A common way of listing (and paying for) writing jobs is by word count. (For example: $XX.00 for 800 words.) I’ve even bid on writing projects using this method myself.
But, the other day I stopped in mid-bid. Does bidding on writing jobs by word count really make sense?
Most writing courses and style guides emphasize the importance of writing clearly and concisely. Unnecessary words should be trimmed from your writing.
What this means is that longer copy is not necessarily better copy. In fact, quite the opposite is often true. Longer copy may be full of redundancies, cluttered with adjectives and adverbs, and full of flowery language–all of which contribute to inferior copy.
Yet, if a writer is being paid by word count, which writer will receive more money?
- The writer who take the time to carefully craft his or her copy, while making sure that each word serves a particular purpose
- Or, the writer who crams his or her copy full of as many words as he or she can manage to work into the text
If you guessed the second writer, you would be correct in many cases.
Paying writers by word count is an outdated tradition that can be traced back to print publications, where physical space was at a premium. A writer was limited to (or required to produce) a certain number of words because the editor needed to fill an actual physical space in the publication.
However, in these days of online publishing payment by word count makes little sense.
Still, word count quotes persist. I have to admit, there is a certain mentality among some clients that bigger is better. The more words they get, the more value they think that they’re getting for their money.
They are wrong.
It is much better to have concise and effective copy than bloated copy that was designed mainly to meet a particular word count.
So what should companies look for in project bids instead of word count quotes?
I would suggest that you look for a range for both word count and price. The language should look something like the following:
“Most web copy that I write for company profile pages falls in the 600 to 800 word range. Your company profile page may be slightly shorter or slightly longer, depending on what is best for your company. I charge between $XX.00 and $XX.00 to produce an effective company profile.”
Do you think it makes sense to pay online writers by word count? Why, or why not?
29 responses so far ↓
1 Twitter Trackbacks for Should Writers Be Paid by Word Count? : WritingThoughts [writingthoughts.com] on Topsy.com // May 4, 2010 at
[…] Should Writers Be Paid by Word Count? : WritingThoughts https://www.writingthoughts.com/?p=758 – view page – cached Freelance writing – what you need to know about good writing and more. Tweets about this link Topsy.Data.Twitter.User[‘txwriter’] = {“location”:”U.S.A.”,”photo”:”http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/581296732/Laura_004_normal.jpg”,”name”:”TXWriter”,”url”:”http://twitter.com/txwriter”,”nick”:”txwriter”,”description”:”I am a freelance writer and blogger. I also write for Freelance Folder, Freelance Writing Jobs, and Everything PR. “,”influence”:””}; txwriter: “RT @TXWriter Should Writers Be Paid by Word Count? http://bit.ly/b1cf4E ” 35 minutes ago view tweet retweet Filter tweets […]
2 Matt Keegan // May 4, 2010 at
Good topic, Laura! Generally, when it comes to blog style writing, I tell my clients that my bid is based on 400 words on average which means 350 to 500 words per article is standard. Beyond that, my fee increases accordingly.
Still, I prefer not to mince words by getting to my point right away. Readers don’t want fluff and no one should have to pay for excess verbiage.
The value isn’t in the length, rather in the content: what is being said.
3 Laura Spencer // May 4, 2010 at
I think that’s a great approach Matt!
It’s easy to get sucked into using a word count for proposals, but that’s not really in the client’s best interest. As you point out, “Readers don’t want fluff and no one should have to pay for excess verbiage.” 🙂
4 David // May 5, 2010 at
I’m also a content writer, but i work full time for a company.I think your point is completely valid but then what should be the measure to get paid for writing? I think its being practiced because this is the easiest way to pay and more most of the website owners the main concern is organic traffic which cannot measure the creativity of a writer.
5 Jaime-Ann // May 5, 2010 at
You are so on the mark with this one. I have worked many projects where they required x words for $x.xx as you mentioned. It does become a difficult task to ensure you hit the word count exactly and deliver a grammatically correct article that flows and reads nicely. I had one client who told me I was one word over and they were refusing to pay. =( It was resolved but I was not happy with the end result of the article.
