The question of price for a writer and publisher is always a tricky one. The writer wants to get what they think they are worth, but the publisher wants to pay the least amount.
Hopefully they can meet in the middle and agree on a price that works for both parties.
But what is a fair price?
Having been a writer and publisher myself I know that payments vary considerably. If you have a sniff around the web you can find ridiculous prices quoted on forums like Digitalpoint for $5 an article. I doubt the buyer and seller of such articles could stay in business for long.
But writing has always been low paid, as there is a lot of competition and entry to the market is low. Get a good reputation and deliver results and your price can rise. Some sales copywriters charge thousands for a few days work.
I want to know what you think.
How much should you charge for writing?
I’ve been a self-employed copywriter/editor for many years, and that’s a perennial question I ask myself, and that other freelancers ask me. So I recently wrote an article listing 31 factors that a freelance writer/editor needs to weigh up before offering a quote to a prospective client – see http://snipurl.com/i4tlm
Kay in Hong Kong
I think the age old ‘You get what you pay for’ comes into play a little here. If ‘article centres’ are bangin out articles at between $2 and $5 a pop, how much research can be gng into them, and how likely are they to be completely grammatically correct?
You have to remember that no matter who you use, the articles that then get put out are in YOUR name, and it’s YOUR reputation at stake. What’s tht worth?
We charge varying amounts for content, depending on the level of commitment a client has – 1 500 word article, including research, keyphrase inclusion, anshored links and submission to 20 article sites, plus Social Bookmarking where necessary £100 – sign up for 3 months and have 5 articles a month and the cost drops considerably.
If it’s specialised writing, technical or needs insier knowledge of the market, then I wouldn’t be surprised to see it cost a lot more.
You can usually tell the ’10 for $20′ articles that are purly written for content and backlinks – and I don’t think they say anything good about the author or the company they’re representing.
As always, just an opinion
Well, the freelance work that I’ve done has always been for friends and family, so a bottle of scotch has always seemed a fair price.
However, the companies I’ve worked for have always charged around £50 per article. For that, you’ll get a well researched piece that’s written with your clients and objectives in mind, and that you can have amended once you’ve read through it. In essence, you’ll get a good article that you’re happy with.
Sure, for that amount you can get 5 of 6 mass-produced articles from someone prepared to work for peanuts, but who’s going to be convinced by what they’re writing?
I always get really depressed when writers undervalue themselves. That’s not to say I don’t think writers should write cheap content in some situations (they should), but they should pay themselves a fair wage too.
Offline, I have been paid well over $1 per word and so I won’t work for peanuts because I know I don’t have to. I can always get magazine work and some magazines pay damn well.
But I prefer writing link bait type articles. I get a thrill out of people seeing my stuff – a lot more people than a limited magazine distribution would allow. That means I will work for slightly cheaper online because it’s about fun for me. I still won’t work for peanuts, because frankly, I know the commercial value of my link bait and it isn’t negligible.
Great article Lyndon, and great comments too. Of course you get what you pay for. Even a great writer, when faced with low rates, will cut corners to make ends meet. Sadly, this tends to get writers branded as ‘cheap’, whether they like it or not.
It’s sad when a talented writer is forced to work for peanuts or go back to stocking shelves, but the fault is with writers as well as clients.
I totally agree that bad writing reflects terribly on the writer and the hirer. Wish there was more we could do to get that across.