ABSW: Tell us what your rates are

A new online pay survey should help freelancers determine their worth.

It is hard to know how to price your freelance writing and editing services fairly. Am I underpricing myself, or losing jobs because the amount I’m asking is too steep? Pitching for large projects can sometimes feel like a shot in the dark.

For the sake of all freelancers, we need to make sure that we're neither routinely under- or over-charging clients. If ABSW members share the information we have on pay rates, we can all benefit.

So, following discussions at the World Conference of Science Journalists, the ABSW Executive Committee has established an online pay survey to make the most of the ABSW members’ shared knowledge and experience.

All contributions are anonymous. Freelancers can add information on what they’ve been offered, paid, or what they hear the pay is for a particular job for a particular publication or outlet. If you’re not a freelancer you can still contribute by providing information on the standard rates offered by the publication or organisation that you work for.

There’s been a brilliant response to the survey so far. Particularly interesting was the variation in reported offers of pay per 1000 words. For one month this ranged from £85 per 1000 words to £700 per 1000 words!

The results of the survey are being circulated as a spreadsheet every month or so on the ABSW-L, so sign up to receive the regular updates. If you prefer not to subscribe to the list, but would like to receive the spreadsheet, please email and I will send through a copy. Use the same email address if you have any suggestions or comments on the survey too.

Thanks to everyone one who’s contributed so far. Keep it coming!

Chrissie Giles
ABSW Online Pay Survey Coordinator