Can someone give me a ballpark of what I should charge. I can write original content on various topics as well as do in depth research if needed. I know because of outsourcing the wage has been driven down. What should an American phd level writer ask?
hey there! It depends a lot...I have read posts by writers-in this forum- stating they charge 100´s an hour and I have read writers offering to do articles for 2 $ .... It depends on the niche, your expertise, your credentials and so on...also depends on the value you set on yourself. For what it is worth, my advice is: don´t underestimate yourself, do not comply with slave labour, do not offer your time and brains for pennies. Let us make the market respect us again I can P.M. you with my rates so you know.
There are a lot of individuals and companies that will attempt to pay less than pennies a word. Subsequently, I've seen a lot of writers charge .02 cents a word or less for their work. Professional writers value their time more than that, and those who are aware and understanding of the business realize they have to pay more than .02 cents a word to obtain decent quality content. Not to mention, writers have to make a living, too!
Agreed with the above posts. I've been surprised to see so many "authors" offering "professional" services for less than pennies per word. I have to wonder about the value of such articles. Think about how much you'd like to make an hour. It can be different for varying niches. If research is required charge for that time too. Sure, it takes time to build a reputation but it's better to build a respectible one than find yourself swamped with work for peanuts. Also, if this is your main gig or more of a side thing consider that as well. Plus figure in turn around time. Good luck, don't underrate yourself. We writers definately need to demand more respect!
Well said, ContentWorth. With the market as competitive as it is, there are people willing to work for peanuts who churn out hundreds of articles per day with no free time. I'm a professional, and I value my time more than that. Not to mention, this is my full-time gig. I deserve to be paid decent wages I can live off.
Thank you for making me feel I am not alone in this! DeniseJ, your writing is awsome; I have been looking at your samples and you are really good.
Padme, thank you for the kind words. It's always encouraging to know people read the things I've written. By the way, you are definitely not alone!
Obviously the first answer on this is that it depends on the site publishing the articles, the topic of the articles being published and how long it takes to research them. Personally I have found it necessary to pay $0.20 per word in order to attract highly qualified American/Western European writers with PhDs. PLEASE NOTE: If you don't have a PhD, please don't contact me asking to write articles for me from this post.
I generally charge around $5-6 an article... and bundles of 3 for $13..and so on. Again, it all depends on the amount of experience you have and if you can provide writing samples to your clients. What some people don't realize is that it takes a lot of research and time to write a large amount of articles, so it is fair to charge more than a few pennies.
But, $5-6 dollars per article is pennies. Even at $0.20 per word I am hardly paying writers a fair hourly rate for a PhD to research and write articles for me. I'm still depending upon them doing it to also help gain some extra professional exposure. I think people are missing the fact that the original poster is asking what rate an American PhD should charge. There is a very big difference as to what rates a PhD should/can expect and what some joe without lots of credentials can expect. Sure throw away articles from an article mill might go for $5 per article. If, however, one wants really good quality unique articles from highly qualified/educated writers they have to expect to pay a very steep premium and such writers have the right to expect such premiums.
KLB, you make excellent points. Obviously, a writer with a PhD will (and should) receive wages that reflect their level of education and experience. However, writers in general need to demand wages that are fair in accordance with their experience level, education, skill, and time it takes to complete a project. You're right that 0.20 cents a word seems like a paltry sum for writers with that level of experience, but with the market like it is it's hard to find clients that are willing to pay what writers are worth.
You are right on this account, what publishers are willing to pay is insulting to writers. I also think this is dragging down the quality of articles being written because people who would be writing really good quality articles are getting out of the business to find something that can make them real money. I may be a small publisher and I might be only looking for writers with post graduate degrees in fields related to environmental chemistry, but I'm hoping that in the long run the higher rates I pay will start a trend. At least I'd like to see good writers start to demand what they are worth and stop allowing themselves to be taken advantage of.
Hopefully, higher paying clients will start a trend. I think it's ridiculous, the advertisements I see offering to pay writers 1.50 for a 1,000 word article. It's one thing if you're writing as a side gig or a hobby, but it's another thing entirely for a professional writer to demean themselves by taking such insulting wages. Writing is a profession like any other, and we need decent wages to survive.
I'm in full agreement with you. Personally I'd like to see rates go up to drive bottom feeding sites MFA sites out of business. Nothing is more frustrating that trying to publish really good quality authoritative articles and then have to compete in serps against piles of crap. These low quality MFA sites produced with articles that cost no more than a bottle of your favorite soft drink are bad for writers, bad for readers and bad for competing sites that try to focus on quality. The only one's who benefit from these articles are the owners of the sites and maybe their advertisers (although that is debatable).
I agree with what a lot of people here are saying. Writers are professionals, and definitely deserve to make a "real" living. If you have no experience, maybe you really will only get a few cents per word (or sadly less). If you build up expertise in your field, work hard to build great samples, and search for clients in your niche who need high quality content, you can certainly manage a decent living. For my own rates (I write on a freelance basis on the side of running my PR firm), I charge $.35 / word just for non-exclusive online rights. If they want non-exclusive print rights too, they pay for both. If they want exclusive rights, they pay a higher rate. And none of that is to even mention copyrights. I only give up copyrights under 2 conditions: 1. It's a big name client, and it's more important to me that I have them in my portfolio than to worry about re-using or re-selling the content. or 2. They can purchase the copyright for a buyout fee, which is huge (minimum of 4 digits) with the sole purpose of discouraging them from buying the rights. And it's honestly not too difficult to find clients who are willing to pay you what you're worth. I have colleagues who charge significantly more than I do, and we all find plenty of clients. Just don't look around forums for article jobs. Contact bigger sites and publications directly (you can find a lot of contacts right at www.writersmarket.com), or search on journalism-related job sites instead. Market your work towards large companies rather than webmasters, and you'll have better luck. Just don't forget, it's really about building your expertise in your field, even more than in writing itself. Get skills or knowledge that would be in demand, and you'll be fine. Jenn
I'm 21 years old, so I have been writing ever since I've been able to pick up a pen! Haha. I've been writing "professionally" for newspapers and clients since high school. Currently I am a senior English (writing concentration) and Business major at the University of Massachusetts, so I'm just read to get that degree! How about you?
What I look forward to is the day when articles I publish generate enough traffic and thus enough revenue that I can economically justify paying much more than I do now. While I make the rates I pay as high as I can, it really boils down to economics. The articles still have to pay for themselves within a reasonable amount of time. This means I must increase revenues to increase rates I pay.
KLB, you said you were paying $.20 / word. That's actually really great compared to most. It's nice to hear someone who actually wants to pay writers a decent income though, instead of people who are more than content paying less than a penny per word, no matter how much their sites may make. It's promising. Good luck increasing revenues! And actually, in reference to the original poster... if you're a PhD, why not try targeting trade journals? Many have online and offline publications, and I find they often pay better than commercial clients anyway. Like I mentioned before, take a look at Writers Market. It doesn't have everything, but it's a great place to start. Also, every once in a blue moon there's something decent posted over at www.mediabistro.com and www.journalismjobs.com. Good luck. Jenn