Rate Card

Rate Card

General Trends

We received 60 responses to our survey, and the data is not equally distributed among the findings—some sections were only relevant to a few of the respondents.

Most respondents charge per work/per article, but the nature of “one article” can cover anything from a book to a magazine article to an advertising campaign, which can involve social media copywriting or even short film scriptwriting. We also have respondents who charge per hour or per page. To make it easier to compile and compare, we requested respondents to estimate what they would expect to be paid in “price per word”.

While “price per word” is easy to ask as a frame of reference, very few respondents (n=6) actually charge per word, and most of the responses are estimates based on what they would expect to be paid, rather than actual prices they have charged.

Respondents who actually charge per word expect to be paid a slightly *higher* per-word cost as compared to everyone else’s estimates.

Out of all the responses received, most (n=21) expect shorter articles to cost more per word. The second largest group (n=16) expect longer articles to cost more per word, and the smallest group (n=12) expect the same cost regardless of length.

Almost everyone (n=46) expects harder articles (that require more research) to cost more per word.

We were able to verify that the estimates for price-per-word were assuming “short” (fewer than 1,000 words) articles of “moderate” difficulty.Many Malaysian Writers Society members also offer services around writing and publishing activities. We are in the midst of gathering a database of such services to be hosted on this page.

Rate Card

This rate card is designed to be a starting point when deciding what to charge as a freelancer or when hiring a writer for your content. These ranges are based on the expected difficulty of the assignment. Actual price may differ depending on various factors: deadlines, research materials, niche, revisions requested, experience level, etc. The final fee may be substantially different from the price-per-word rate as a result of these additional factors.

Advertisement

35 sens - 90 sens per word

Digital Content

45 sens - 80 sens per word

Publisher

40 sens - 80 sens per word

Multinational Corporation

40 sens - 90 sens per word

Small & Medium Enterprises

45 sens - 75 sens per word

Start-up

40 sens - 85 sens per word

Datamancer work done by XJ Ng

Advice for Potential Hirers

Please be clear before seeking a writer what your budget will be, as well as the content type.

If a per-word charge is too expensive, calculate a flat rate that is in line with your budget.

General Practices

  • Set expectations early: work length and time, availability, payment.
  • Be clear on boundaries. You do not have to be on-call 24/7.
  • Build in slack time.
  • Revise your prices around 2 – 3 times a year.
  • Get everything in writing and screenshots.
  • Offer your rates first, but be willing to negotiate.
  • Read, understand, and negotiate your contract. State your conditions clearly and make sure to get clear written agreement.
  • Calculate your charges according to difficulty of work, market rate, time and effort needed to complete the assignment, and your level of expertise.
  • Take note on the time and amount of work you will need to do for a client before agreeing on an offer. Writing often involves more work and time than we anticipate, so always factor in time required to do research, travel, etc. when charging for writing.
  • You can set hourly rates as an average of how much time the job would require, and include time spent on research, travel and administrative tasks. However, if you are highly efficient, hourly rates alone can work against you.

Regarding Clients

  • A first-time client that asks for a discount is not a repeat client.
  • Never let miserly clients belittle your work to drive down your rates.
  • Always get to know your client.
  • You can alter your rates based on the client.
  • Regardless of experience, freelancers should seek clients who are pleasant to work with. Unpleasant clients will make the work suffer.
  • Clients who think a quoted rate is too far out of their budget will not negotiate. This enables the freelancer to filter out low-paying clients who will not sustain a career as a freelancer anyway.
  • If a client says, “But it’s so easy/simple,” ask them if they could do it themselves. Remind them that they’re paying for your education and experience that get you to your level of skills, your strategic thinking, your editing skills, your style, etc.

On Pay

  • Get paid a deposit upfront. Take a 30-50% deposit to safeguard your job.
  • Rates are a benchmark. You can negotiate for a win-win situation in which the rate is a comfortable rate for client and acceptable and workable for you.
  • Ensure your contract states a schedule of payment so you don’t waste time chasing for your money.
  • Always negotiate your rate and don’t settle for low pay. Accepting low rates means spoiling it for the rest of the freelancers.

Extra Charges

  • Charge for revisions. You might provide one (1) free revision, if it isn’t a total rewrite of the article.
  • If the deadline is less than 24/48 hours, take surcharge. If the client is trying to apply “very urgent” pressure, test by including an urgency charge on top of your base price. If it’s truly urgent, they will pay for it.
  • Don’t forget to set late payment terms, e.g. interest charged on late payment.

The Importance of Peer Groups

  • Ask your friends who freelance for their rates and go with a rate that’s sensible.
  • Network with writers in a similar or same niche. There are many Facebook groups for freelancing writers, and though most are based in the UK or US, it’s good to know the rates being paid there.
  • Ask seniors in the business for advice. Don’t be shy to reach out. And if it looks like it’s too low, it probably is.

General Self-Esteem Advice on the Value of Your Work

  • Experience is invaluable when you first start, so be flexible but not desperate with your rate.
  • Value your work. Many are afraid to charge people for the amount of actual work involved, leading to lower charges. It shouldn’t be that way.
  • Not every opportunity that comes to you is valuable.
  • There will always be someone cheaper than you.
  • Do work that excites you, for your own sense of accomplishment. Rates will rise as you get better and more confident in your own skills.
  • Whenever possible (and affordable), reject the job if you are treated like a cheapened commodity where you get threatened by the price game. When everyone holds firm to their self-value, clients will not take advantage because then they don’t get to determine the market price.
  • Don’t sell yourself short and be desperate. Decent paying jobs will come your way.

Advice for Potential Freelancers