That’s a good question, Joel.
I freelanced in the past (through my company for some projects) but I got paid hourly (and it wasn’t great money). (I think I only got $20 an hour and after US taxes, the government took almost half, so I quit doing it. Not worth working 8 hours only to see 80 bucks after taxes.
To me, the first thing you want to do is see the design file and the Word file from the author. See exactly what is involved so far as various elements and stuff). Then figure out how many days/hours it would take you do it (approximate).
By the way, do they have an approximate page count?
Then, maybe divide the time you estimated into a certain price per page. It’s kinda like a flat rate, but it’s per page. So if the book ends up bigger, you get more because it’s per page.
Now–what about 2nd, 3rd, and/or 4th passes. You know the authors and editors always make changes.
1) First pass–figure out a price per page. And that price is ONLY for first pass pages.
2) Subsequent passes–either per hour or per correction.
Normally more money is made for the subsequent passes than the first pass. I’m only saying that because first pass is easy compared to when the editors and authors add and delete and change stuff and you have to totally repage the book.
I’ve done first pass pages (from tagging the Word file to laying out and putting in the artwork) in 8 hours. But when it comes back for 2nd pass, it takes me 16 hours to input the changes and repage the damn book.
You want to get paid for subsequent passes!
The company I work for has some pricing stuff, but we work with major publishers. I can check to get you a ball park figure, but we bid on individual jobs at times and they all vary. I can check if you want, just post back and let know.
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