How to Price Freelance Writing Rates
Wondering what to charge for writing projects while being competitive and well-paid? An 8-step pricing process that accounts for everything!
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How to price freelance writing services is a super common hurdle for new writers. Plus, imposter syndrome might be getting the best of you since you’re now putting a price tag on your work. (Yes, your writing services are worth money!)
In this post, we’ll dive deep into how to price your writing services. You’ll learn about different types of project pricing and learn how to work through setting freelance rates with an easy step-by-step process.
Types of Project Pricing When Deciding What to Charge
Ideally, you have set guidelines for when to charge hourly for writing projects versus when to charge one price versus retainers, royalties, etc.
Your Options with How to Price Freelance Writing Projects
These are the most common types of project pricing you’ll want to consider. They are standard in the industry and are well-accepted by clients. First, let’s define them a little more. Then we’ll get into how to calculate a reasonable project price.
Hourly Freelance Writing Rates
Charging by the hour is a very common practice. You agree on an hourly rate with your client, do the work and track how much time it takes you. Obviously, the more detailed documentation you have, the better.
Then, you submit this log to your client via an invoice, and they pay you. Many writers like doing this in case a project takes them way longer than they anticipated. With the hourly rate, you’d charge exactly how many hours it took.
Many clients like this too since they can have a log that shows what you worked on. Since the writing process is somewhat foreign to people, they feel like a log will justify your work.
There are some downsides to charging by the hour, including:
Your client won’t know exactly how much they’ll pay in the end
You won’t know exactly how much you’ll be paid in the end
You may get penalized for doing great work in a short amount of time
You give your client an estimated time to completion, but you might be wrong
Your client may hesitate to hire you since they don’t know the total price
I rarely charge by the hour. I usually charge a single project rate. However, in terms of calculating that price, I do think about it in terms of the hourly load a certain project will take. We’ll break it down later in this article.
The only time I do charge by the hour is if I’m working alongside a team on various projects - almost like an on-staff writer. That way, I don’t have to continuously go back and forth with new quotes. They just give me new tasks and I continue working.
Fixed Price Freelance Writing Rates
You may hear different terms for it like “project price” and such. The bottom line is that you give your prospect a set quote. If the project takes way less time than you thought or it takes you significantly longer, you still get paid the same rate.
As I mentioned before, I love this method because I know what I’ll get paid for a certain project and my client knows exactly how much they’ll pay.
There are a few disadvantages to set rate pricing, including:
Your hourly writing rate will plummet if a project takes you way longer than anticipated
You may have to continuously get new quotes approved if they come to you with new projects
Your client may try to analyze what your hourly rate is or how long you estimated (so nosy!)
Despite these disadvantages, even if a client comes to me thinking they want to do hourly rates, I try my hardest to convince them to switch to a set project price.
Retainer Freelance Writing Rates
A freelance retainer fee is a set agreement that states how many hours a writer will work (or the project scope) and how much they’ll get paid per month.
When it comes to how to price freelance writing services, many writers like this agreement because it adds some stability to their income. Unless you want to press charges against a company that doesn’t pay you, however, it doesn’t really “guarantee” that income.
What if the company doesn’t want your services anymore? What if you end up doing way less work? Are you willing to take the full payment regardless? These are all questions to ask yourself when coming up with freelance writer retainer rates.
Some disadvantages of freelance writing retainer pricing include:
Your client may find it hard to justify this type of contract
You need to agree about what happens if there is more or less work than expected
While I have done monthly contracts, I’ve never done retainers. Instead, I bill my clients the month after the work is completed, and they have the ability to add or subtract work from my schedule. I just charge them accordingly.
Royalties for Freelance Work
Royalties are compensation based on a percentage of sales that can be directly linked to your writing. While they sound amazing in theory, you could also be shooting yourself in the foot.
Some disadvantages of charging projects based on royalties:
Your work may be great, but other parts of the client’s business negatively affects sales
You may only have a very small earning potential
You may have to forego getting paid for the actual work you do
You may have to offer only getting paid via royalties to make an attractive offer
You have to be really good at writing, every time
Royalties put a lot of your payment on the assumption that this company is going to be successful. Sure, you and your client want this project to be successful, but if their business falters because of something you have no control over, your royalties will suffer.
How Do You Price a Writing Project?
Let’s assume you’ve already had a discovery call and you know all the project details like scope and timeline. It’s now time to come up with a project price.
Remember! You and your client need to confirm a writing project price before you start any work.
One of the best places to start is to think about how much time you believe this project will take you. Setting freelance writing rates follows a general process (which we’ll cover here). Just note that certain projects and writing specialities may require additional considerations.
#1 Charge for the Time You Spent Thus Far
Now, what I don’t mean is to bill this prospect for your time right now. They haven’t agreed to pay for anything yet.
You also shouldn’t add a line item on the quote talking about how much you’re charging for the discovery call and initial intake. Once you get a total project price (coming up), these values will be absorbed into other areas of your project quote.
Things to include in your freelance writing rate:
How long you spent emailing them back and forth
How long it took you to review their website, materials and submission (if applicable)
(If you pitched them) How long it took to learn about them and draft a pitch
How long the discovery call took
How long it takes you to write your project quote
Now, some of this might be more granular than what you’re looking for, but these things can add up in terms of working for this client.
Should you charge your full hourly rate for these items? Probably. But again, this stuff won’t get its own line item in your quote. Just make a note of how much time you put in so far and save it for later.
