Hello! And question about "low-balling"

[JLMorin]

Hi everyone, I am so excited to be here. I am an aspiring historical romance writer but have always enjoyed all kinds of writing and have written non-fiction and articles before. This is my first attempt to make it as a serious freelancer though!

So, maybe the term low-balling is kind of harsh, but, I had put up my first article at $15 for usage, and $30 for full rights. I received an offer for $12 for full rights. I found this to be a serious dilemma. As a newbie, it is such a rush to have someone willing to pay you for your words! But I also felt $12 for full rights might help pull down prices on this site.

In the end, I accepted the offer. At this point, I just felt it would be important to get a sale under my belt, and help build up my credibility.

I guess my question is, are these low offers pretty normal? Should I have refused? What would YOU do?

I am still happy about the sale and I just hope whoever bought it is happy and gets whatever they wanted out of it.

[nellc]

Hi JLMorin,

I'm also a newbie here, so I thought I could give you my perspective.

Before I priced my articles I was hunting the forums and I did read in some threads about certain clients offering very low offers for full rights articles, and how this was happening to a lot of writers. Apparently it seemed that these clients were just 'playing the numbers' to try and find authors who would accept very low offers. I decided then that I wouldn't accept very low offers, even to make my first sale.

Anyway, I sold my first article for full rights for the asking price within two weeks of uploading it. I guess what I'm saying is that I totally get that you wanted to get a sale under your belt. When that first article sold I literally did a happy dance around my living room. But I feel that if you get in the habit of underselling your work, you will always find a reason to accept low offers.

So maybe from now on price your articles according to what they are worth and refuse to accept offers below that.

Just another newbie perspective

[Lysis]

You can choose not to select "best offer." That's what I do. I don't think I have ever been offered a fair price when one was given, so I just eliminate it. It's totally up to you. I price everything at around the 10 cents per word area, depending on the article. I've gone lower and higher. It just depends.

[FireHorse]

I also do not accept offers. As stated above, they never seem to be reasonable. When you're new to selling your writing it can be difficult to believe that you'll be paid a fair price for it. However, I really think you're better off to set your price, keep writing and wait for those sales. Believe in yourself and your writing.

Of course if you post tons of articles and nothing is selling, then you should probably take another look at the writing or the prices. I'm willing to bet, however, that you can price your articles for a decent price and sell them with a little patience and confidence. Good luck to you.

[JLMorin]

Well, I want to thank you guys for responding with your thoughts. I agree it was a mistake to accept that low offer. I will still look at offers because I think there is nothing wrong with a little negotiating. But you guys provided a great pep talk - I will not undersell myself again.

Thank you all so much!