# Average pricing for commissioned stories?



## Soline (Sep 12, 2011)

Does anyone have a rough idea/outline?

Specifically, does anyone know a 'maximum' pricing for commissions on FA?


I've heard/asked from various people, including other writers, and the general concensus seems to be around $10 per 1k words (or a penny a word) And initially to me this sounded pretty fair. However the works I've been doing recently at $30 a pop run to an average of 12k words, and $120 seems just insane for anything less than a limited edition BOOK, hell even $60 is pushing the envelope a bit in my opinion. Worse still, several I've asked have said I ought to sell myself for more than the penny a word (not by much, increased of 0.6 pence or something, but it'd add up)

I know it takes me a lot of effort, certainly a lot more than the 'sketches' artists do for more money, to write the stories, and I'm inclined to increase my prices at least marginally to meet the time spent a little better, but I don't want to drive away customers (In all honesty I write for the fun of it, the profit is a welcome bonus, but I don't want to be the 'slut writer' who writes for just about anything)


Again, I'm just looking for general idea. I've got about 50 stories spread across a good four years and around 400 watchers, so I'd say I'm at least a little above average in skill. However 95% of my uploads are erotica (I don't see myself as a porn writer, but that's what I get commissioned/traded/asked to do) and I think all my stories contain at least some degree of sexual-ness, so I'm aprehensive to link any here for specific advice. I can think of one story in particular with much less 'pronz' that might be suitable to link you to, although it does still have a bit of fetish-content.


Anyway, thanks for reading, thanks even more if you can be bothered to comment :grin:


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## M. LeRenard (Sep 12, 2011)

You can link to stories with adult content, as long as you mark them as having such.  Just stick NSFW in your post before the link.
As for price... it's all about economics.  If you charge too much, people won't buy, and if you charge too little you're short-changing yourself and bringing the overall market price down by being so competitive.  Just charge whatever you think you're worth, scaled down to what you think people will pay.


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## kitreshawn (Sep 13, 2011)

getting a little more in-depth than Renard did about pricing.

Industry standard tends to range from 0.5 cents to 2 cents per word (depending on the magazine).  I've seen a couple that go as high as 5 cents a word, but they are the exception rather than the rule.  Keep in mind that when I give those rates I am talking about fully edited and finished stories, not a rough draft or a 2nd draft or anything.

There are, of course, other payment methods people use, but ultimately I find that they tend to fall pretty close to the industry standard.  For example, I've seen $5 per page, but in my experience 1 page is 500-800 words depending on font so you again fall in the 0.5-2 cent/word range.

My advice if you are taking commissions is instead of giving exact pricing you should simply say you are taking commissions and negotiate pay on a case by case basis depending on how difficult a story will be for you to write.  You might want to give them an idea of what pricing they can expect, of course, but make sure that it is clear that this isn't a set in stone thing.

If someone wants I can do a huge write up about pricing for writing sometime.


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## Arabesque (Sep 13, 2011)

Ouch. I knew furry writers didn't get paid as much as furry artists but I didn't know the difference was so large.

I know you say you write for the pure joy of it, but have you thought about turning it into a job? Demand Media pays $15-$25 for 500 word articles. That's $0.03 to $0.05 a word. You won't get to write furry content but you do get to choose what you write from a list of tens of thousands of titles.

No, I don't work for Demand.  I used to, and enjoyed it, and recommend it when I can for people who'd like to work from home. I mention it here because unfortunately, no matter how well you write furry content, there just won't be enough demand for it to skyrocket you to the realm of stardom and fair wages. But if you make your living writing internet articles, you might have a little more time to write for the fun of it than you'd otherwise have.


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## Lunar (Sep 13, 2011)

I try to keep mine pretty cheap, but am willing to negotiate.  I'd charge about $5 per chapter (which are usually about 6 pages or so).  For longer pieces, that can get a bit pricey, so I'd be willing to knock it down some.


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## foozzzball (Sep 13, 2011)

I do not charge less than five cents a word, but I also don't actively pursue much commission work. Mostly, I write on-spec and try to sell to a publication. (Unfortunately, in the fandom publications, the average pay rate is around a half cent to one cent a word.)


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## â™¥Mirandaâ™¥ (Sep 13, 2011)

If I were to charge for writing, I'd ask for about a dollar a page. That seems reasonable

(Remember that writing is not as popular as art, and therefor demand is significantly less. The reason why furry art is so expensive is because the demand is huge)

True story, I once saw someone charging seven dollars a page. That is just too much


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## WolfUrameshi (Sep 15, 2011)

I'm instead charging by page amounts. Since I'm starting out, charging by word amounts seems unreasonable- especially considering this is the fandom we're talking about. It's a loss to me to charge a cent per word: 2000 words at a cent is 20 bucks, and 2000 words is just not enough to either tell a story or cover expenses. At least that's what my experience says with the style I use.

EDIT: I misspoke. I checked one of my stories and it had 978 words, LOL. But it's still barely enough: and at a cent per word, it's almost like a loss...


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## â™¥Mirandaâ™¥ (Sep 15, 2011)

For reference, a page is usually around 250 words


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## WolfUrameshi (Sep 16, 2011)

Or less, depending on how you format. In my case, I do the same as my classes: Times New Roman, Arial or Verdana, size 12, doublespaced. Eases the eyes.


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## Waffles (Sep 16, 2011)

My way is fairly simple, IMO :U
6$ per single-spaced, 12 point font page, which usually ends up running around 750 words. I can usually do a page in a little under an hour (on average) so... It's not terrible working-my-ass-off-for-no-pay, but it's definitely something I won't be living off of.


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## WolfUrameshi (Sep 16, 2011)

Yeah, it's a gig you do mostly for yourself to get some extra cash on the side. There's far more paying gigs, like freelancing or anthologies.


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## FlynnCoyote (Sep 16, 2011)

Just charge what you think you`re worth without being unreasonable. 

My prices are average judging by what I`ve seen, but I tend to offer discounts a lot since I enjoy it and it`s good for publicity.


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## â™¥Mirandaâ™¥ (Sep 16, 2011)

Waffles said:


> My way is fairly simple, IMO :U
> 6$ per single-spaced, 12 point font page, which usually ends up running around 750 words. I can usually do a page in a little under an hour (on average) so... It's not terrible working-my-ass-off-for-no-pay, but it's definitely something I won't be living off of.



In 12 point font

how the fuck are you fitting 750 words onto one page


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## WolfUrameshi (Sep 16, 2011)

It's possible if you write single spaced and don't line break often.


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## tbohn (Sep 29, 2011)

I've found that a good baseline is $1 to start, $1 per page with line breaks in between every paragraph. If you you're hot stuff and you've been around for a while, then you can bump up the price of course! 

I think that another important factor is also how your ad is written. I won't copy and paste, but read this if you want an idea: (course this is a link to Sofurry, so NSFW) http://www.sofurry.com/page/212742/user


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## â™¥Mirandaâ™¥ (Oct 11, 2011)

WolfUrameshi said:


> It's possible if you write single spaced and don't line break often.



No you can not

468 5 letter words is the most I can fit on a page, single spaced in 12 point font


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## DragonTalon (Oct 14, 2011)

Per page seems like a terrible way to price by.  It's such a variable rate.  Even just here we have that meaning 250, 500 and 750 words!

It's like an artist charging 'per pixel' and not mentioning how big of a canvas they are using.

The thread has been informative though, lots of good information.


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