[BLOG] How To Price A Freelance Job!
Well, there’s no sure-fire way to price any writing work. People — good, experienced [artists]– are doing free work everyday. Also, there are writers making 3 million to write for 6 weeks. So it’s hard to say… you basically take what you can get, especially if you have negotiated a more lucrative pay-out when the project goes to market and actually makes some money.
I can’t give you an exact number, here’s the advise I can give you:
1- Did they offer you something? What is their budget for your work? Start there, ask for more, and negotiate to see how much you can get.
2- Estimate how much time you’ll spend. Is this full-time for three months? Half-time? A couple hours a day? How much would you take to do a “normal” job for that amount of time? What would your salary be per week? Ask for more than that.
3- Do you believe in the project/material? Is there any money to be made down the line if it’s a success? Will it help your career when the project comes out? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then maybe you should consider taking slightly less up front because it’ll benefit you in the long run.
4- If you’re not passionate about it and/or you’re not desperate for the money and/or you’re not sure it’ll further your career, then just don’t do it. There’s nothing worse than waking up every day to work on a project that sucks.
5- Try to get paid as often as possible. Will they be willing to pay you weekly? Probably not. So try to negotiate several different steps of payment: one sum for translating, one sum for summarizing, one sum for new stories, and so one. That way you can price each piece of work separately and get paid several times. Charge the most for the new story ideas. You’re story-telling sense is your most valuable asset.
6- Always get some money — preferably half of total– up front.
7- Don’t be afraid to shoot for the moon. How much do you believe your time and talent is worth? $500 a week? $1000? $2000? The worst they can say is no.
This advice was given to me and a friend by director and writer Sherman Payne. He laid out the formula for writers that I believe can double as well for filmmakers or anyone in the artists. I always struggle with how much to charge a client, do I go low so I can get the job? Do I go high so I can pay off some of these bills? It’s an intense conversation when your main source of income is freelancing. I hope these rules helped you as they did me!
As someone who also often hires out freelance work, be on the look out for a follow up article on the pitfalls of that as well!