Very hard to say. Written works is underrated and unappreciated, so I personally find that people generally aren't interested in the slightest. I'd buff the price, personally. Say, 20 dollars for 4k words, or so, but that's me.

"underrated and unappreciated"

Yup. I actually even think -that- ($20/approx. 4k words) is kind of cheap if you're paying for quality writing (quality, of course, here being somewhat subjective), especially if it takes them longer than two hours to write. Not so much if it just takes them an hour - that would be a fair price, then, I'd say.

Well, I write 2k words an hour so that'd be two hours work for me. Though I can't say people are interested in commissions regardless, not when it comes to written ones, so it's more like a lose/lose situation.

In a way, sadly, yeah.

I knew a friend who worked professionally as an erotica writer for a website. That's similar... because people pay for books of written smut and specific fetish stories that aren't generally available... but it's a tough market to break into, I'm sure.

Rough dilema. From the other side of the coin, I've commonly been asked to include someone's character, but never offered money to do so. Usually I'd steer someone away from it, because for there to be a "story", there needs to be conflict and resolution, and most people aren't happy with how a writer would "treat" their character.

*nods* Speaking more generally, some people can be very picky about the depiction of their character, but on behalf of the writers, it's not fair to expect a perfect translation from one mind to another, and then again into written form.

i think i agree with Ulv including the price,
i write a story myself sometimes and knowing how much time it costs me when im on a flow i would say 20 bucks is about right for between 3000 and 4000 words. but i think it also depends on how many details a costumer would want in their story.

for example if someone would ask me for a story about i dont know, maybe get turned into a sexdoll or something like that i could write that for 20 bucks, but if they want that and also want stuff like watersports in there in a descriptive manner i would ask more, even if i manage to keep around 4000 words

*nods* Indeed, it's not just length, but content/"difficulty."

take `saving the kennel` for example, that took me 2 days which was mixed with goofing off and other stuff but that has a few elements in it that flow together nicely so it would be probably 20 bucks to get that story. maybe a little more so i could send it to a native English speaker and check my spelling and grammar a bit and pay him/her as well but yeah that would be 20 bucks before the real typing time would probably be a hour of work.

Yep but pricing something like thats out side my ability. its a different form of creativity and I cant even price my own with in reason. But If they are talented and its extremely well done Id either work out a trade (in skill of course, pic of equal value) or upwards of the 40 to 50$ range for 4000 words and extra if Im really liking what Im reading.

*nods*

Honestly? No, I wouldn't, I personally am a big fan of furry literature, but the idea of having my character included in a story doesn't really interest me that much, especially if I were to have to pay for it.

*chuckles* Neither would I, again being honest :b I'd trade, though, depending.

To be honest, almost every story I have read on FA or DA has been lacking and hasn't been able to draw me in.
I have only found 2 writers online with work that have been as enjoyable as something I would buy off the shelfs.
I love reading my novels, but I don't find that many people from FA or DA have the same quality that I would expect from a professional.

IF I wanted a story written and IF I felt there was a writer with the level of skill/style I was after I'd gladly pay $500 for a chapter of 20 pages. Perhaps once I finish collage and get into the industry I would have more to spend. I think $1,000 would be the most I could pay for 20 pages of talented writing.

*nods* That's I'd say a fair enough stance. Why pay for something that you just don't care for or find high quality? But if you ARE going to pay for something you really like, you'll pay well :)

I dont even think thats 'paying well'. I believe a price like that would be fair for a writer with skill.

$10 for 5 pages is absolutely revolting and an insult to the talented writers of the world, in my opinion.
Although... for the all to common and not-so-amazing writers accepting commission who don't understand sentence structure I'd say $10 is fair enough.

"$10 for 5 pages is absolutely revolting and an insult to the talented writers of the world, in my opinion.
Although... for the all to common and not-so-amazing writers accepting commission who don't understand sentence structure I'd say $10 is fair enough."

*chuckles* Well summarized :b

I know this conversation was six months ago, but I'm curious who the two authors were. I'd like to check them out.

I personally would add that, besides length, content and difficulty, there is another problem to deal with as a writer.
Maybe it is just me but I cannot, for the life of me, plan the exact wordcount of a Story. I start writing with the Idea
and Instructions given and the story starts pulling me in. After a bit I have no control anymore how many words
I was supposed to use and just go with the flow. I have 2 stories up on my page, both were supposed to be
in the 4000's but both went out of control. ONe stopped at 3500 and wouldn't budge, the other came up
to a good 6500 before I knew it.

So yeah, I would say that keeping to the actual Word-Limit is also a big problem in my eyes.

"Maybe it is just me but I cannot, for the life of me, plan the exact wordcount of a Story."

*chuckles* I think you're not alone on that one. I think it would be fair to aim for approximate length. If the client is SO picky that they're going to complain because they got 3921 words instead of 4000, they're just being a douche.

