Any freelance writers out there who would be willing to help me price up this job?

[Poseidensgrumpyneighbour]

I'm taking on some freelance writing outside my PT job. I'll be shaping and writing content for a new website. It'll involve writing up to about 4,000 words made up of a variety of mini biogs, mission statements, Q&As, case studies. There'll be some meetings with the art director and director of the organisation as well as up 10 or so interviews for the Q&As and case studies.

I always find it really hard to estimate how long writing work will take because I can write really fast if I have all the content ready but there are so many variables e.g. if the interviews are in person, I'll have to factor in transcription time, whereas if I'm doing them via Teams I can generate an automatic transcript. I have over 20 years experience as a writer and editor (but still find costing for work excruciating!) I'm based in London (and so is the rest of the team so London weighting will be expected). Last time I took on a freelance writing project, a couple of years back, I charged £30 / hour (so £240 a day). DH tells me this is too low!

If you are do freelance editorial work or employ people who do, could you tell me how you would go about costing this (or what you'd expect to be charged):

• how long would you expect that much work to take?
• hourly or a day rate?
• If the latter, what is a reasonable day rate for an experienced writer in 2023 (bearing in mind shaping tone for a new website as well as just writing content)?

Thank you so much if you've read this far! Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

A lot of people are still charging £220-270 a day tbh, as they were 10 years ago. It should have gone up more, of course.

NUJ minimum starts at £175 (I know, I know) http://www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/index.php?&section=Online%2Fdigital+media&subsect=Writing+and+research

Are you a specialist? Is the organisation a start-up, corporate, profit, non-profit?

TBH the project manager is probably going to see it as a budget line for the entire job rather than caring how many hours you work so you might be better off pricing it as a job. Then if you can do it quicker, woohoo.

p.s. just to say that every time I pitch for a job at £300+ a day I don't get it! I'm a somewhat name writer with a book published and many national press credits. DH is a much bigger name writer and charged £250 recently on the grounds it was a non-profit good cause and thought he could have gone in higher, but it ended up not taking him very long so he was still ahead.

£75 an hour would seem about right.l You’ll need to be forensic with this costing, interviews will take way longer than you think especially in terms of prepping, writing up and capturing.

Thanks, all - really helpful to get some feedback. It's a grant-making foundation, and the content is a bit of a specialism of mine.

I keep hearing such vastly different figures. A friend charges (quite justifiably because she's ace) a v high rate for corporate work and suggested £400 / day for what I'm doing. That feels too high but the context was useful. I was thinking £300 a day which seems reasonable looking at this article

But am mindful of what you say @nutsnutspistachionuts and i'm not a 'name' (though, as I say, I do have specific experience in this area which is why I've been asked to do the work). Regarding how long it takes, I'll be waiting around a bit depending on design work and availability of the various different people so isn't something I'll just be able to bang out.

And I've noooo idea how long it will take. I'm thinking around 8-10 days assuming some redrafting as we establish tone and style plus doing numerous interviews. Again, does that sound nuts?!

@HarrietSpying thanks for your response. So you would always charge for interview prep time?

Remember that copywriting and content writing are two different things. Copywriting is intended to be income generating and will usually need the text to be search engine optimised etc (so a commercial as well as creative skill).

I'm not a writer but was approached about a very similar job to the one you describe OP and I charged them my standard day rate of over £600. That sounds expensive but a) that's what my time is worth, take it or leave it and b) I'm an expert in their field so although my day rate was high there was literally zero research or ground work needed meaning I was able to complete the job quicker than the professional writers they had gotten quotes from (I also had the bonus of already knowing their day rate).

I’m not being sarcastic, though it probably sounds like it: the prep time is work, isn’t it? If you were doing catering, you’d consider the prep part of the job. Nobody would say that you should chop up the vegetables for free, for example. And if you can write really fast, presumably that should be to YOUR financial advantage, not that of your client?

Yes, you’re absolutely right. Was just checking really. But that’s why I’d find it even harder to charge a word rate because the amount of prep required is so variable.

Absolutely charge for the prep time. Assume you’ll need background material supplied by client so that will need to be read and digested. Honestly you need to value yourself more highly. Go for it. Less self doubt please.

There is an element of being industry specific I think. I work in financial services, for this sort of content, I'd work on the assumption that the interviews and prep alone is at least 2 full days of work and then the writing itself which, on plus side, based on what it sounds like is slightly "easier" in that, theoretically, you have the information from the interviews rather than trying to magic it up! But let's say 6 pieces of content? I'd probably charge something like £4000-£5000.

But in the charity sector, I'd be surprised if you'd get that. I imagine you'd be more likely to get something like £2500.

Hey @Poseidensgrumpyneighbour, pricing freelance writing gigs can indeed be a bit tricky, especially with various variables in play. With your extensive experience, you bring a lot to the table. Considering the complexity of the project, meetings, and interviews, it's reasonable to aim for a higher rate than £30/hour, especially in London.
You might want to break down the project into phases and estimate the time for each. That way, you can provide a more accurate quote based on your anticipated workload. Don't hesitate to reach out to fellow freelancers or platforms like writingtools.co.uk/ to get an idea of industry-standard rates. It's always good to ensure you're compensated fairly for your expertise and effort.