Write Away: Advice for freelance journalists on negotiating rates

THERE was a fabulous response to my Write Away post last week which explained some basic advice for anyone starting out in freelance writing.

Thank you everyone who commented and thank you to Josie whose question prompted the advice - and who went on to blog that she was increasingly convinced freelance writing wasn't for her.

I don't know if my advice this week will end up helping put anyone off but it does touch on a rather tricky area.

Joanne Mallon from Parentdish raised the question: "What do you say when an editor asks you how much?" as she suspected this would be of interest. Joanne has written extensively on how to be a successful freelancer and has some excellent advice of her own at Journalism.co.uk. I hope my input may also be helpful. 

Here's my response:

When will an editor ask you what your rates are?

First of all, I need to set out for those reading this who are newer to freelance writing than Joanne, when this is likely to happen.

In my experience, an editor is most likely to ask you this if:

1. They are advertising for a writer or writers and in the ad they stipulate that you should state your rates. This may be a new or established market for freelance writers or journalists.

2. Theirs is a new publication recruiting freelance writers and they either advertise or you hear on the grapevine that they need contributors.

3. Theirs is an established market and they want you to write a series of articles or ask you to submit ideas and rates.

When won't it happen?

In my experience, it doesn't happen so often with more high-profile markets. These should have clearly set fees for their freelance contributors.

There are established freelance rates, which may be discussed by freelance writers, debated on forums or listed in the NUJ Rate for the Job guide.

Not all publications or websites will pay these rates. Clear advice from the NUJ is that these rates should be viewed as minimum rates when writing for the media listed in their guide.

When your pitch is accepted by a national newspaper or magazine for example, the editor should confirm a rate with you. More experienced contributors may request more money depending on the task.

What to say when it does

I'd like to explain my answer depending on which of the three situations above applies.

With situations one and two, I explain that I work for a number of publications paying different rates, some much higher than others. If pushed for a figure I say that I work for publications that pay between the lowest fee I am happy to accept and one that's higher.

If I know that many more writers will be applying, I say that my preferred minimum rates are those advised by the NUJ of around £300 per thousand words.

But regardless of which situation applies, my preferred option will always be: Ask what the budget is.

Take the opportunity to clarify the brief

I will politely ask questions about how much work is needed and when it's needed by.

If their reply suggests they are testing the water, alarm bells ring and I steer clear.

If they have started out and their business model or plan hasn't factored in paying the writer a decent fee, then it's a commonly held view that it must stink. 

Companies should always have a budget in mind, so they must be being run pretty shoddily if they haven't got one - whether they want to tell you or not is another matter.

It may be that they have set their budget for freelance writers lower than you are prepared to work for. Establishing what it is can save you the time, effort and stress of going any further. Suggested rates can be shockingly low - so the sooner you know they are the better.

Once I have this information, I am much more likely to know whether I want to continue.

I feel confident setting my rate at the level I do because I've done my homework and will have researched the potential work and the going rate. I don't apply if I think rates will be too low.

When would I work for a lower rate?

I have worked for lower rates but there have been reasons behind this.

They may be:

• I know I can re-jig and resell the work or use the research to land higher paying commissions
• I consider the job a definite stepping stone to a higher paid job
• I'm keen to raise awareness with my article (for example, writing for a charity's magazine with a limited budget)
• That the job will help me develop new skills that I can make use of for a greater profit (for example, writing for a commercial blogging company)
• The work can be done very quickly and when you take into account the time it will take me and how straightforward it is, I consider it will provide a good return on my investment of time
• It will boost my career in other ways

Because you're worth it

In our commercial writing workshops we advise that when working with clients outside of journalism, if you compete on price you may lose a job on price.

This means you should do your best to show a potential customer why your service is excellent regardless of your price and whether or not it's higher than that of another supplier.

I'd suggest this may be easier to do outside of journalism - where there aren't so many aspiring writers willing to undercut you, or budgets may be more flexible, even now. 

But the basic principle of being able to explain why you are worth paying a decent rate still holds true.

You should still aim to convince editors that your rate is worth paying and do all you can to explain it.

When negotiating rates, you should always aim to:

• Set out your experience

• Include details of similar work undertaken

• Provide evidence of specialist knowledge

• Give details of a testimonial or reference from a previous job

So you are showing them more about why you are right for the job than stressing your rate.

When you state your rate, you should have always:

• Considered how long the job will take you
• Thought about how much effort it will take - do you need to find case studies for example and interview them or is the research more straightforward?
• Factored in any expenses or clarified if expenses can be charged separately

If you decide to turn the rate down - do so politely and professionally. There is no reason why you shouldn't.

NUJ general advice about negotiating fees.

Previous Write Away slot: Starting out as a freelance writer

Write Away: An explanation and introduction

If you have a query  for this Write Away feature then please either leave a comment on this post or send me an email with Write Away in the subject line: linda[at]passionatemedia.co.uk

* Next time - Blogging tips in response to NotSupermum. 

Comments

[Joanne Mallon]

Thank you Linda for this comprehensive reply. I was interested to know how you approach negotiating rates, and I think we're basically coming from the same place.

I always say "it depends" if asked what my rates are, because you can't really say what you'd charge until you know more about the job. 500 words for tomorrow morning, with 3 hard to find case studies is a very different prospect to 500 words for the end of the month on your favourite subject. And some jobs will fill your Bank of Life more than your actual business account, so you need to look at each job individually. Some jobs end up costing you more than they pay, in lots of ways. Always bounce this question back to the client and find out what their budget is. If they start getting cagey, it's not a good sign.

For anyone who's interested in this, there's more here on my blog about how to raise your rates:
http://joannemallon.typepad.com/joanne_the_coach/raising_rates/

[Linda]

Hi Joanne - thanks - yes we are coming from the same place, I think we are bound to be as we have gone after very similar work in a lot of respects. But I have really aimed to cut down the jobs that "cost more than they pay" else there's no point being in business - none of us want to be a "busy fool." That's why I personally have done so much other writing related work as opposed to pitching features - the pay can be so much better. Thanks for the link to your excellent information about raising rates.

[Victoria]

This is very useful, thanks Linda. I have a question that is very specific to me, but I wonder whether it would be helpful for others too? I have written a blog post that two people have suggested (your good self and Ellie L) I try and sell to a paper. So I have the idea, but how do I sell it? Do I write a letter giving a brief outline and pointing them to my blog? Do I write to one newspaper (I was thinking Sat Guardian family section) at a time, or to two or three? Any other advice?

PS I've bought your book so will look this up, but thought it was in the general spirit of your Write Away series so I'd ask anyway...

[Hazel Gaynor]

Hi Linda - this is an excellent series of advice - exactly what I need at the moment. I've had some publishing success in mags and newspapers but I'm planning to concentrate on turning this into more of a 'proper job' in the new year, so this advice is really valuable. Your book is on my christmas list - I hope Santa is listening!

[Linda]

Hi Victoria, thanks, I will answer your question fully in a forthcoming slot as I think it's possibly something that could be of interest to lots of bloggers but I will also email you as soon as I can to help in this specific case.

Hi Hazel, thanks, try sitting on his lap that can help, I have found. x