Matt said it perfectly when he wrote: “The value isn’t in the length, rather in the content: what is being said”
6 Laura Spencer // May 5, 2010 at
Hi David and Jaime-Ann!
Thanks for your comments.
First of all, Jaime-Ann, I can totally empathize with your experience. I know it’s frustrating. 🙁
David, the first thing is to avoid sending out quotes this way yourself. Give the client a figure, but base it on a range rather than an exact page count. (I have some sample wording at the end of the post above.)
If a client does request an exact word count and the project is for the web, politely ask why they need an exact word count. The key is to emphasize that you produce quality writing and that quality of copy and length of copy are not related.
7 Leslie A. Joy // May 5, 2010 at
Excellent article.
I’ve always been completely against paying by word count. Dickens was paid by the word and you can tell.
Paying for the article allows for less fluff, more direct writing, and in my opinion, better writing. (I love brevity).
8 Jessie Haynes // May 5, 2010 at
I think that a freelance writer can charge by any type of freelance writing rate other than hour-per word, per day, per project-if they simply base it properly on the hourly commitment. It isn’t about word stuffing to earn the most when getting paid per word, it is about accurately representing your hourly rate in a per-word manner.
Of course, if you visit my website, you find I’ve simply provided project ranges.
9 Laura Spencer // May 6, 2010 at
Leslie A. Joy–Really? Dickens was paid by the word? For real? I had no idea… 🙂
Hi Jessie Haynes, If you’re listing your rates publicly, you should definitely on list a range, so good job on the way you say you handle it on your website.
What I recommend is charging by the project (a fee that you should determine based on your best estimate of how long the project will take you). So, if you think the project will take you 8 hours and your desired hourly income is $50/hour you should quote a minimum of $400 for project (but, you may want to quote $500 to absorb some of your overhead costs). If the client asks how many words they’re going to get for that $500, then give them a range in your quote.
Does that help? 🙂
10 Johnnie Lunchpail // May 7, 2010 at
Wouldn’t that be like pricing books based on how many pages??
Great Post
11 Laura Spencer // May 8, 2010 at
Johnnie Lunchpail, Yeah I think it would be like that. 🙂 Thanks for pointing that out.
12 Joan Stewart // May 12, 2010 at
Hi Laura,
Many thanks for some excellent tips, especially on the costing side of writing. Just starting out with writing, this information will really help further down the line.
13 Laura Spencer // May 14, 2010 at
Thanks Joan!
Best wishes to you. 🙂
14 williams // May 15, 2010 at
Yeah, I’m a writer too, and just paying by word count is not good enough any more. You have to think about the amount of time and research that goes into writing an assignment. I have seen writing jobs where clients would offer $4 for a 500 word article that needed to have references, qoutes and sources! This is the problem with the writing profession today, its getting watered down. I never charge less than $10/per article (unless they are ordered in bulk). And if its a specialized paper like essays, business letters and press releases, depending on the number of words, I chharge anywhere between $50-$100.Many people fall for little amounts because they don’t know how to market themselves as writers.
———————————
http://www.gizellefashion.com
(content writing services)
Williams
15 Laura Spencer // May 23, 2010 at
Thanks Williams!
If you’re quoting on a project, it’s better to offer a price for a range of words rather than an exact count. Most importantly, focus on the value you are adding and not an arbitrary word count.
16 Ralph Fleming // Jun 9, 2010 at
In my opinion, writers should never be paid depending on how much they write. The most important aspect when writing is, and should always be considered as the main aspect: quality. The message has to be successfuly delivered, the tone, and the choice of words is crucial. I can write a lot and say nothing, maybe that’s profitable in some cases, but when it comes to true writers, that is not an option.
