(Image by star-dust)

One of my reasons for becoming a freelance writer was to make money. I didn’t expect to make a huge amount immediately, but I wanted to make something for the time and effort I was putting into the projects I decided to take on. The problem was: I had no idea what to charge. I found myself charging a per-word fee for this project and a single, seemingly larger, per-project fee for that one. When I finally sat down and figured out the hourly rate for each project, it turned out that some customers were getting my work for much less than others. I was losing potential income because I didn’t know what to charge my clients BEFORE they came to me with work.

Which brings me to today’s Lessons from the Writing Trenches tip: Know your fees ahead of time. Don’t make up charges on the fly. If work comes your way and you haven’t considered what your late fees will be or how much an additional product will add to the bottom line, tell the client you’ll get back to them with your quote. Don’t sell yourself short by throwing out the first number that comes to your mind.

In my case, I eventually came to my senses and did some research to figure out the typical project and hourly fees for each type of work I do (web writing, technical writing, copy writing, copy editing, etc.). From there I was able to develop a set of fees for basic, mid-level and complex projects. While they’re not set in stone, and there is often some negotiation with the clients I take on, my charges are clear to me at all times, no matter who I’m working for.

Knowing my fees in advance helps me keep from waffling when a client isn’t willing to pay what I believe my work is worth, and it helps me to know exactly what kind of a deal I’m giving clients if I decide to reduce my rates. I can also avoid making fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants pricing decisions when a job comes my way. I lose less money and have a firmer grip on how my fees rank among other writers.

The following resources helped me to set my fees and stay on top of an ever-changing freelance market:

• Writer’s Market – Both the annual print edition and the online version of this freelance writer’s resource provide rate charts that include fees for a variety of writing and editing jobs. In most cases, the fees are even broken down into low, average and high hourly and per-project rates .
• Freelance Writing Jobs – This community and blog network has a plethora of freelance writing information—including postings for jobs. They had a recent series on setting rates that I found helpful.

Do you have any other resources for setting your rates? If so, share them in the comments.