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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mearls" data-source="post: 423852" data-attributes="member: 697">I've gotten rates from 3 to 6 cents, with 4 cents my standard rate at the moment. Up until April or so, 3 cents was my standard rate. I still work at that rate for one company, but in return I get a lot of creative control and payment up front from them.I know of one company that pays beginners 2 cents a word. I lobbied for them to raise it, but they basically told me that they didn't see any point in doing so. The writers they attracted at 2 cents were the same as the ones they got at 3 cents.Personally, I've done some funny stuff as far as payment goes. When I worked fulltime, I did a few projects for low, low rates. I had enough confidence that if I could get a few projects out there, I could make up the short term loss over time. Besides, I was living high on the Internet hog and didn't need the money. In late 2000/early 2001, my sense was that there were few enough freelancers who specialized in d20 and few enough titles on the shelves that getting my name out as quickly as possible would pay off. While that worked for me at the time, I don't think the same conditions apply.If I was to advise a writer starting out today, I'd tell him that 2 cents is acceptable in certain situations. If the work you're doing is all material that will be open sourced, you don't have to worry about losing. I would never, ever accept 2 cents for a complete project, only for a portion of a longer book.  I'd also expect at least a week for every 5000 words in the project, if not more. Time is a premium in this business, and a fast turnaround should come with a higher rate.As an aside, I do not do wholesale setting development (ie, create a new setting) or produce fiction on a work for hire basis.</blockquote>

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