17 Master Dayton // Jul 29, 2010 at
I can definitely see this point to an article, but I also think it depends on the type and style of writing and the purpose. In the perfect world the best writing would get paid the most while slush would get paid less, but the value of the writing for many online projects is hard to define. I might say my time is worth $50 an hour for a four hour project, but if that project isn’t going to make the employer anywhere close to $200, then should they really pay that? If an employer wants to save time by having someone write SEO based articles for Ezinearticles because only the backlinks matter, that’s a lot different then a well crafted blog post, and depending on what the motive of the writing is, online sometimes more words is better for the employer than paying extra for quality. I don’t like it, but I guess that’s a long way of saying that sometimes paying on a per word basis makes sense. Other times, it doesn’t. I really believe it is a situational thing.
18 Laura Spencer // Aug 2, 2010 at
Hi Ralph and Master Dayton!
I think that you both bring up good points.
Ralph, I definitely agree with you–quality should be what every writer aspires to. Payment should be based on that and not based on length. After all, just because something is long doesn’t mean it’s good.
Master Dayton–I think that soon we will see a new generation of “SEO” where quality is much more important than simply getting links and certain keywords into a post. When that happens, I think that the pay per word model will no longer make sense and will start to fade away.
19 cmdweb // Aug 5, 2010 at
I disagree with payment by word count in general although I can see instances where it might be appropriate.
In general terms I feel it does nothing to acknowledge the value that a writer can bring to a subject through the angle they approach it from, the level and quality of research they’ve undertaken and what the resulting article or piece adds to the publication or website it’s eventually used on.
There’s a real drive among customers who don’t really get the value of good content, to make writing a commodity rather than a craft. I see this in the technical writing field every day in my job as the information given to users of products is completely undervalued by the selling company, but not by the user or consumer.
20 Angie Papple Johnston // Aug 5, 2010 at
Generally I base my quotes on how long the piece will take me; however, a couple months ago a regular client asked me to come up with copy and I quoted him double what I normally do – it was twice as long as the usual pieces and I knew it would take me twice as long to complete. He asked if I meant to use a 1 instead of a 3, and I explained that word-for-word, X is what I need to make. That seemed to put it into perspective for him, and he understood where I was coming from. So even though I agree that word count payment is usually not right for web content/web copy, in some instances it helps your clients realize what you’re doing in more tangible terms.
21 Chanell Gautreaux // Aug 5, 2010 at
When I was a teenager just starting out in the mid 1980s there was no internet. Freelance writing was mostly newspaper and magazine articles and in many cases space was limited because of ad copy. Back then you might have been paid by the page or by the inch and word count was an estimate; it was all about picas and inches.
If someone is a good writer, getting paid by the word is a testament to their value in those circumstances. Paying a writer by the word rewards their command of language and lets face it, there’s not so much of that going around these days.
Quality writing is unfortunately relative as well as subjective and having an excellent vocabulary doesn’t mean a writer will use it well and in “plain language” that everyone can understand. Writing something that people actually want to read requires finesse as well as craftsmanship.
Getting paid by the word doesn’t mean you get paid your worth. A penny a word might only result in $10 for something that might take one person 30 minutes to produce and another two hours. The time involved doesn’t attest to which is a better writer; one may be more organized, another may have to do some fact checking. One may be able to self-edit, another may need Stunk and White.
Writers can only produce so much content in a “work day”. If they are not paid equitably for their time, they will not be able to make a living from their writing. Plumbers charge $50 an hour, some mechanics $90; lawyers, Psychiatrists, consultants… charge $150 an hour. Now is probably a good place to mention that what someone gets paid for their efforts has a lot to do with where the pay is coming from.
Artists and crafters understand they can not be paid for their time (how long it took them to make something). The value of intellectual property is just not measured in sweat equity. This is why royalties are paid (and usage rights) based on how well something is expected to perform in the marketplace. Magazines and newspapers exist based on circulation; Internet content on page hits.
As long as the by the word pay is fair why shouldn’t writers get paid this way? Even if you call it by the page, it’s still a set amount of words.
22 Laura Spencer // Aug 5, 2010 at
Angie Papple Johnston–It sounds like you quote much the same way that I do, taking time and effort (and yes, even subject matter) into consideration. If you have to, to get a job, you can “translate” your quote into a per word figure. However, I think that using the same per word figure for all jobs regardless of effort required is a recipe for failure.
