excited but need some suggestions :-)

[elknutswife]

I have been approaced to ghostwrite a non-fiction book and need to send a quote. I would also take care of all agent/publisher/submission stuff.  I am qualified and excited to do this, but have no idea what to charge.  A friend suggested $20 an hour, which sounds reasonable.  I just thought I'd ask and see if anyone has any experience with this or any suggestions :-)


thanks!!

[audal]

Well, I have absolutely no clue how-to/what-to charge for such a scenario... but I did wanna hop in and say CONGRATS, Elky!

Wouldn't it be a little trick to charge based on billable hours for something as temperamental as writing?  I know I can spend an hour staring at the screen as I try to come up with something - could I bill for that?  Or might you be best served coming up with a flat quote for the project?  Or perhaps payment by word count?

[Legionsynch]

I tried doing some Net searching to see if I could find anything that would help you out.  Not much I came across, I'm afraid.  The one site I found has general rate ideas, but I don't know if this is applicable or not.

http://www.writersmarket.com/assets/pdf/How_Much_Should_I_Charge.pdf

[elknutswife]

yeah I thought of that too.   They will supply me with outlines, notes, ideas, etc, and I will write it up for them, so it isn't necessarily me coming up with stuff from scratch, but word count is probably more fair    However, I am also doing all the editing, rewrites, etc, which can loose me words, and money  and all the time doing submissions, etc - sooo, I don't know 

Thanks Lege!  I'll check that out.

I wonder if it would be too complicated if I did a per word charge for the ms, hourly for rewrites and edits and submissions?  Hmmmm   

[elknutswife]

Lege, that site did help, there was a list of what high, low, and avg charges are for ghostwriting, with and without credit, so I should be able to come up with something.  Thanks!!!

[audal]

Let's put it this way... You know your work ethic & speed.  How long do you suspect it will take from outlining through a final draft?

[Abigail]

Elky,

This sounds so exciting!  Congrats

How did they happen to approach you?  Is this someone you know, did you post for ghostwriting..

Abi

[elknutswife]

Thanks Abi, yes it is someone I know, so that helps obviously    They were actually going to go through a vanity publisher that offers ghostwriting services and I thankfully stopped them from doing that.

Audal,  I could probably have the first draft done in about a month and a half, but I think both that and the final draft is subject to how fast they can work as well.  I can only work as fast as they give me the info and input.  However, I work very well under pressure  and am much quicker when working on other people's projects than on my own.  Why is that?    But I think I've come up with a fair figure that I'm happy with that should be more than affordable for them.  Going off the figures of the link Lege found and adding a bit extra for the extra time I'll be spending doing the proposal and all the submission stuff, which we all know is time consuming.  And it is still far, far less than the vanity publisher was going to charge them so they should be very happy 

[justwrite]

Good going, Elky. Wish I knew something to tell you. Sounds like you're excited about the job.

[elknutswife]

being paid to write...oh yeah 

[kimbrwrite]

I have been approaced to ghostwrite a non-fiction book and need to send a quote. I would also take care of all agent/publisher/submission stuff.  I am qualified and excited to do this, but have no idea what to charge.  A friend suggested $20 an hour, which sounds reasonable.  I just thought I'd ask and see if anyone has any experience with this or any suggestions :-)


thanks!!

Hope I'm not too late on this thread, but for a project of this magnitude -- and it is a big project -- you might want to go get the latest Writer's Market (I assume they still publish in paper? I last bought one in 2000). They have a very comprehensive section up front called How Much Should I Charge. In the 2000 edition I have, for the ghostwriting (assume you get no credit), states: "Rates range from $5000 very low, $15,000 low, $25,000 mid-range, $50,000 high/project (plus expenses). Just the proposal, according to this same source (in 2000) quotes $45/hour as low, up to $85 high, or $2000-3500 for the project, depending on whether the client provides full information or the writer must do research. From what you say, you'd be doing the research.

So, in a nutshell, NO WAY should you sell yourself short at $20/hr!!!!

Dos centavos!!

[elknutswife]

Thanks Kimbr!  the article lege found had similar info.  I didn't realize that the money could run as high as that, so it was good to know    Thanks again!

[elknutswife]

Update - I did get ghostwriting job and have already been sent a rough outline.    Thanks everyone for your help!

[LeahClifford]

wondered what happened with that! thanks for the update!

[elknutswife]

  karma for the new avatar -    perfect!  I should be working right now, but instead.....    well, you know