Well, personally, I'm not willing to pay anything, because I run a PR firm. Those people charging $10 / release don't provide "quality" press releases. They're usually from content writers who don't know the difference between a news release and an article, and the client more often than not gets an article slapped into a template. I charge $60-80 just to edit them, and have had plenty of clients of the $10 / release writers who have happily paid me that much to fix what they received from them. If you're thinking about offering the service, and you have any kind of qualifications to do that, don't start off on the wrong foot by thinking the $10 / release writers are actually your competition. If you're simply a content writer wanting to try something new, charge whatever you want. You'll find people charging across a pretty wide spectrum here, from content writers to copywriters to PR pros.
A press release is not a PR article. It's a very specific form of marketing that must be written not only in a standard format, but with a very narrow focus and goal. (It is not an article at all.) A professional press release usually costs $250+, but Jenn (the resident PR pro around here) offers them for $99 - I'm not sure if that is a special or permanent offer. You can PM JHMattern to find out more. I can say with about 99.99% certainty that a $10 PR Article is not even in the same timezone as a true press release. HTH!
Ironic that you mentioned my rates actually... they're increasing to $249 early 2008 for new clients (although I'll be extending the $99 rate to past clients for a year so it's not sprung on anyone).
Thanks for the feedback. Actually, my friend, who has been working for a PR firm for more than eight years now, asked me if I want to put up an online PR with her. I think I'll just perform the SEO part of the site while she provides the service
She probably won't find most webmasters willing to pay the rates of PR professionals, especially when they can get them cheaper right through the big distribution sites they're used to using. If she wants to charge low, there are plenty of buyers. If she wants to charge rates more in line with PR professionals, she'll need to market beyond things like webmaster forums (looking for offline businesses with an online presence, larger companies, webmasters with larger sites and bigger budgets, or she should specialize in a niche of PR that isn't already oversaturated online - and there are plenty).
I charge a minimum of $75, but I haven't had a problem getting $100 for them. I'd like to be able to charge more, because I do have experience and a good track record, but it's hard to find decent PR clients online. I do hate to see people looking for $20 press releases. It's such a waste of their money, and they will never see what a good release could have done for them.