How do I sell myself?

[Alkareel]

If you're the guy on discord I just talked to... I mean—I just probably have the same profile picture and name. It wasn't me, I swear.

On some rare occasions, I found myself suddenly having to sell myself as a writer. I'm pretty sure the proceedings went less than satisfactory.
I've gone through the web, and all the guides I could see are for professionals. As an amateur with a bleak professional future, how should I go about it? Does anyone have any useful tips?

Oh, and does anyone have an idea of minimum international standard rates? I'm only experienced in 3rd world country—take 80%oftheprofit—rates.

dollar/word (Blogs/Articles/Blurbs/etc)
dollar/minute (screenwriting/Screenplays/animation script)
dollar/if you can add anything else

 

[AliceShiki]

Mmmmmmm, you mean like... If people are hiring you to write something for them?

I guess dollar/word is the norm for those things? Though you could just set a pre-established price before you start it out instead.

 

[Alkareel]

Mmmmmmm, you mean like... If people are hiring you to write something for them?

Yeap.

I guess dollar/word is the norm for those things? Though you could just set a pre-established price before you start it out instead.

Yeah, do you have an idea of a good price to start off on?
As for pre-established prices, I have no idea where to even start negotiations.

 

[AliceShiki]

Yeap.

Yeah, do you have an idea of a good price to start off on?
As for pre-established prices, I have no idea where to even start negotiations.

Sadly, I have 0 clue. Never had any opportunity like that.

Try googling around and see if you can find any dedicated sites for this kind of thing? They might have the market prices listed.

 

[LinXueLian]

You're welcome.


In all honesty though, the guides meant for professional writers aren't that different from the ones meant for amateurs looking to be picked up for a contract. A lot of professional writers have day jobs to support themselves - in the meantime, they'd bring their work to publishers. I've had some experience bringing manuscripts to publishing houses for inquiry purposes (yes, I was also that bitch who got a grand tour of an animation studio while poking around for other jobs lol) - and let me tell you, you will want a job. I doubled as a content writer while I was developing apps; the stories I've heard from the contracted content writers were the same.

If you're looking to ghostwrite, I'd suggest putting together a good portfolio and applying for companies or individuals (who aren't sketchy) looking to hire, as a freelancer. You're likely not going to get a dollar a word, though, if you're an amateur - celeb clients usually take in the experienced ones, and they're more likely to pick those who're native English writers. You'd probably get paid around 20-30 cents a word if you're lucky.

Consider charging by page or by project contract instead, if you can. Though, if you're putting out something as clunky as, "On some rare occasions, I found myself suddenly having to sell myself as a writer", you've got your work cut out for you. People who pay higher can be extremely picky.

 

[Alkareel]

Sadly, I have 0 clue. Never had any opportunity like that.

Try googling around and see if you can find any dedicated sites for this kind of thing? They might have the market prices listed.

It's all professional rates. How much do writers/screenwriters make in a year? and such.

 

[dicloniuslord]

dont really know THAT well, but from what ive seen its money per word, and for amateur commission stuff.... well one person i know does $0.015 per word, and 0.02 per word for specific stuff stuff, as well as adding an extra fee for private commissions. though of course the rate would depend on the length of stuff you'd be writing, so maybe .02-.03 per word assuming it'll be around 3k words?

 

[Alkareel]

Consider charging by page or by project contract instead, if you can.

That's just it. How do I not oversell myself, or undersell?

Though, if you're putting out something as clunky as, "On some rare occasions, I found myself suddenly having to sell myself as a writer", you've got your work cut out for you. People who pay higher can be extremely picky.

Yeah, lmao. No have the energy to proofread forum posts.

 

[LinXueLian]

That's just it. How do I not oversell myself, or undersell?

Yeah, lmao. No have the energy to proofread forum posts.

Quote me when you do!

 

[Jemini]

That's just it. How do I not oversell myself, or undersell?

Yeah, lmao. No have the energy to proofread forum posts.

Check out Fiverr and see how much people charge for commissioned works, and see if you can check the quality of their work somehow. (The latter part is a bit harder, but you might be able to figure something out from reading their reviews.)

