Payment of Writers

[SemperRomanus]

Hey everyone I'm an attempting writer and I'm trying to set up my first contract and I could use some help. The publisher asked me to name my own price and I want to see whats usual payment for writers. Is it different for new writers? Anyways any help would be great.

 

[Mytholder]

Industry standard is three or four cents per word for average writers. I took two cents a word for my current bit o' freelancing, but that's cos I want to get a foot in the door of the company, and am therefore willing to compromise (plus, it's my first big d20 project).

 

[Lizard]

Hey everyone I'm an attempting writer and I'm trying to set up my first contract and I could use some help. The publisher asked me to name my own price and I want to see whats usual payment for writers. Is it different for new writers? Anyways any help would be great.

Hey, everyone,
aspiring
what's
the usual
Anyways,

The general payment rate for writers is about .03/word.

 

[SemperRomanus]

Alright thanks for the help its good to know what I can expect.

 

[Orcus]

Name your own price? Hah!!!

There are two possibilities:

1. They mean it
2. They dont really mean it.

If (1) they mean it, then they are silly, particularly if you are a newbie. I wouldnt even let established authors set their price. Established publishers know their costs and know what they can afford. If the author wants too much, and I cant afford it, then we cant do the project. Its as simple as that. No hard feelings. I didnt go into business to lose money on a project.

If (2) they dont really mean it, then they are using the age old negotiation tactic of "making the other guy open", meaning they want to see what you think you are worth and negotiate down from there. They want you to set the upper limit, relying on the time honored principle that people are polite and dont like to ask for too much and will usually sell themselves short without them even having to do it to you. Personally, I like to be up front about rates. I always open so the author sees I am up front. Thats because I know what my costs are.

Ask for 5 cents a word then and see what they say.

I will tell you that any d20 company that wants to stay afloat will pay anywhere from 0.5 cents a word to 4 cents a word (with the latter being rare and for only the most senior author on the most important product). Getting 2 cents a word these days is pretty good. The d20 market is shrinking and the days of fat freelance rates is declining. I wouldnt be surprised to see 1 cent per word as a norm. If a company is offering you much more, you need to worry about the finanical viability of the company. Frankly a company that offers 2 cents a word and actually pays you is better than a company that offers 4 cents a word and never pays you.

Unless these are your best buddies in the world who you trust, I would be suspicious of any publisher telling an author to "name their price." Either they are trying to get you to underbid yourself, or they are novices and dont know what costs they can actually afford to pay--which might mean you wont see a dime.

Of course I could be wrong.

Clark

 

[Monte At Home]

Getting 2 cents a word these days is pretty good.

Come on, Clark. No it's not. Not by any definition of "good" that you can come up with. It might be "acceptable," or it might even be "common" (although I'd debate that), but it's not "good." Not for a writer and not for the industry. Publishers continuing to ratchet down rates is the surest way to drive out quality writers that I can think of.

I can't think of any writer that I would want to read that would accept 2 cents a word. (With the possible exception of someone who's not doing it for the money at all, but as a labor of love. However, despite what some writers may tell themselves, this doesn't happen _truthfully_ nearly as often as people think. And I certainly don't encourage it.)

 

[Khan the Warlord]

Come on, Clark. No it's not. Not by any definition of "good" that you can come up with. It might be "acceptable," or it might even be "common" (although I'd debate that), but it's not "good." Not for a writer and not for the industry. Publishers continuing to ratchet down rates is the surest way to drive out quality writers that I can think of.

I'm in total agreement with Monte here. From my own experiences with various publishers and their rates, I've discovered that .03 a word is pretty much the industry norm. To even suggest "0.5 to 2 cents" a word makes me cringe. (I am not an established "name" by any means and I've never been offered less than .03 a word.

 

[Orcus]

Monte-

I'm talking about what the guy posted about: "a starting writer attempting to get his first contract." I still maintain 2 cents a word is pretty good from d20 for a starting writer right now, particularly from established publishers. Sure, new companies that need to attract authors might dangle more money.

Obviously, much more experienced ones get more.

Oops, I see a typo in my post. It should be 1.5 to 4 cents a word. Not 0.5 to 4 cents a word. Though with the d20 slide as it is, I wouldnt be surprised if it one day went to 1 cent a word for rookie authors. But I am pretty sure that hasnt happened yet.

Dont forget, I told him to ask for 5

Clark

 

[Orcus]

I guess I was using "good" as the norm, as in "if you are getting the norm and not getting less, that is good." I never said authors are paid "well." Nor did I say they should be happy about it. Nor should illustrators. Or cartographers. Or layout guys. Or programmers. Basically, anyone not named Monte isnt going to make a ton of money in this biz, it seems to me. I'd like to have Mike Mearls chime in here, since he has done tons of freelance and might be in a good position to tell us what the "norm" is these days.

Maybe I'm not the guy to ask.

All I know is that game company owners arent paid that well either. I should know

Clark

 

[Pramas]

I got my first paying gig in the game industry ten years ago. I started as a freelancer and I still do freelance work to this day. In my time, I have done jobs that have paid 1 to 11 cents per word. The 1 cent a word gig was for Over the Edge and was definitely "for the love." It's worth pointing out that HP Lovecraft was paid 1 cent a word 70 years ago, so the idea that the "Lovecraftian cent" could return as a norm is appalling.

When I was a fulltime freelancer, my standard rate was 4 cents a word. When I set up Green Ronin, I made that the company's standard rate too. Any decent-sized d20 company that claims it can't pay you more than 2 cents a word is taking advantage of you.