2015 Writer's Market

By Kate Phillips 

 

          Each year the Writer’s Market contains contact information for publications, literary agents, and contests & awards as well as helpful advice on a variety of topics.

One of the most useful chapters in the 2015 Writer’s Market is “How Much Should I Charge?” by Aaron Belz. He gathered his information/rates from 17 writers’ organizations. (See the list of organizations on pages 115 & 116.)

          On his well-organized, easy to read Rate Table on pages 117-131, Belz lists Hourly, Project, and Other (including per word) rates across the top breaking them into High, Low, and Average.

Down the left side of the chart, he lists categories of writing including:

·        Advertising & Public Relations

·        Book Publishing

·        Business

·        Computer, Internet & Technical

·        Editorial/Design Packages

·        Educational & Literary Services

·        Film, Video, TV, Radio, Stage

·        Magazines & Trade Journals

·        Medical/Science

·        Newspapers

·        Nonprofit

·        Politics/Government

In total, these 12 categories are broken down into 165 specific assignments like press kits, ghostwriting, paid blogging, web editing, copyediting, proofreading, rewriting, grant writing, and speeches. Now it is easier to charge clients a fair rate for your time and expertise especially if it is a new type of writing project for you.

Unfortunately, writing is an underrated talent. Non-writers do not realize how much time it takes to write well plus proofread, rewrite, and edit to make sure the project is letter perfect (or as close as we can make it). Time is money so we need rates that cover all the work we put into our assignments.

There are many other useful chapters like “Pitch Like A PR Pro: Turn the Blinking Cursor Into Cash” by Dana W. Todd on page 40;  “Earn A Full-Time Income From Blogging” by Carol Tice on page 50; “Balancing Your Writing and Your Platform in 8 Simple Steps” by Krissy Brady on page 132; and "Author Platform 2.0" by Jane Friedman on page 169.

If you want to be a professional, well paid writer, the 2015 Writer’s Market is an essential investment.