Hi Chanell Gautreaux. Thanks for your thoughtful response. While you make a lot of good points, in the end I think that the best business practice is to develop a range that generally works for you and then evaluate it for each new job in light of the amount of effort required.
23 Kristen D. Folsom // Aug 24, 2010 at
I view wordcount as a type of nickel-and-dime pricing, something akin to what lawyers do when they charge their clients for every single document copy they make. Years ago, I decided that I wouldn’t charge clients by the word because somewhere within the transaction, we both get cheated. The client gets short-changed because my major focus is adhering to a strict wordcount (and worse, padding the wordcount to increase my payout) and not concentrating on the quality and content of my work. And I get cheated because my time, experience, education, expertise, research, technology skills, and writing skills are never considered. In other words, although my writing ability might be of a Lexus quality, it gets paid at the same rate as a writer whose work is on the order of a Hyundai or Kia (or vice versa, of course).
I consider myself a wordsmith (perhaps presumptively), which means I can come up with a whole bunch of words in a limited amount of time. But where is this valuable beyond the genre of creative writing? My freelance jobs are usually very technical and scientific in nature, and I regard my time and knowledge as more valuable than my ability to put words together to form a lengthy sentence, paragraph, or article. Hence, I’d rather be paid by the hour, which factors in the amount of research I’ve invested, my technology expertise, and my thoughtfulness and attention to the article’s effectiveness.
Wordiness also discredits my writing skills. So, while I might make a hefty sum for penning an article related to a pandemic influenza outbreak in southern California, I might not get chosen to write other jobs or might find challenges in establishing myself within a specific market because of the poor quality of my work or because readers and editors are turned off by my loquacious style.
As you alluded to, Laura, certain factors are far more important than the tally of words in an article, including clarity, quality of content, usefulness, and effectiveness. Consider, as a case in point, this very blogpost, which is approximately 500 words. The jist of what I’m saying is this: a writer should not charge by the word. But I go into a bit of detail to get my point across, the exact same point that comes across more succinctly in Leslie A. Joy’s response — “I’ve always been completely against paying by word count. Dickens was paid by the word and you can tell. Paying for the article allows for less fluff, more direct writing, and in my opinion, better writing. (I love brevity).” (Me too, Les!) Leslie and I are really saying the same thing. But I’m willing to bet that your readers will be more inclined to read Leslie’s post than mine because their own investment of time and thought is less.
I decided long ago to do my clients a favor by keeping my articles brief and clear if they would pay me a fair price for my time and experience.
24 Laura Spencer // Aug 24, 2010 at
Thanks for the thoughtful comment Kristen!
You sound like a kindred spirit on this topic.
Brevity is indeed often better when it comes to writing. However, a writer who is being paid by the word will miss some income if they choose to be brief. I wish clients would catch on to this fact.
25 HarleyNiteRider // Aug 25, 2010 at
Laura, I looked up your 25 Best Selling Words and noticed “secure” is on the list twice. Is the word count still 25? -HarleyNiteRider
26 Laura Spencer // Aug 26, 2010 at
Thanks Harley,
I corrected the error so that there are 25 now.
27 Ultimate Copywriters’ Roll Call: 100 Top International Copywriters and Content Bloggers | MarketCopywriter Blog // Oct 26, 2010 at
[…] Thoughts About: What you need to know about good writing from copywriter Laura Spencer Great post: Should Writers Be Paid by Word Count? Twitter: […]
28 Sharon Parramore // Dec 9, 2011 at
Charles Dickens was not paid by the word. You don’t get paid for fact checking, but it’s fairly easy to do.
29 Laura Spencer // Dec 11, 2011 at
Thanks for your comment Sharon,
Charles Dickens being paid by the work was actually in Leslie’s comment and not the original post.
You’re right that I don’t get paid here since this is my own blog. However I do go to great lengths anyway to make sure the material in my posts is accurate. I don’t necessarily review comments in the same way since they don’t originate with me.