Should I Charge an Hourly Rate, or a Flat Fee for This Project?

Angela,

I am in the process of preparing a contract with a potential client who has handwritten about 10 pages he wants to publish in a book. This is my first venture into such a project and need to give him a reasonable fee for helping him put this book together.

I have been an ad copy writer for over 20 years and have experience as a broadcast journalist, which should be taken into account regarding setting a writer’s fee. For now, I have negotiated an hourly fee of $45.00 an hour, which is half of what I usually charge for writing ad copy–in English and Spanish.

I have not written up the contract yet and would like your advice about the hourly fee. We have agreed to meet weekly after I “re-write” his handwritten material, using a CD recorder for a series of personal interviews. I will then use the taped footage to prepare the rest of the text.

Charging a flat fee would be difficult from my point of view, but perhaps it would be more practical as opposed to an hourly fee.

I thank you in advance for your consideration and help.

– Name not published on request

I definitely recommend charging an hourly fee. Projects like this can balloon rapidly and you don’t want to get stuck working for a flat fee when a client may start (and keep) changing their mind, which is an experience that is quite common for ghostwriters and biographers.

Also, please see:
The Mathematics of Freelancing: What’s Your Hourly Rate? By Ghostwriter Rich Mintzer

Angela

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Should I Charge an Hourly Rate, or a Flat Fee for This Project?

So, You Wanna Be a Ghostwriter - How To Make Money Writing Without a Byline

BOOK PROPOSALS THAT WORKED! Real Book Proposals That Landed $10K - $100K Publishing Contracts - by Angela Hoy

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