#2 Charge for the Project Prep
Once your client accepts the project price, there is still quite a bit of work to be done prior to writing the project.
You’ll likely have to get on an in-depth kickoff call to get even more details about the project. Here is where you’ll learn more about the client’s goals and what you’ll need for writing the actual content of the piece.
Things to include in your freelance writing rate:
How long it will likely take for the kickoff call (mine run about 45 minutes)
How long it takes you to prep for your kickoff call
How long it will likely take you to conduct competitive research
How long it will take you to review the company’s branding requirements (if applicable)
For these items, you could lay some of these out in your quote, all part of the project scope. Most clients will understand that you need some time and compensation for research.
As far as the kickoff call, instead of charging for it as a line item, consider adding it into the project scope section so it’s included in the main project price. Most of the time you have to do a kickoff call in order to do the project correctly, so it needs to be considered in your final price, but not “charged” on its own.
#3 Charge for the Initial Writing of the Project
This is what most writers calculate when they’re thinking about, “What should I charge for freelance writing?” They only consider how long it will take them to actually write the piece.
If you’re like me, I tend to brainstorm, write down tons of ideas without judgment and then continuously comb through it to weed out the best work. Some people might consider this “editing as you go” but I consider it a part of my initial writing process. Later on, I come back with fresh eyes and edit (more on that in #4).
As you may imagine, my writing process takes some time, but then my editing is pretty short. Definitely take your writing time into account, but don’t forget about all the other work you have to do!
#4 Charge for the Editing Process
When you’re a new writer, editing can take up a huge amount of time. Until you get really good at what you do, make sure the editing hours are accounted for when you’re figuring out how much to charge for freelance writing projects.
For me, my editing usually goes “quick” since I focus, brainstorm and revise somewhat during the initial writing process. However, consider charging about 25% for editing compared to what you charge for the writing process.
For example: If a blog post takes me 4 hours to write the initial draft, I figure my editing will be about 1/4th the time. So, 1 hour to edit. Now, I add up 4 hours to write the piece and 1 hour to edit the piece - and I should be charging for all of that.
#5 Charge for the Revision Process
Unfortunately, you can’t know ahead of time how many revisions will be needed. Sometimes, you hand in your first draft, the client loves it and you get paid. Other times, I find myself doing 5+ rounds of revisions.
Things to include in your freelance writing rate:
How many revisions you want to account for
How long each revision will take
How much time it will take to communicate back and forth via email
(Usually not needed) How long a possible revision or feedback call would take
Some writers charge for a set number of revisions. However, I just add a writing rate based on how long I think it will take for revisions.
For me, I want my client to be 100% happy with the work. I don’t want them paying 100% of the project price without loving it 100%. Putting a set number of revision rounds seems restrictive to me.
#6 Charge Based on Timeline
Now, aside from calculating your project price based on the hours it will take to complete it in full, add in rush fees if needed.
If a client comes to you and wants an insane amount of work done in half the time, it is the industry standard to charge them accordingly.
My rush fees range anywhere from 10-100% of the project price (in addition to what the project costs). Yes, my clients have paid me 4-figures in rush fees alone on individual projects!
If they are okay with the timelines you offered or aren’t in a rush, you can skip this step.
#7 Charge a Little Bit More
Now, this one sounds like you’re charging them extra without reason, but that’s not what I’m saying.
When you’re figuring out how to price freelance writing, most people understand that freelance rates are often more expensive than if they hired someone on staff. As a freelancer, you’re responsible for your own taxes, healthcare, etc.
If they want to offer you full time work and benefits (which would not be freelancing) that rate could go down. But then you’d be an on-staff writer.
That being said, I usually multiply my project price by 1.2-1.5, depending on certain circumstances.
Some other times you may want to charge a little extra:
You anticipate this client will be a little harder to work with
Your imposter syndrome is getting the best of you right now
You’ve been stuck as a low-paid writer for too long
When you go to write your project quote, you don’t have to make this a line item. Just absorb it somewhere.
#8 Generate Your Project Quote
Now that you know everything that needs to be included in your freelance writing rates, it’s time to put it all together.
Take a look at all your hourly calculations during every step and apply your hourly rate (figuring that is a whole other blog post). You’ll know the total number of hours this project will take and how much it’s worth.
Using your invoicing and/or estimate software (there are plenty of free ones), start laying out the essential information.
Essential information needed in your quote:
Project scope (as detailed as possible)
Project deadlines for first drafts, revisions, etc.
Rush fees (if applicable)
You can either list all of the relevant items with one single total price, or you can price them individually and show your total at the bottom.
However, like I mentioned before, there are some things that you really don’t want to list out in your quote. Even though you calculate everything into your project price, your clients may not appreciate seeing certain things laid out with dollar signs.
What to absorb into other areas of your quote:
Email communication time and rate
Discovery call time and rate
Kickoff call time and rate
Revision time and rate (possibly)
The 1.2+ freelance add-on
How to Price Freelance Writing Services Is a Game
I know, you may not like to think of your income as a game, but it does take practice to solidify what rates work for you (and still get you hired).
While you may make some pricing mistakes in the beginning of your career, I promise you that pricing won’t be a scary task forever. At some point, you’ll know what works and remember how to account for everything automatically.
Just be sure to always take a little time to think through how to price your freelance writing services, and double check your numbers!
