www.inkthinkerblog.com — I’ve gotten so much positive feedback on my recent newsletter piece on how freelancers calculate their rates that I figured I’d better put it up here so everyone else can take a look, too. I hope you enjoy it!

Q: Why does hiring a freelancer cost so much? I thought the whole point of outsourcing work was to save money, but the quote I just got on a project was a lot higher than I thought it would be. What gives?

A: That’s a great question. Because I don’t know anything about the project or the person who bid on it, I can’t say exactly why there was a disconnect between your expectation and the number the freelancer quoted you. What I can do, though, is explain how a lot of freelancers calculate their rates, and that may give you some insight into why the freelancer quoted the price he or she did, and why it may not be as expensive as it sounded.

The first thing to remember is that freelance writers and editors are independent business professionals, not folks who write and edit as a hobby. The work they do is how they pay their bills, not only for running their office (space, utilities, Internet and phone, computer, fax, copier, paper, pens, etc.) but also for financing their lives (mortgage, groceries, utilities, insurance, braces for Jimmy and Katie, etc.). Translation: Freelancers need to earn a living wage.

A case study: A full-time editor at a middle-of-the-salary-scale nonprofit just outside of Washington, DC, makes about $38,000/year. With sick days, vacation days, and health/vision/dental insurance, total compensation package may be about $51,000. With a 40-hour work week, the total compensation (including benefits) is in the neighborhood of $24/hour. Without benefits, it’s under $20/hour. Factor in commute time (one hour or more in the DC metro region) and expense, it drops to about $12/hour. Minus taxes, employee insurance contributions, etc… That $24/hour “total compensation” barely meets living expenses, even for a minimalist.

Add the cost of doing business (all the overhead I already mentioned, plus marketing and your own, unsubsidized, benefits) onto the cost of living, and even a modest lifestyle requires the majority of freelancers to charge at least $50/hour out of the gate. And that’s before factoring in the value of the work the freelancer is performing.

There’s a lot of experience and training that goes into high-quality writing and editing work. Think of it this way: If just anyone could perform a root canal, would your dentist be able to charge you a couple thousand dollars for it? Probably not. I wish my dental care were less expensive, but I would never try to talk my dentist down in price because I know he’s an experienced professional and is worth every penny. (That, and he’d probably laugh in my face if I said, “Hmm, $2,000 is a little steep for a root canal. How about $250?”)

When your freelancer bid on your project, he or she quoted you a price that factored in the cost of the project (what he or she needs to earn on it to make a reasonable living) plus the value of the project (the expertise that he or she brings to the table).

Assuming that your freelancer is working from his or her own office, the price you pay includes all overhead expenses, all benefits, all training, all liability for injuries on the job, all 401(k) matching contributions, all incidental office supplies – all the expenses you pay for every full-time employee. Not to mention the fact that hiring an already trained, extremely well-qualified freelancer with experience in the type of work you need done mean that you’ll get your finished product much more quickly than someone with no or little experience – saving you more time and money from all of those hidden expenses.

So the bottom line is that although the number your freelancer quoted you may have seemed high at the outset, it covers far more than the final result. It frees you and your staff up to focus on your company or organization’s main task while offering you an outstanding final product at a fraction of what it would have cost you to produce it in house.

– Kristen

Would you like to see your question featured in the next issue of Notes in the Margin or on Kristen’s ::inkthinker:: blog? Send an e-mail to kristen@kristenkingfreelancing.com!

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www.kristenkingfreelancing.com
Finalist in 2006 Writer’s Digest Best Writer’s Website Contest

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King

www.inkthinkerblog.com — The evil/cool phenomenon that is MySpace is expanding into the literary world, according to an e-mail newsletter my friend Tom (you know, THE Tom) sent me yesterday. MySpace recently launched its Books section.

Says the newsletter, “This new section will highlight young, up-and-coming authors and give MySpace members tips about new books and cool book groups to join. The Top Books chart shows what MySpace members are reading, based on their blog links. We’re even featuring blogs, too, so even if you don’t have a book, your writing could still end up getting featured!”

I’m not sure how I feel about this. Part of me says, “Well it’s about time!” since they have a huge musician community, but part of me says, “Well there goes the neighborhood!”

The pros are that the great writers out there who need another venue to promote their books are going to find it in this. Cons? Well, I feel like it opens up a whole new arena in which scammers can take advantage of hopefuls. I also feel like it’s going to encourage an even greater influx of junk into the marketplace right now because it’s making it too easy to get “published.” Does that make me cold hearted? I can’t decide.

What are your thoughts?

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Talk is cheap. Good writing is priceless.

www.kristenkingfreelancing.com

www.editingforeveryone.com

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King

www.inkthinkerblog.com — (This whole -tastic thing works for EVERYTHING! I need to patent it or something. :])

I got this in my inbox this morning:

fellows from PPS and left at the passageway. Everyone else was waiting, too.
sand. “Good-bye, Jon, my friend.”
He looked at me kind of strange, hopped off the sill, and started You’d have a falcon’s short wings!