I think one would also have to take into account revisions. Would revisions of a piece be included in the original price, or would that be extra? and to what extent would the writer, having completed a work, be willing to revise it if there was something, especially something major, that the commissioner didn't like? Would the writer be sending it paragraph by paragraph for the sake of changes, page by page, or when it was completed just hoping it's what the person wanted based on their description? How much communication would be going on while writing? Especially if it only took the writer an hour or two to write.

Yeah, I have no idea about that. As an artist, I send WIPs for anything that will take me longer than 3 hours to do, and allow for minor revisions. Dunno how the writing would work, though...

Considering that Penthouse Letter's will buy stories, even low quality smut.. you can make a buck with it.

How much would I pay? 4K for $20? Considering again, that a well written Midterm paper, often above 4K, is worth $300.
Good Fiction, erotic or otherwise.. $20 seems pretty damn fair.

Definitely. A friend of mine did that for a while.

random thing, I might be taking sort comissions, so someone tell me what's decided. ^^;

I think it's mostly decided that commission writers are underpaid, underappreciated, and generally not very popular. Some people do it, but it's almost never enough to be close to providing enough money to live off of. In fact, I've never seen or heard of any writers who can do that... although that's just me.

The most common price I've seen is $5-10 for a story (2-5 pages).

fair enough. Thanks for the baseline. :3

Despite the fact that I am attempting to get my two sci-fi novels professionally published, I would never write for money on a casual basis. Hell, don't know if I could do it on a professional basis either I don't believe my own work is worth paying for, but that's not to say there aren't some other there who are. I write for the fun and enjoyment it brings myself and others. I feel that I would lose a part of my soul if I wrote for money, however I would certainly not look down on someone else who did. More power to them

Anyone can write, but just like art it takes a lot of time, effort and practice to write well.

"Anyone can write, but just like art it takes a lot of time, effort and practice to write well."

Indeed. Not so much here, but elsewhere where I posed the same question, a lot of people seemed almost insulted, like, "Pffbt, why pay someone else to write when obviously *I* could write it best!?" Almost literally that was the response from several people.

Now... Not to dump on people's writing abilities, but for one, there's almost ALWAYS someone who could do what you're doing but better. Secondly, I think it might be that some people think a good writer is simply someone who still uses proper punctuation, spelling, and grammar (as these people often do tend to stand out from people who speak/type in regular internet/texting shorthand or have poor spelling/grammar)... which obviously is NOT all that a good writer is. But yeah, it sort of surprised me o_O - sure, they're YOUR ideas and YOUR characters, but that doesn't automatically mean you'd be the best at writing them.

Hmm, I'm of two minds about this... I think that if they are your ideas/characters, then you're definitely the best person to write about them. HOWEVER - just because you have ideas/characters - doesn't mean to say that your story is any good or is at all interesting to anyone. You might be the most grammatically correct person and your writing the epitome of perfection - but if your story sucks then no amount of perfection will save it.

Put simply: Some stories are just not worth telling.

On the other hand there are some people out there who cannot write for shit, but have some amazing stories to tell. And this is where collaboration with someone who can write or edit can be a very good thing Everyone who writes should have an editor - even if that person is not a grammatical expert, they will often be able to point out mistakes that no amount of self-editing can catch.

Personally I am no expert, but I think my stories are okay - there are enough people who have enjoyed them to give me the confidence to keep writing. But I would trade that all in in a second to have your artistic abilities

"I think that if they are your ideas/characters, then you're definitely the best person to write about them."

Weeellll... I do agree partly to this. I think you definitely need to have a big part in their execution... but that doesn't mean you'd be able to do them the best justice, assuming you could work with a writer more skilled than yourself. For instance, I have these characters I've had around for years and years, but I know I can't write their story as well as they deserve. If I could work with my boyfriend (who is a much stronger writer than I and could very likely do them the justice they deserve), then he would technically be better than I, even though they're my characters and it's my story. I would just be directing it to make sure it's true to them, but he'd actually be putting it together for me.

It's like directing an artist. Just because it's your idea doesn't mean you're the best to draw them, but your input is definitely required if someone else is to do them justice if you have something specific in mind.

"just because you have ideas/characters - doesn't mean to say that your story is any good or is at all interesting to anyone. You might be the most grammatically correct person and your writing the epitome of perfection - but if your story sucks then no amount of perfection will save it."

Hehe, yup.

"there are some people out there who cannot write for shit, but have some amazing stories to tell. And this is where collaboration with someone who can write or edit can be a very good thing"

Yeah, that's sort of what I was referring to above. Not to say my ideas are great, but I really kind of feel like I "owe" my characters - they deserve to get their story written down properly at some point.

"But I would trade that all in in a second to have your artistic abilities"

Awww :)

"there are enough people who have enjoyed them to give me the confidence to keep writing."

That's really great. Writing often gets ignored so often... I think it's because you can draw people in with all the illustrations you do :) I think that probably helps a lot...

Well given your artwork I hope you are successful into bullying your boyfriend into collaborating with you in telling the stories of your characters - I think they would be quite fascinating And yeah, I get what you mean about directing a written piece and having it being similar to directing the direction of an artistic piece.

