Freelance writer rates in Singapore

So you know that you need to hire a freelance writer from Singapore. But you have no idea how much it will cost you.

When I was starting out as a freelance writer in Singapore, it was hard to figure out how much to charge my clients and what the market rate for different writing projects was. There were some websites online which listed the rates of freelance writers, but they were mainly US sites, so the rates don’t really apply in Singapore. But you can still check out these websites to give you an idea of freelance rates:

http://www.directcreative.com/copywriter-salaries-and-fees.html

http://www.freelancewriting.com/articles/how-to-set-your-freelance-writing-rates.php

http://www.makealivingwriting.com/freelance-writing-ratesrevealed/

http://www.writersdigest.com/pricing-guide

http://freelancewrite.about.com/od/finances/a/Freelance-Writing-Rates-List.htm

If you’re on a tight budget and can’t really afford a professional freelance writer, then you may consider finding a freelancer through freelance work websites. The top freelance work websites for cheap freelancers are:

• Fiverr
• Upwork (www.upwork.com)

However, the quality of the writers that you hire there might be very poor. After all, you get what you pay for. As they say – “if you pay peanuts, you’ll get monkeys”.

Since I couldn’t really find a good guide to freelance writing rates in Singapore, I networked like crazy and got in touch with different freelance writers and writing agencies in Singapore to find out how much they charged for freelance writing and this gave me a good sense of what the market rate for Singapore-based freelance writing was.

One thing I discovered is that different type of writing projects have different rates.

Another thing I found out is that some writers charge by word, others by hour and some charge a flat rate based on the project.

The writer’s fee will also depend on how good he is. Factors that will affect the writer’s rate include:

• How much writing experience he has
• How much experience he has with writing this type of writing project
• How much expertise he has on the topic and industry
• How urgently you need the writing project done

The fee that the writer will charge will also depend on the type of company you are. If you’re a big corporation, you can expect the writer to ask more than if you were just a new start-up.

Here is a list for writing projects and their approximate rates:

• Articles – between 30 cents to 50 cents a word. The cost will vary according to the amount of research that needs to be done, how many interviews need to be done, whether the writer also needs to source for photos, the length of the article. Search Engine Optimised (SEO) articles will tend to cost more.
• Press release – $300-750.
• Awards submission – $300-1850
• Case studies – 70 cents to $1 per word
• Web pages – $250-350 per page
• Brochure – $250 to 400 per page

If the project is a rush-job, then the writer might charge you an extra 25% on top of the usual rate.