This post is part of the Be a Boss series. To see more posts in this series, check out the list on this post. They’ll be linked as they are posted!
Pay rate is a tricky topic among freelancers. I know some writers who change as little as $5 for a 500-word article. Others wouldn’t dream of charging less than $200 for the same article. So who’s right?
As a writer, it is important to charge enough to make the salary you want. I highly recommend reading the article How to Set Salary Goals to learn more about calculating how much you …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Hi Anne,
Do you think $5 per blog is a fair pay rate?
Thanks,
C

Hi C,
Great question! And there’s no single answer. Five dollars a post equals $35 a week if you post daily, which isn’t much. But wait!

Is there also a revenue share? If there is and you get popular, that can increase your pay rate significantly.
Is it a topic you’re passionate about? If it is, it probably won’t take you long to write most entries and a blog can be a great showcase of your writing.
Can you use your blog to sell ebooks, drive traffic to a …read more

You know, if you’ve followed this blog at all, that I’m a great believer in writers getting paid, and paid well. John Kremer, author of the excellent 1001 Ways to Market Your Books and an excellent blog on the same topic has posted a YouTube video by author Harlan Ellison called Writers Should Be Paid!
Please, go watch it and listen to it, carefully! Then come back here and tell us what you think.
I think it’s wonderful and true.
Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing – a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision – for …read more

Back in March I speculated about what I’d do when my $600 rebate arrived. Today, with the announcement that the first rebates were deposited today, I looked back at my post.
I was tickled to see that I managed to order a new couch and get bookcases without the rebate. But I’m still not sure what I will actually do with it… maybe put some in a retirement fund? Save half or some other amount… blow part of it just for fun, but doing what?
So once again, what are you planning to do with your tax rebate?
Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant …read more

Who do you believe? How can you tell? My bank insisted it was the client’s bank who refused payment. My client insists it was my bank. I certainly can’t tell looking at all the numbers and stamps that have appeared on a color copy of the check in question. My hunch is both banks are, well, confused.
Fortunately, my client, bless their hearts, is going to deposit directly into my account… now that’s a solution I really like.
Part of this problem is that I live in San Diego, CA and the client is in eastern Canada. I’m reasonably sure if the …read more

You answer an ad and they respond, telling you they love you and they have a ton of work coming. Visions of dollars dance in your head.
You sign a contract for $x a month, and for the first month or two, payments arrive promptly, and then stop. All your efforts to contact the client end up no where.
You accept a check and when you deposit it, it bounces. Chasing the client gets a partial payment, maybe.
One of the hardest lessons in freelance writing and editing is learning not to count the cash before it arrives or the check clears.
It’s …read more

Arghhhhh… I’m trying to renegotiate a writing contract and I’m having real trouble understanding the numbers involved… I sent what I thought was a clear proposal to the client and he’s replied, but his understanding of the dollar amount is quite different than mine.
After spending yet another half hour on this I realized that I need someone to help me… so I’ve placed a call to a friend and we’re going to have coffee later today and go over what I thought I was trying to do, how the client’s numbers fit or don’t, and decide what I’m really offering.
It …read more

One of the challenges with ghostwriting is timing projects in such a way that payment is more or less smooth. I try to set up monthly payments when I contract for a book, and that works, except when it doesn’t.
For example:

One of my contracts needs to be renegotiated because conditions changed. I won’t know until next week exactly what we’re changing and how. Meanwhile, payment is on hold.

Another contract may be for a whole book or it may be just for a book proposal. We’re working on the book proposal first, but that doesn’t schedule out on a …read more

You just never know. In the midst of a whole bunch of un-fun stuff, including chasing a delayed payment, the phone rang. I found myself talking with two delightful gals about a book proposal.
Apparently they’d hired someone and were quite unsatisfied with the job. As we chatted it became obvious they wanted to know exactly what I’d charge and precisely what I’d deliver. Not unreasonable requests at all.
Usually I’d ask for a copy of the proposal before making a bid, but there seemed to be both urgency and good rapport. I poked around and got a rough page count …read more

Freelance writers are always wondering about their pricing. We talk a lot about it on the forum. My pricing has come to my attention in a couple of ways.
The first is a ghostwriting project. The job came through a broker and, as a result, was less than I would have liked to charge. I like the client and there is probably more work coming from him. Besides, I tend to complete what I promise regardless of price.
Here’s the problem. He’s leaning on me to help him make self-publishing decisions. I haven’t self-published in quite awhile so although I can …read more