How much do I charge?

Marilyn Taylor · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007, 18:10 (GMT) Post subject: How much do I charge?

Could someone please give me some guidance.... If an adio book is 40-50 pages, how many words is that likely to be? How much do I charge a page? or do I charge by the hour? Any frame of reference would be appreciated...thanks

Don Randall · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007, 18:32 (GMT) Post subject:

Marilyn -

The industry standard seems to be that there is no industry standard.

I generally try to work on a "per page" arrangement.

Typically, most VO people seem to prefer double spaced 12 pt Times New Roman. I prefer 14 pt or 16 pt Times New Roman and single spaced, one inch margins.

Negotiating price can be ticklish so be willing to ask for the stars and settle for the moon. I generally ask $50 per page and sometimes that works out just fine. Sometimes I will take less - if it is something I think I will enjoy doing or if things are slow. Sometimes more if it looks like it involves tedium or extra work.

Keep in mind that some projects may contain some difficulties that may cause a lot of regret if you underbid. Many characters, each requiring a distinctive voice and/or varying dialects and accents, for instance. Difficult pronunciations or an overload of technical terms or foreign words can be a lot more work.

Let us know how ya make out!

Marilyn Taylor · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007, 18:56 (GMT) Post subject:

Thanks Don, that helps allot!!! Very Happy

Colin Campbell · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007, 19:04 (GMT) Post subject:

I generally consider a "page" to be 200 words and take 60 seconds to read. I like to break it up into those units. Probably being from my radio past. So... 1000 words=5 pages and five minutes. 50 pages=50 minutes.

Marilyn Taylor · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007, 19:28 (GMT) Post subject:

So Colin, how much would you charge for a 50 page book?

Colin Campbell · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007, 19:32 (GMT) Post subject:

I'd probably charge $1000 and that's pretty cheap. ($1000 per recorded hour.)

Marilyn Taylor · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007, 19:59 (GMT) Post subject:

It's really tough to bid on these jobs because, what if each page contains 300 words..or more...or less.... I bid 2000 dollars. I rounded down to 40 pages and figured 50 dollars per page... I hope I didn't price my self out of a job..I felt really good about the audition... Confused

Colin Campbell · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007, 20:54 (GMT) Post subject:

Robert Jadah · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007, 21:14 (GMT) Post subject:

My calculations would be 50 pages for a completed read-time of 75 minutes. Multiply out by four for retakes, fumbles, word research, editing, etc for 300 minutes, or five hours of work, minimum.

So I'm with Colin that the job itself is $1,000.
That's when you need to figure the client's use of your work. If the seeker is going out to make big money on it (ie, broadcast or sale), then I factor in my buyout at anywhere from 100 to 150%.

If it's for their own personal use, I peg the buyout at 50 to 75%.

So, in short, we got to the same place, Marilyn; we just took different routes.

Math On!

Gregory Houser · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007, 21:17 (GMT) Post subject:

and let's not forget whether the client has you doing the tracking, or also has you mixing and eventually mastering material (some are sneaky like that).

there's an extra charge for that kind of work Wink

Marilyn Taylor · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007, 23:03 (GMT) Post subject:

Thanks guys, even if I over bid at least I learned something....I'm filing all your sage advice....on to the next!!! Smile

Dina Monaco-Boland · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007, 23:11 (GMT) Post subject:

Don Randall · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007, 06:56 (GMT) Post subject:

I'm looking at a chart I found somewhere and printed - I apologize for not being able to credit the originator of the information, but I printed only the information and did not print the name. My apologies to whomever I may have deprived of rightful credit.

According to this chart, the average person reads at a pace of 3 words per second with a range of 2 to 4.

The average person reads 88 words per half minute with a range of 60 to 120.

The average person reads 170 words per minute with a range of 135 to 215.

The average person reads 10,320 words per hour with a range of 8,625 to 12,030.

The average number of words per line should be 13 with a range of 8 to eighteen (using the numbers 1 and 8 in combination produced a smiley, so I had to spell it instead). A word about this is in order: longer and shorter words will influence this because this method counts space bar strikes as the number of words. Another method of counting words considers every five spaces (or six in yet another method) as a "word".

The average number of words per page should be 273 with a range of 168 to 378.

The average reading time per line should be around 4 seconds and the average per page should be around 100 seconds.

Assuming 12 pt Arial, double spaced, 1 inch margins, you should see:

An average of 21 lines per page.

For commercial reads:

The average number of lines in a 30 sec spot should be 7.5.

The average number of lines in a 60 sec spot should be 15 (adjust accordingly for tempo and cadence, depending on the nature of the read).

Ronald T Robinson · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007, 13:16 (GMT) Post subject:

One of the strategies I found that works quite well, although I don't recommend it, is: Ask the Seeker: "How much do you have on you!?" Smile