It’s very Magnetic Poetry, don’t you think? So what exactly is the point of this message?

At least this one was clearly a sales pitch:

Younger and older males face this difficulty. Whatever your age, you have the answer. You might have tried other products and failed – the last thing you need is Extra-Time, the no-failure solution. Want to make your intercourse lasting and rewarding than ever before? Come in: www.XfakeXaddressXhere.com You’ll make your equipment suit the task – and she’ll worship you for that!

But what’s with all the nonsensical crap that keeps turning up? Any insight? Really, it would be appreciated. I’m flummoxed.

__________________________________________
Talk is cheap. Good writing is priceless.

www.kristenkingfreelancing.com

www.editingforeveryone.com

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King

www.inkthinkerblog.com — …but I feel like folks are pretty down on the whole concept of professional editing lately, and I don’t really understand why. Yes, some people are totally unqualified scammers. But that could be said of some people in pretty much every profession. So why are professional editors getting such a bad reputation? I think it’s because writers who hire them aren’t doing their research, not because there’s something inherently wrong with hiring an editor.

Why in the world would anyone hire anyone, editor or otherwise, to do work for you without being sure they were capable of doing it and qualified for the job? Folks who do that get burned, but is it the fault of skilled professional editors that Suzie Writer forked over a check to Johnny No-Grammar without getting a sample edit or insisting on references? I’m an editor. I’m not a scammer. I’m tired of being lumped into the same category as the idiots on Craigslist who will “Edit you book in 24 hrs! paypal only. [[anonymous address here]].”

Any ethical editor will offer (or provide upon request) a sample edit and some evidence of successful experience. If the editor you’re considering doesn’t do this, run and don’t look back — whether he’s in the I’m-a-big-fat-scammer category or the I-have-so-much-work-that-I-don’t-need-to-prove-myself-to-you category, that person isn’t someone you want to work with.

If you are a completely sucky writer, no editor on earth is going to be able to do anything about that. You simply need to hone your craft. But if your writing is basically solid and your grammar and punctuation (or maybe organization or structure) need some work, or if you just need outside input from someone who works with a lot of writers and will be able to give you some sage advice, or if you know something is wrong with your manuscript and you don’t know what it is or how to fix it, what is wrong with hiring an editor to work the manuscript over or give you a critique.

I truly believe that everyone who writes, myself included, needs an editor. We all need someone else to point out our problem areas and to help us smooth them. It’s just a fact of written communication that editing is necessary. Whether you pay the person who edits your work or you find someone who will volunteer his or her time is your business, and frankly I don’t care (unless, of course, you do want to pay someone, in which case, call me). You’re not going to be able to fix everything that’s wrong with your writing on your own (see above: “everyone who writes…needs an editor”), but there’s a lot you can do. Put in some time to learn how to fix stuff on your own before enlisting outside help. The more you do yourself, the less you have to pay someone else (either monetarily or in other forms) to fix for you.

If your manuscript needs work and you have a free option such as a critique group or resources at the library for solving that problem, you’d be a dummy not to take it. However, if the people in your critique group — or your well-meaning family members — don’t know what they’re talking about, that may do more harm than good, so just be careful.) Those people may very well be experienced in solving the type of problem your manuscript has. But if they’re not, why wouldn’t you want to find someone who is?

Seriously, people, if you fall off a roof (because you didn’t want to hire one of those scamming roofers) and break your leg, are you going to make your own cast out of papier mache because some doctors are total hacks, or are you going to the hospital to hire a professional who has training and experience to help you? This is kind of a no-brainer for me. What about if your tooth hurts? You can show your girlfriend and your dog and your boss and the guy who sits next to you on the bus, and they may have some good suggestions, but when it comes down to it, the only person who can definitively tell you what’s wrong and fix it is a trained dental professional.

My approach: Each client gets a free, no-obligation sample edit of 500 to 1,000 words using Track Changes and Comments, with a quick assessment of problem areas and stuff to work on in a cover letter BEFORE we make a commitment. I strongly suggest that people review the sample edit and apply the changes throughout their document before hiring me or anyone else so they can save some time and money. I also let people know if their manuscript isn’t ready for the type of editing they want me to do (eg, they want proofreading, but their manuscript has enormous structural problems and is basically unreadable) and point them toward resources that may be helpful. Sure, I offer my services as a coach, but I also let them know that there are other people out there cheaper than I am and that there are also free resources. I also let people know if they’re asking for more than they need (eg, a full copyedit when the manuscript is virtually finished and really only needs a proofreading). If you’d rather pay someone else to do for you what you could do for yourself, or if you want to overpay me, I will cheerfully take your money–but not before I tell you that you could save some serious bucks.

The take-away from this? Don’t be an idiot when shopping around for editing help — and don’t assume that, just because you (or some random person in a writing forum) had a bad experience with a Johnny No-Grammar, real professional editors are big fat scammers. We’re not.

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www.kristenkingfreelancing.com
Finalist in 2006 Writer’s Digest Best Writer’s Website Contest

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King

Contents © Copyright 2006 Kristen King. All rights reserved.