How much do you pay freelancers?

[Logan]

I'm trying to see if what we are getting paid is fair or not. I supplies stories to weekly newspapers with circulations under 4K. Is $15 a story too little or too much for one time use?

 

[Ace]

I'm trying to see if what we are getting paid is fair or not. I supplies stories to weekly newspapers with circulations under 4K. Is $15 a story too little or too much for one time use?

You supply stories? Are you the middleman or something? If so, that's a decent cut of the overall fee, I guess.

 

[Angola!]

I'm trying to see if what we are getting paid is fair or not. I supplies stories to weekly newspapers with circulations under 4K. Is $15 a story too little or too much for one time use?

$15? Did you have to drive somewhere? How many hours did you spend on the entire story (reporting, interviewing and writing)?

That is pretty crappy pay. I strung for a 10k paper and got paid $40, but most papers I've been at have paid between $50 and $75 depending on the experience of the person freelancing.

 

[slappy4428]

This state is anywhere from $30 to 50...
$15 bucks, tho? that's awful. That's less than four gallons of gas...

 

[JakeandElwood]

If you're driving somewhere, spending time at an event and then writing it, there is no way $15 is anywhere close to being adequate. Unless, of course, you're a college kid just doing it for clips and to get your foot in the door. Then take whatever cash you can get as a bonus.

 

[forever_town]

Most of our paid stringers get between $25 and $35 per story.

One guy gets $50 per story, but he's literally good enough to work at a daily.

 

[a_rosenthal]

When we used college kids to freelance for us at my last shop, pay was $25, $35 if they had to go to a neighboring city. If you're a professional, though, I usually tried to get you between $50 and $75, depending on what my budget looked like that month.

 

[Ace]

Minimum $50 here.

 

[Stitch]

I made $50 per story in college. Some out of town papers paid $100. Other around $35.

But if you just "supplies" (see first post) stories, $15 sound about right.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

$15 is offensive.

I'd say that standard is $50-$60 for prep gamers and $75 and up for everything else.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

$15 is offensive.

I'd say that standard is $50-$60 for prep gamers and $75 and up for everything else.

Market is getting flooded with quality writers... would guess those rates would fall.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

$15 is offensive.

I'd say that standard is $50-$60 for prep gamers and $75 and up for everything else.

Market is getting flooded with quality writers... would guess those rates would fall.

True, but $15 is still offensive. Hell, as a college student 15 years ago I never got less than $50 to string games.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

$15 is offensive.

I'd say that standard is $50-$60 for prep gamers and $75 and up for everything else.

Market is getting flooded with quality writers... would guess those rates would fall.

True, but $15 is still offensive. Hell, as a college student 15 years ago I never got less than $50 to string games.

Agreed.... that is unacceptable.

 

[Italian_Stallion]

I think $15 is great. Let's see. For a single individual, the U.S. poverty line is set at $10,787 a year. That's only 719 stories a year! And that doesn't even include tips!

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I miss the days when I would get $200 to get a single quote for SI.

 

[mustangj17]

This state is anywhere from $30 to 50...
$15 bucks, tho? that's awful. That's less than four gallons of gas...

If we're talking about the same state, I'd say $20 to $100... But most of the rags are between $30 and $60.

 

[Dan Hickling]

Anything less than $50 is insulting...and bad business....

 

[Jay Sherman]

Most of our paid stringers get between $25 and $35 per story.

One guy gets $50 per story, but he's literally good enough to work at a daily.

As opposed to being figuratively good enough to work at a daily?

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Anything less than $50 is insulting...and bad business....

I would agree with that.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

It should be the Just Say No threshold at the smallest papers.