What should I charge for freelance ghostwriting?

[Cyc]

I'm currently in a position to write both a letter to the editor, and a personal letter to a reporter by a stakeholder who was referenced in a newspaper article.

This is brand new to me, and I'm not sure what I should charge for the service. It's a cool experience for me, so I don't want to price gouge, but I have this terrible habit of not charging people for my time. I can't tell you how many times I will DJ weddings, work events, and fundraisers for free, and also do free computer repair and consulting. An entrepreneur, I am not. Business savvy, I am not.

Since this woman took out an ad to have someone help her, and I seem to be the only one stepping up to the plate, I'm compelled to charge her for my time. What do other ghostwriters out there charge? If you were this lady, what would you expect to pay?

I know someone out there does this for a living. I want to say it's Lysis, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[spork]

Here's another thread that's related to freelance writing.

I would say that charging would really depend on what type of work you're doing. It could be per unit or per hour.

I'm going to move this over to College & University as the scope there is now including career/employment type questions.

Good luck!

 

[VerbalTruist]

The letter to the editor will certainly be published?

It really depends on the length of it all.

 

[Cyc]

The letter to the editor will certainly be published?

It really depends on the length of it all.

Hi euphoric. No, there's no guarantee it will be published, but I made sure she knew how to access the proper channels and even printed copies for her and delivered them in person. She was very happy with my work which I agreed to do up front.

I got $75 for the job, but it was a bit embarrassing because I hate dealing with money, and asked her to just give me what she thought was fair. I know, very unprofessional of me. Still, good deal for a couple hours work. I'm recently laid off and it's a bit of extra cash in the backburner.

The job was an editorial for a paper, and a letter to the reporter. I spent about 30 minutes interviewing, and about 3hrs on the material itself.

I already have another job lined up for a cover letter. Again, I'm scared shitless about the whole business end of things. I wish I didn't have to deal with money.

 

[Lysis]

Kyk, (I can't believe I missed this thread)

Most freelance writers charge per word. Some charge by the hour. I charge $30 per hour and that is pretty cheap. A seasoned freelance writer will charge about $50 per hour. I am also a medical writer for suite101.com, which is a great place to make some extra cash while practicing your writing. I suggest, if you really enjoy writing, to apply.

Normal, low freelance charges are about $.20 per word. You will come across people who charge much higher and some people in 3rd world countries with broken English who will charge pennies or less just to slap together a bunch of Google indexed words. Many seasoned ghostwriters who have a high profile published book will charge $1-$2 per word.

You need to factor in your costs. The link spork provided (Elance) is a place I use, but it is also a place where cheap work is done. It's a good way to get a leg up and make money. I make about $2k a month on Elance and I am a premier provider. I also have a website that draws money, and I am a provider on rent-a-coder.com. Elance has a HUGE learning curve and if you can't write a killer proposal then you'll probably quit.

On Elance, I'm usually a cheaper bidder, but I also have a website that pulls money. I usually gauge the job, but on Elance, I normally charge $5-$10 per page (6x9 size) for an eBook +$50 for the research. It depends on the subject. I am mainly a medical writer. I'm underbid though, because like I said, Elance has a lot of cheap work from crappy writers and certain people just don't care - they want the cheapest piece of crap thrown together so they can trick people into giving up their email for a crappy book.

I also investigate the buyer before bidding. There are a lot of scammers who will take advantage of new providers. If you decide to join Elance, let me know. I'm a part of a forum of some of their top writers.

Overall, you need to charge what you think you're worth. I would not charge below $25 per hour or $.10 per word. That is extremely low though. On Elance, you need to get a feel for what you can make. Most people need to do some cheap work first to get a leg up.

Let me know if you have any questions. I started in this field with 0 experience, and I just grew from there. I have a lot of expenses, so I need to supplement with school loans, but if you have a low overhead in cost, you can sit in your jammies and write for a living at home. I make about $2500-$3000 a month, but I work my ass off I gotta tell you. There are never guarantees either. I am ALWAYS watching the jobs and one thing that has won me clients is that I have no life, I'm always on my iPhone or on my laptop and I respond within minutes to clients or potential clients.

Give me a shout in PM if you have any questions. You're talking to someone who clawed her way into the industry.

Edit:

Also, you gotta have a thick skin. I've had people tell me how awesome my work is and some who basically say my work is not what they want and dump me. I have one client who sends me updates on his eBook (it was a book on how to become a chef). He was great. I've had other clients who just tell me what I wrote is allll wrong. It really makes the day shitty when someone writes you and tells you how your writing is horrible. I gotta say, though, that when someone writes and says how awesome you are that it makes your fucking day.

 

[Lysis]

Hi euphoric. No, there's no guarantee it will be published, but I made sure she knew how to access the proper channels and even printed copies for her and delivered them in person. She was very happy with my work which I agreed to do up front.

I got $75 for the job, but it was a bit embarrassing because I hate dealing with money, and asked her to just give me what she thought was fair. I know, very unprofessional of me. Still, good deal for a couple hours work. I'm recently laid off and it's a bit of extra cash in the backburner.

The job was an editorial for a paper, and a letter to the reporter. I spent about 30 minutes interviewing, and about 3hrs on the material itself.

I already have another job lined up for a cover letter. Again, I'm scared shitless about the whole business end of things. I wish I didn't have to deal with money.

Hey, you gotta start somewhere. You got money and god knows I know what it's like to need money. You were underpaid, but stick that into your portfolio. Don't EVER let someone dick you down from your prices by saying the following:

a) I have lots more work for you
b) It's easy if you know what you're doing

If you do a little research, this is a popular way to scam new writers. ALWAYS charge what you feel is right. There are so many people who just have no money to start up and they feel writing is easy. Fuck them. They normally have no clue and their business idea is crap.

 

[VerbalTruist]

Lysis really said a lot about it.

I would charge any where from 40-75 an hour depending on the difficulty of what I'm writing and the amount of research I'll have to do.

 

[Cyc]

Wow, thanks very much for the info Lysis.

You single? :D

 

[Lysis]

Ha! I am! I have no life but writing and playing on BL. LOL

Good luck! And be careful on Elance if you decide to try it. I just had someone on Sunday try to scam me. There are a lot of people who take advantage of n00bs on Elance.

 

[Cyc]

Well, you seem more focused than me. I have a severe case of career ADD. My interests change with the direction of the wind, but I usually stick things out long enough to get some credentials.

I'll probably do this writing thing for a few months, then go back to music, or maybe IT again. Who knows. I'm so scattered

 

[Lysis]

Dude, I have the worst ADD. I sometimes write back to people and realize I am always saying "yep, I've done that" because I never stick to anything. I want to do everything all the time.

Try suite101.com. You will need 2 samples to apply, but you only need to write 10 articles 400-words every 3 months. It's not much, but my writer friend makes about $35 a month from her 50 articles.

You can also try Elance, but it's so much freakin hassle. There are so many things to know and people think writing is easy.

IT is cool, but I've known for a while I've wanted out. You can make good money, but it's not like it was back in the day. People think that since they've written a macro that they are programmers and can tell you how to do your job. It's why I want to get into the medical field. I can just tell people that their wikipedia research doesn't match up to my 8+ years in college so STFU. I have so little patience for that shit.

I feel ya though. I want to do everything.

 

[Cyc]

Wow, this is eerie. I'm currently working toward a bachelors in Biology part-time, so I can study to eventually take my MCAT. I also want to get into the medical field. I might also go with a PA program (physician's assistant) after next year instead.

I feel like I want to accomplish things, just to do them. Then move on to other stuff. I want to do everything too!

I thought I was the only one who was like this. My friends think I'm crazy.