[mea] Re: Question about flat fees
- From: Annalee Greenberg <agreenberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 10:30:28 -0500
Hi Janice,
Yes, it's very common. Organizations set budgets, but rather than sending
the job out to a qualified editor to get estimates, they designate an amount
that they're willing to pay. It's important not to get sucked into their bad
planning, perhaps educate them a little for next time, and to walk away from
the job if you can't possibly do it.
Your situation is a perfect example of the need for a solid letter of
agreement that outlines in detail the scope of the work. If the flat fee
translates into a certain number of hours, (i.e., they're paying $1000, you
charge $40 an hour, therefore, you're giving them 25 hours of work) then you
and the contractor have to come to some sort of agreement as to what you're
going to spend those hours on, even if the job clearly requires 50 hours. If
you can't do the full job for them, then perhaps there are resources within
their own organization that they can draw on (someone there can do
fact-checking or bibliographies, for example).
So it's important to find out what their priorities are and what skills you
have that they need -- do they want copyediting and fact-checking? Do they
need the manuscript restructured? Once it's established what you will do for
the money (say one round of copy-editing, with one set of revisions, and
checking of all bibliographic entries), that goes into a letter of
agreement. Then add a note stating that additional work will be charged at a
rate of so much an hour.
Also when dealing with organizations (especially those with boards), it's
essential that you ask them to assign one designated individual who you will
work with -- all instructions to come through that person.
If interested, I probably have some copies of old contracts/letters of
agreement at home that I can dig up that you can get ideas from. Let me know
if you're interested off list.
Sounds like a subject for another MEA workshop!
--
Annalee Greenberg
Editor, The Beaver
Tel: (204) 988-9300, ext. 18
E-mail: agreenberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Visit our website: www.beavermagazine.ca
> From: Janice Liwanag <jliwanag@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 11:06:13 -0500
> To: mea list <mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [mea] Question about flat fees
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> Looking for some insight...
>
> I am a freelancer who is thinking of taking on an editing project for an
> organization that receives funding from the Canadian government. The
> organization says it can only offer to pay me a flat fee, which is the
> maximum amount of funding they receive from the government to pay a
> contractor like me.
>
> While the amount of the flat fee seems reasonable right now, I can see how
> an editing project like this could quickly turn into a 'minimum-wage'
> endeavour. Up to this point, I have been able to get paid as a contractor
> according to my fee structure, not the client's.
>
> Questions...
> - Is it common for organizations to dictate how much they will pay a
> contractor (writer/editor/desktop publisher)?
> - What can contractors do to protect themselves from being undercompensated
> in this scenario?
>
> I appreciate your input,
>
> Janice
>
> _______________________
>
> Janice Liwanag
> Technical Writer and Editor
> 100 Lipton Street
> Winnipeg, Manitoba
> R3G 2G7 Canada
>
> T: + 204 453 2262
> F: + 204 772 3556
> jliwanag@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
>
Other related posts:
