on June 29, 2009 at 8:57am: Hi,
I know it's been a while since you posted this and I hope since then you have worked out a great deal with the paper. When I was freelancing several years ago for a local paper they paid by inch of the published work. It was $1 an inch, which doesn't sound like much but does add up with long stories. Hope you are enjoying your writing experience with the paper.

Cheers,
DeAnna
Write Moms; ▶ Reply to This