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baglady


Nine West

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How much to charge?
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So I had this dilemma and I couldn't find the answer I wanted through online searches and almost went to FH when I remembered that it's not there anymore.  So here I am, troubling you ladies for your wealth of knowledge before I make an important phone call on Monday morning...


I was offered a job freelance writing for a magazine, and it's a paid position, but I didn't expect it to be paid and now don't know what to charge.  Besides writing for FH, the only things I write/wrote are/were for school.  What do I charge?  How do I charge? Per word, per piece?  I'm a little overwhelmed.  I don't want to sell myslf short, but let's face it- I'm no pro!


TIA, and "hey" to all you former FHers; it's been a while!



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"I am tired of being your savior/ And I am tired of telling you why"- ani difranco, "Origami"
trixie


Kenneth Cole

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Hey baglady - it's nice to see you back!  I have some potential answers for you but I'm not sure how much of it can apply to your situation since I'm not familiar with how other types of magazines work.


Anyway, to get to the point, my boyfriend has been a freelance writer for car magazines for the past year or so.  He's had a few articles published and they all paid him $200 per page for words and pictures.  The fees were never negotiated on his part - it seems to be the going rate in car mags. 


What type of magazine are you writing for?  Is there a way to find out anonymously what they usually pay?  The other thing while you're figuring this out is to decide what you want to be paid for the actual writing of the article and then add 25-40% on top of that since you will have to pay self-employment taxes on the freelance writing - esp. if you do continue to sell articles. 



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baglady


Nine West

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hi trixie-

it's an entertainment/fashion magazine, but it's not a printed magazine. As far as I know it's online only, but when I looked at the job description it asked for salary requirements. I didn't send one but they hired me anyway. Are there any sites I can look into this? I want to sound prefessional when I call these people on Monday so that I don't get cheated, or worse, passed up for being green!

Thanks!
baglady

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"I am tired of being your savior/ And I am tired of telling you why"- ani difranco, "Origami"
HeatherLynn


Gucci

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I just started looking online because I dont really know.  It seems that there are several books that might be helpful.  I would head to a barnes and noble and see what they say.  One i found is:


Pricing Tables: Regional Tables of Typical & Average Price, 7th Edition
by Robert Brenner


and here is a link to several other books that seem helpful http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/2Y7CP6E8HOZZU/002-1046378-9183262


One website said 5 cents per word, another said an average of $60-$75 an hour for writing the article, this a quote from one website which seemed low but thought I would throw it out there "My average asking price for articles is around $10 to $15 per 500 words or per page."


This website might help you out a lot.  I thought it seemed informative. http://thedabblingmum.com/writing/getpaid/setfees.htm


This is the price for National Magazines so I'm sure it would be lower than this since it is a lesser known online magazine:


Articles can
run from 200 words up to 3000 words. Pay is usually
acceptance. $.50+ a word is an average price.


Hope this helps some and definately let me know how it goes and what you end up charging!



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halleybird


Hermes

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when I freelanced for a weekly city newspaper (circ. was around 50-60,000 I think?), I made about $200 for a 1,000-word investigative piece that took about 15 hours to finish. When I was an intern at a smaller paper (20,000 circ?) I made about $120 for a piece of similar length. Of course, that wasn't my rate or anything -- it was just what they paid freelance writers. I am surprised this place doesn't have a set rate?


Anyway, I wouldn't worry about per-word...most places will edit the hell out of your piece anyway, so you'll lose $$$. I would just charge per piece based on the number of hours you think it will take you to complete. Most metro reporters make around $15-20/hour average, so you could use that as a guideline maybe.


Sorry I can't be of more help. But it's so good to have you back!


 



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Dizzy


Marc Jacobs

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Some of my friends wrote for magazines like Glamour and Marie Claire and Allure and Cosmo, and it seems like they all made peanuts - something like $2 a word - but I will have to ask. I do know, though, that it wasn't frowned on at my paper if someone called and asked a clerk for the going rate for freelance articles. The clerks didn't know if the freelancer had already been hired. And the editors had a tendency to screw people. (They told one freelancer that they paid $50 an article, which worked out to something like $2 an hour). Either way, getting a byline is a big deal, so congratulations! Oh, and it can't hurt to call a few other similar publications to sort of comparison shop.

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baglady


Nine West

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I spoke to the publisher and he told me it will be either $0.50/word for one piece, or up to $300 per piece if I opt to write more than one column.  Plus a chance to advance to Editor as the magazine grows.


His editor-in-chief will be contacting me today or tomorrow to discuss my first assignment.  I'm totally excited, and if I play my cards right and the galaxy is aligned just so, my VISA bill is as good as paid!!


Thanks for the help, ladies!



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"I am tired of being your savior/ And I am tired of telling you why"- ani difranco, "Origami"
mikacat


Coach

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sounds exciting---good luck Baglady

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