Comments on: Freelancer’s Survival Guide, Money Part 6

By: Kris

Kris — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:56:10 +0000

In reply to cindie. Thanks, Cindie.

By: cindie

cindie — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:01:25 +0000

I’m late to this conversation because I’ve been waiting for time to read a bunch at once. Still, I’d like to add a bit. One of the hardest parts of setting price in freelancing is knowing what others are charging. I’ve talked to writers many times and they all want to know what I charge for my hourly work, but no one asks until I say, “You really can ask me anything, even about what I make.” Then a bunch of hands pop up. It goes back to what you said, Kris, about we don’t talk about money in this country. And, I think, in writing, we don’t talk about the business. For newbies, it feels like a very secretive industry. You and Dean are breaking that mold and I couldn’t be happier. Thanks.

By: Kris

Kris — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:31:04 +0000

In reply to Thea. You're welcome, Thea & Elizabeth. Glad this is helping. :-)

By: Kris

Kris — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:30:32 +0000

In reply to Michael. Good point, Michael.

By: Kris

Kris — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:30:13 +0000

In reply to Cynthia R. Congrats, Cynthia. Great job. You're not alone in this recession. Lots of folks are making the switch to self-employment. Glad you believed in yourself and it's working for you.

By: Kris

Kris — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:29:16 +0000

In reply to Mark Terry.

Mark, good point about the PITA tax. I do that as well. And for some projects, I’ve decided that life is just too short. Never again. Not at any price. Disagree with you about 100K as a writer, however. That’s very common. Sorry to bust that myth. If you still don’t believe me, come to our workshop in Sept and we’ll show you how the numbers work. JenK is right about how writers make money. She’s also right about contractors–and that’s an ugly position to be in.

By: JenK

JenK — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:51:12 +0000

Mark wrote: To make $100G as a writer, your books are doing well or you’re either writing technical materials for pharmaceutical companies, Fortune 500 companies doing copywriting or business reports, computer manuals, or, you’re working your ass off.

Or you’re re-selling a lot of things to new markets and/or getting good royalties on sell-through. Re-licensing something you already have is a lot easier than writing something new. 🙂

By: JenK

JenK — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:47:52 +0000

Contractors bid for projects. The bids are estimates, but they become binding when the client takes the project. Anything over the estimate becomes a cost-overrun that the client must approve.

In some industries, the estimate remains binding unless work outside the original scope is formally requested. This means that if you underestimated what it would take to do something, then you get to lose money on the deal. Not fun.

By: Cynthia R

Cynthia R — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:44:28 +0000

Thank you very much for this excellent information. Until I was laid off from a lucrative job last October and left with nothing, I never understood what it took to become a freelance writer, and what it took to become successful at it. The amount of time spent from prior to sun-up to long past sundown, and the constant requirement for productivity that you describe, is the dream I am currently living. With a week of unemployment left and two young children to support–solo–I began to panic, which meant writing more. Producing more. And then I landed my first book contract.

I mention all this because your guide hits the nail on its proverbial head. And I can’t be the only one for whom this hits home. Your guide is necessary and timely; thank you for sharing your experience… just this section alone answers so many of my questions.

And ditto, Thea.

By: Mark Terry

Mark Terry — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:21:33 +0000

Oh, FYI, in case no one’s heard of this formula.

Decide how much money you want to make a year. For simplicity, let’s say $100,000 a year.

Divide by 2080, which is the number of hours in a 40-hour work week X 52 weeks in a year.

So, $100,000/2080 = ~$48

So, in theory, in order to earn $100,000 a year, you need to charge $48 an hour, give or take.

Except, because you’re a writer or some other kind of contractor, you have to pay overhead–rent, utilities, etc. The rule of thumb is, you then triple your hourly rate. For simplicity, let’s say $150 an hour.

Now, here’s the thing. Some fields won’t support $150/hour, and some REGIONS won’t support $150/hour. But let’s call that a GOAL.

Now, let’s say you’re a fast writer and you’ve got a corporate client that wants you to write a newsletter, how much do you charge? You think about this, decide that you can do the newsletter in 20 hours. How much do you charge?

Hmmm. 20 X $150 = $3,000.

Is that high? Well, yes, probably, unless the newsletter is particularly technical, in which case, well, you can probably charge that.

But $1,500? Most likely, which is still $75/hour.

To make $100G as a writer, your books are doing well or you’re either writing technical materials for pharmaceutical companies, Fortune 500 companies doing copywriting or business reports, computer manuals, or, you’re working your ass off.