Question: How Much Would You Write For? · 12:54pm Jan 20th, 2016
Like it asks on the tin: How much would you be willing to write fiction for, in terms of $/100 words? Would it be different if it were a much longer project of novella length, like 10k, 15k, 20k, or even full-sized novels like 50k+?
The reason being that I'm seeing all these numbers here and there. People looking for freelancers to do up their ebooks ala ghostwriter, all that jazz. I know the industry rate is anywhere from 2c to 10c per word. I'm writing a Minecraft fanfic currently for about 1.9 0.5c/word, which, surprisingly, is actually still much less terrible than I had thought (more on that at a later date).
For instance, these guys are looking to hire someone to do 15k to 20k with a stated budget of $100 - in other words, it's going to be awfully difficult to get a higher rate. These other guys want a 3k CYOA type or game (idk) story for $55 and $50, respectively. All terrible rates, I know, but to be fair, it's probably an easy Lincoln (or whoever it is on your American $50 bills) for someone who can bang out this stuff, no sweat. It's almost like literally getting paid for time you'd spend writing fanfic, and the quality won't vary as much, right? No? Eeeh.
Bonus edit:
While browsing for more similar ads, I found this one where he wants someone to do a Minecraft animation for his character. Notable quotes are:
My character runs to a chest confidently and as my character grabs a sword from the chest the music picks up and the character immediately starts fighting/killing the other contestants as they gather loot from the given chests
as they look sassy and overly confident my character is scared and has an expression of fear and worry, but then something clicks and she is immediately confident and goes straight in to fight these 3 contestants
The confident and cocky character comes charging for my character to end up having no clue where she has gone. The character looks up to find my character on top of a tall mountain about to jump onto the character with her sword
The catch? The animation is only going to be 1 minute long. The bigger catch? He's paying $70 for this. Holy moly. Screw creative writing, vanity Minecraft animation is where it's freaking at.
Second edit:
Well, I got the CYOA job. That was unbelievably instant. This 21st century, amirite? Samples come in tomorrow, so wish me luck, whoop whoop, here's some gratuitous Patchouli! I kid, I kid*.
*The joke being that there is no such thing as gratuitous Patchouli.
Huh. I am... kind of intrigued. I may need to think about this.
3699917
etonline.com/news/2015/06/24155449/set_shia_labeouf_motivational_speech_640.jpg
Seriously, though, if you find yourself with some free time to burn, or if you're between jobs ;_; it's not too bad a pursuit. Upwork in particular is very professional, in that they do the whole "verify your education/qualifications" thing; I almost wish I had started there instead of the content mill I do most of my writing at (iWriter).
Have you thought about your hourly rate instead of a wordly rate for these things? How long does it take you to write a 3K CYOA?
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This is a good question.
Personally, I judge these based on two things: firstly, my experience writing the Minecraft fics, and secondly, the amount of time I have.
Now, these Minecraft fics I do are of much less quality than my pony writing. I'm not trying to do amazing plots or gimmicks, or develop rich, convincing backstories for background characters (which - geez - is all I do really). The audience is young kids who would probably appreciate snarky dialogue and vivid action sequences rather than compelling use of language, so it frees me to really - and the word is accurate - churn words out. I struggle to put out 400 words on my personal fics. I did 1.3k words yesterday in a couple(?) of hours to meet a deadline.
The comparison between this to game stories is not really fair, but it will do - my approach will be to churn first, and make the plot up as I go. Bonus since it's a game, and randomness is part of the fun. So I think it's safe to make a conservative estimate of 5 hours in total.
Now, this puts me at at $11/hour, which is frankly low for where I'm at. If what I wanted was money (and this is the case), a part time job is a much more preferable option.
However, I'm in a bit of a spot: my visa expires in the middle of March, and I'll have to leave for a month or two before my residency application can be completed, meaning I can't promise potential businesses my staying for more than a couple of months. So I can't really apply for work without screwing them over. My time is, therefore, pretty worthless right now, and anything I get is an improvement.
Writers make remarkably little. I think the number was quoted to be $20k a year or so, from some survey some publishing house did. I can't recall. "Don't quit your day job" is becoming less of a snappy reply and more of a grim realization, really.
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You should have seen the one I did =P
You're not wrong. I do agree with you. It's a more long-term outlook you have, which is definitely something I lack myself.
I'v actually been thinking about this, and I'll call it the blog dilemma. It's a bit roundabout, so if you could bear with me...
It's the most profitable to run your own blog. You keep all the earnings for yourself, as well as the copyright. Or you could ghostwrite, like I do - sell your articles to people who post it on their own blogs. At first glance, it's obvious which one's better overall.
The problem is that running your own blog doesn't mean just writing. It means, almost certainly, renting a website platform like Wordpress, running servers to host traffic, and search engine optimization, normally called SEO. Gosh, how much I despise that. Shady dealings, shady people, shady disingenuous blog posts splattered along the underbelly of the internet about how to make it in Google's ranking system.
There is a considerable barrier of entry, though I won't deny that it's crossed easily enough with some solid research and, as you said, luck in hitting a niche.
Otherwise, you pay a price for using the framework someone else has developed. That price is potential. Potential to gain fame, make a brand, all of that - by ghostwriting or freelancing, you work in a narrower field. You get to avoid most of this extra learning and extra work. It's more instant, too, so it takes a load of mental worry off your mind.
It's the salaryman vs entrepreneur shindig. For now, I'm still working up the confidence to be the salaryman.
Again, I'm not disagreeing with you, and think you're completely right. Especially about putting limitations. I do, too, else I don't think I'd be able to write peacefully ever again.
I go for $10 per 1000 words.
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So that's 1c/word. Fiction or not? If you feel more confident, you can probably negotiate for more with not too much effort. :P
4309703 Fanfiction on this very site.