Seawoman's Caribbean Blogspot

By Sandra Sealy

So you wrote a pretty good article. You’ve done the format check; the spell check; the someone-else-outside-of-your-writing-circle-read-it-and-liked-it check. You think somebody would be interested in reading it. Or you’re really good with editing or proof reading. You may have even have a few credits already under your belt. Great! Time to make some $$!

But what if the organization/publication doesn’t have a rate scale? Or maybe they do, but you’re not sure if your efforts = what they’re willing to pay. What if it’s a project for a whole publication and YOU need to send them what your rates are?

This is NOT an exact science but beyond research, I highly recommend touching base with other writers from your community first. Think about your expenses, your time, rights you will be selling and, what you bring to the table as far as experience and the amount of research you will be doing. Give some thought too as to what the particular market will bear.

You don’t want to undersell yourself just to get the business-especially if you have experience. You want to walk away satisfied for what you’ve offered. However, if the client is reliable and respects your worth, compromise may be necessary. After all, you want them to come back; good clients are hard to find!

These resources will prove to be useful for those travelling along their freelance writing journey:

Lynn Wasnak also provided her excellent "How Much Should I Charge?“ originally in a grid format.

Debra Jason gives great cost factors you need to consider in "Putting A Price On Your Capabilities: How To Set Your Fees As A Freelance Writer".

. (Seems we are on the same page!)

Sharon Hurley Hall has a great blog called Get Paid To Write.

Angela Hoy’s "Writing For Others – What to Charge?“ is a good read too.

And of course the Holy Grail for Writers - the $1.00 per word markets.

Daren McClaren’s "Write For Markets That Pay US$1.00 Per Word"

Get busy!

*****

Sandra Sealy is an award-winning writer of poetry, short fiction and non-fiction (articles) and drama as well as a performance poet, based in Barbados. She is also Poetry Editor with Anansesem: The Online Caribbean Children's Literature Magazine. Among her several writing credits are: Arts Etc; Island WHERE Magazine; Timbooktu.com; Calabash: A Caribbean Journal of Arts and Letters; the Nation Newspaper and SHE Caribbean. Sandra maintains Seawoman’s Caribbean Writing Opps. and Seawoman’s Caribbean Blogspot

*NB. This piece is an updated blog post from Seawoman’s Caribbean Writing Opps.

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