 

[luxia]

I think it can be variable depending on the quality of work that you offer.

An analogy is like asking much art commissions should be priced. If you go to art commission sites like sketchmob, you'll see people offering their art commissions for $5 and other people offering their art for $200.

The value of your work depends entirely on supply and demand, and how "good" customers judge your work to be.

If you don't have a promising portfolio to point to, I don't think you can price yourself much at all. I simply don't think there's enough buyers, and you're not going to find people willing to purchase your service unless you've already started to develop a favorable network/reputation for yourself.

 

[YuujiEveryleaf]

meh. You have to have work that people want to read first. When you have that you can offer to write more for a price.
you could hope for 5$ per 1000 words, but its all super sketch territory (too high and nobody will bother with you, too lowe and your work gets boughed and bulked for resell on amazon)

 

[Mechaphobic]

The first thing you will want to do is look at your local laws, then decide if this is something you can do. You may need to change zip codes, or even create a different identity. Banks will not be in your favor, you will want to deal in crypto primarily. You are also going to need to thoroughly reinvent your wardrobe, the more exposure the better. Ah, I should specify that I was talking about prostitution, that's what this is about, right?

 

[AliceShiki]

The first thing you will want to do is look at your local laws, then decide if this is something you can do. You may need to change zip codes, or even create a different identity. Banks will not be in your favor, you will want to deal in crypto primarily. You are also going to need to thoroughly reinvent your wardrobe, the more exposure the better. Ah, I should specify that I was talking about prostitution, that's what this is about, right?

 

[RepresentingCaution]

dont really know THAT well, but from what ive seen its money per word, and for amateur commission stuff.... well one person i know does $0.015 per word, and 0.02 per word for specific stuff stuff, as well as adding an extra fee for private commissions. though of course the rate would depend on the length of stuff you'd be writing, so maybe .02-.03 per word assuming it'll be around 3k words?

Damn, that's worse than when I was working for $0.07 per word. That's not a living wage by any means.

 

[blanksphere]

You can check on Fiverr. I saw people selling all types of services.
The prices are posted ranging from amateurs to professionals. Hope that helps get an idea.

 

[peelsdeeni]

I-I, I'm ashamed to say this but, I didn't look at the forum name and for a minute I forgot I was on a novel site and, uh, well, thought some not good things(in my defense I just finished reading a dark manga with a lot of murder scenes)
Craigslist
I even saw a meme about a guy named Craig getting sold for 3 pennies there(please don't take my advice seriously its just a joke made from the dark, dark depths of this thing I call a brain)

 

[AliceShiki]

I-I, I'm ashamed to say this but, I didn't look at the forum name and for a minute I forgot I was on a novel site and, uh, well, thought some not good things(in my defense I just finished reading a dark manga with a lot of murder scenes)
Craigslist
I even saw a meme about a guy named Craig getting sold for 3 pennies there(please don't take my advice seriously its just a joke made from the dark, dark depths of this thing I call a brain)

I wonder how many of those replies will this thread get...

 

[2021]

If you're the guy on discord I just talked to... I mean—I just probably have the same profile picture and name. It wasn't me, I swear.

On some rare occasions, I found myself suddenly having to sell myself as a writer. I'm pretty sure the proceedings went less than satisfactory.
I've gone through the web, and all the guides I could see are for professionals. As an amateur with a bleak professional future, how should I go about it? Does anyone have any useful tips?

Oh, and does anyone have an idea of minimum international standard rates? I'm only experienced in 3rd world country—take 80%oftheprofit—rates.

dollar/word (Blogs/Articles/Blurbs/etc)
dollar/minute (screenwriting/Screenplays/animation script)
dollar/if you can add anything else

I know you from royal road

 

[Agentt]

Hmmm. I got an offer too, the person wants me to write the weirdest, iq lowering, headache inducing stuff I can write.
The price is that they are willing to translate it to their local language and post it on a local site to advertise me?

So...what's the problem?
As Alice said, make the price, keep them cheap and don't be arrogant.

As for advertising, keep it on your signature? Make a thread here and RR about how you are doing commisions now?

And beware, many people will ask you to write smut with them in it