A good writer is worth being paid well for his or her services. It is easy to accept or reject a job based on the price quoted by the prospective client. When it comes down to deciding on advertised rates for your work that is harder to do.

Let’s begin at the beginning. Before we place an actual dollar amount on the worth of our services, we have to determine what those services are. Writing has a lot of facets to it.

Obviously, writers with more experience can ask for more money. They can provide a client with published clips and samples of their work. A writing portfolio also includes the type of work done for clients and the educational experience of the writer.

Education doesn’t necessarily mean college degree. Online writing schools offer classes for writers on a variety of subjects. These classes are conducted over in online meeting rooms, over the telephone, and through email correspondence. Time and discipline are just as important here as in a traditional college setting.

A new writer who has the education but not the experience will begin his or her freelance writing career looking for jobs to boost his or her portfolio. The writing jobs would probably pay towards the lower end of the scale but there is a plan at work here. The writer is going for experience to compete for better paying writing jobs.

Research your competition.

After you have determined where you fall on the experience and education scale, it is time to do some research. Before starting a business it is wise to scope out the competition. What are other writers who do the same type of work charging their clients? Sites like eLance display the earnings of their writers on the site in their profile. It gives an idea of how well writers are fairing in the market.

Join a writers’ forum. More experienced writers can help newer writers to adequately rate themselves and their work to come up with competitive but reasonable rates. Even if your rates are lower at the beginning, it won’t always be that way.

Don’t sell yourself short. A writer who feels that he or she is worth $15 per hour for research or per article for a multiple article project must stick to his or her guns. Clients are not always looking for the cheapest bid. If you can back up your price, they will pay it.

What exactly are you offering?

Decide how you will charge for your work. A content writer will charge per article for that type of project. For an eBook, they could charge per page or per every fifty pages.

Don’t forget about the time it will take to research the information. Many writers sell themselves short in this area. Charging a flat fee for research on each project ensures that the writer isn’t losing money.

Whatever rates you decide on are not set in stone. The beginning rates reflect experience at that time. As the business and the writer’s experience grow, the prices will need to be increased. Every six months or so, re-evaluate the writing market and skill changes.

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