There’s an interesting discussion at The Freelance Writing Jobs Network on “Who Sets Your Freelance Writing Rates,” and when I first read the title, I thought, “Well, I do, of course!” But as many of my clients know, that’s not always true.

Sometimes I write for magazines and Web sites that pay a set amount per word or per article. When I’m offered an assignment for one of them, I generally have two choices – take it or leave it. The third option comes up seldom – when I email an editor and say, “That topic will take too much research for me to do a good job for that amount.” I have never had a steady client turn me down when I’ve asked for more money – perhaps because they know I don’t do it often, and I have never put in an unjustified request.

Many times a client will ask what I would charge to do a particular job. I try to figure out how much time it will take, and then I set a fee accordingly. I factor in the kind of work (editing goes for less per hour than publication consulting) and how much expertise I have in the subject or publishing system involved. If I know I have to learn a new publishing tool, I discount the rate and don’t count the learning hours.

Sometimes there's a negotiation. Sometimes I take a lower fee. Sometimes I don't.

All the calculating and estimating takes time, which I write off to “business development.” It keeps me from considering applying for low-paying gigs – and I don’t mean those $1 and $5 per article jobs Deb Ng mentioned in her Freelance Writing Jobs Network post. I'm talking about the ones that would end up paying me $10  or $20 per hour, when everything’s said and done.

I set my own rates — and higher than that.