Hi friends! I'm in a bit of a pickle, trying to figure out a price to charge a guy that's commissioning me.
I'm writing 'chapters' for him that's realistic fiction regarding a real-life person/royalty. Therefore, I have to do some research on her to make sure I understand her political/religious stances (she was a pro-life activist), her character, etc. The chapters will be roughly 1,000-2,000 words each.
The client wants to know what the price will be at the end of each chapter. I don't know what to tell them, since I've never done a commission like this before. It normally doesn't take me long to write a commission but these take a little longer since it requires more research. However, I don't want to go too high with the price for fear of them getting turned off.
Suggestions?
EDIT: I considered maybe $10.00 a chapter. Is that too high/low?
I'm writing 'chapters' for him that's realistic fiction regarding a real-life person/royalty. Therefore, I have to do some research on her to make sure I understand her political/religious stances (she was a pro-life activist), her character, etc. The chapters will be roughly 1,000-2,000 words each.
The client wants to know what the price will be at the end of each chapter. I don't know what to tell them, since I've never done a commission like this before. It normally doesn't take me long to write a commission but these take a little longer since it requires more research. However, I don't want to go too high with the price for fear of them getting turned off.
Suggestions?
EDIT: I considered maybe $10.00 a chapter. Is that too high/low?
This is a little out of my element, as I do character art commissions, but I would definitely make sure you're at least being paid minimum wage for your time.
I guess you could time yourself, see how long it takes to write a certain amount of words, and calculate your pricing around that? But definitely make sure you're not undercutting yourself!
I guess you could time yourself, see how long it takes to write a certain amount of words, and calculate your pricing around that? But definitely make sure you're not undercutting yourself!
$10/hr at least. Including research, so long as your research time is focused. (As in, not like me, where I read something relevant, then check facebook/RPR/snopes/fall down a wiki hole, then get back to research 2 hours later lol)
I'm from a country where the minimum wage is about half of what it's in the US, plus I tend to underprice myself. In this context, I'd charge about $4-5/ hour for everything (writing AND research), but I wouldn't go over $15/chapter.
There are two aspects to price-setting, which I'll describe on the example of an independent shoe-maker (who makes shoes by hand - admittedly, it's an old example that I came across in a book.)
A shoemaker's hourly wage is not set by saying 'I'll work for a minimum wage and no less'. Rather, he looks at how much people are willing to pay for shoes. Then he looks at how many shoes he can make in a day, minus how much he'll need to pay for materials and rent of his workshop, and - this is the most important part - then he decides whether shoemaking is really the way to go. Maybe he's not making much right now because he's slower than the others, but he can improve. Or maybe he's making an average number of shoes and isn't making money because the industry is going down the drain.
So a price is set based on how much someone is willing to pay you. Obviously in your case, that's going to take some experimentation. If you end up being unhappy with the maximum you're going to get, I'd consider dropping the whole thing, if I were you - especially if you have an opportunity to earn more elsewhere. On the other hand, if you're viewing this as a learning experience, I wouldn't worry about making less than minimum wage for now, if I were you. There's also the aspect of you saving money on gas and saving travel time that you would otherwise use up to get to work at a physical location.
I hope this ends up being at least a little bit helpful!
There are two aspects to price-setting, which I'll describe on the example of an independent shoe-maker (who makes shoes by hand - admittedly, it's an old example that I came across in a book.)
A shoemaker's hourly wage is not set by saying 'I'll work for a minimum wage and no less'. Rather, he looks at how much people are willing to pay for shoes. Then he looks at how many shoes he can make in a day, minus how much he'll need to pay for materials and rent of his workshop, and - this is the most important part - then he decides whether shoemaking is really the way to go. Maybe he's not making much right now because he's slower than the others, but he can improve. Or maybe he's making an average number of shoes and isn't making money because the industry is going down the drain.
So a price is set based on how much someone is willing to pay you. Obviously in your case, that's going to take some experimentation. If you end up being unhappy with the maximum you're going to get, I'd consider dropping the whole thing, if I were you - especially if you have an opportunity to earn more elsewhere. On the other hand, if you're viewing this as a learning experience, I wouldn't worry about making less than minimum wage for now, if I were you. There's also the aspect of you saving money on gas and saving travel time that you would otherwise use up to get to work at a physical location.
I hope this ends up being at least a little bit helpful!
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