You want it cheap. Well of course, everyone wants everything cheap – but also of
course as a general rule you will get what you pay for in a ghostwriter as in most
anything else in business and in life.
Copywriting – of which ghostwriting is a specialized sub-category – has no
“standard” pricing models. Freelance copywriting had a traditional model of
print articles for things like newspapers and magazines, which would generally
be on a price per word basis. The old rule for decades was 0.10 per word. Like
gas prices the rates are going up a little. The more recent standard is closer to 25
cents.
If you needed a 350 word article for a local magazine, at 10 cents a word that’s
almost nothing – $35 – and at a quarter a word it’s still not much – $87.50.
If instead you needed a 100 page e-book, at 400 words per page, 25 cents per
word, you’re at $10,000 – when in fact the going price for a 100 page e-book by a
domestic writer on a non-specialty topic with quality is probably closer to $2,000
– 2,500.
The problem with the per-word model is first, it encourages overall length which
is not necessarily a good thing. Second, it encourages use of more words per
sentence, per paragraph and per page. Also not necessarily good. Third and most
important, on smaller projects it is a waste of time for the writer and on bigger
projects it will get too expensive for you!
Some writers will work on a per-page basis and for shorter projects this may well
make economic sense for you. Expect to pay around $25-75 per page for a good
US, UK or Canadian writer. You can find offshore resources who will charge $1
per page. But remember what we said about getting what you pay for…
Many writers will offer to work on hourly rates. You can find offshore rates as
low as $5 per hour. Domestically, in most markets writing rates are $25-45 per
hour in 2005. In some metro areas, or for specialized expertise, you can expect to
pay far more – medical and technical writers can easily charge $75-100 per hour,
legal writers even more. Whether it’s worth it depends on the nature of your
project.
A better approach in many cases than per word, per page, or per hour is a project
model, where you define what you want, and the writer agrees to do it for a set
fee.
© Copyright 2006 by Michael Rasmussen and Jason Tarasi - All Rights Reserved.
www.ResellRightsBlowout.com