A long time ago I thought it would be cool to have a "graphic novel" version of one of my novels. However I don't think they would condense well down into that format, so instead I'm going the route where I'm going to have an illustrated version of my novel, with various commissioned pieces illustrating some of the key scenes. Most people only watch me for the pics I commission, very few are actually interested in the stories themselves. Such is life

Yeah, I think just having like a companion art book, or an illustrated version would be better than changing the format of your story.

honestly I have been wanting to commission someone to do a story of my own char but I have no idea of who to go to. Not only that but as far as I am concerned in a way it would be a lot more complicated than a commissioned picture

Yes, I believe it would be, especially if you had something particular in mind, or were picky about your character's depiction (which is fair enough).

I would consider it, and I have.  Cherri is working on a chapter for hir 'The Estate' series that I paid for my fursona to be included in as a chapter.

Price levels and flexibility I'd talk to you about on a messenger though, not in the journal.

*nods* Understandably.

But yeah, it's for my boyfriend, not me ;)

I can probably recommend a few authors who'd take commissions, if you tag me on YIM (MSN should work for that). Catch me sometime tomorrow or later tonight.

Ahhh, well, I wasn't looking for someone to commission to write a story. More the other way around.

I was thinking my boyfriend could probably to story commissions quite successfully, and was wondering what people normally charge for stuff like that.

Ahhh, ok then.

I like to think that my prices are reasonable.

Good choices for your "never" list, mine would pretty much have the same. Also, I love how you include hypothetical prices for "never" content, just in case someone is THAT desperate XD

They're priced in a way that if someone actually asks for one, I could still get excited enough to do a good job Suuure I'll write a scat story...for $500.

Haha, yeah. Most people have a price somewhere - at the point someone's offering you A MILLION DOLLARS to do something you'd normally never do, sometimes it's worth it, just from a practical sense. Y'know, like those "OMG will u cheat on ur bf for $1 000 000?" porno setups - hypothetically speaking, assuming you have a close and trusting relationship and both people were okay with it, it might be worth it to agree to do something like that, 'cause what REAL harm is really going to come from sleeping with someone else for a night?

Although, of course, it always depends on the context and question posed :b Like in a crazy hypothetical situation that's already weird, what's to say there isn't some weird threat of horrible blackmail, too? Or... I dunno XD

My price for "never" list stories used to be $2500 initial and $500 per page I lowered that price along with the others both times I reduced my prices. Still not getting a lot of attention though :-/

XD Nice. But yeah, I imagine most people won't pay those prices - they'd just go elsewhere :b

Well I figured, that's half the intention I meant I wasn't getting a lot of attention on my commissions in general. There are some advantages to obscurity, for certain, but I don't have two nickels to rub together.

i used to write for other people
i stopped because some people were too damned picky..

I however-- charged $10 a page. a FULL page. [as marked by Microsoft word, single spaced save for new paragraphs.]

I thought it was decent, and I could easily pump out 4-5 pages. :3

That sounds pretty good :) And yeah, I imagine people could get pretty picky - although it's the same with art commissions, too :b

Yes and no. With artwork, some things just can't be fixed without deleting half of the page. Lol

same goes for writing.

Yeah, that's sorta what I mean x_x

Or they'll spend FOREVER obsessing over a tiny detail. They'll want you to draw a character, but not have any references, but at the same time will have a very specific idea in mind. So they'll ask you to tweak a small part of it. Over. And over. And over. And over. And over.

I'm sure it can be like that in writing, too. Just tweaking a paragraph over and over again. x_x (that's how I write, I'm never happy with it XD)

feh... i get frusterated even just reading about it.. >C lol

XD

I used to write a lot of fanfiction and then my own stories for a while. IN the fandom though, I eventually gave up because I found the market was too small and too crowded. On top of that, you also have to deal with the uneducated idiots who see it's a story and then get bored because there's no pictures involved. I've had plenty of people bash on me for just that.

I might get back into writing but honestly, I just haven't found anything that gets my interest outside of RPs.

Back when I was doing fanfiction I was churning out 10 - 12k word chapters on a daily basis for weeks at a time.

"you also have to deal with the uneducated idiots who see it's a story and then get bored because there's no pictures involved. I've had plenty of people bash on me for just that."

Ugh, that sucks. Sure, a person might not be bothered reading, that doesn't mean you have to post, "Yeah, you're boring, didn't bother reading" - yet you bothered to comment needlessly?

"Back when I was doing fanfiction I was churning out 10 - 12k word chapters on a daily basis for weeks at a time."

You machine you!

I'm sure they've got their own reasons in their own minds as to why they comment. Be it from a lack of tact, whether they speak their mind without reserve, have personal problems with the author or just feel like stirring or dumping crap on them because they're in the mood, insecure or just had a bad day...

And thanks. I'm not quite sure how I managed to pull that off when I looked back on it... I suppose I had a writer's streak. Honestly, I want to comission you, but I'm unemployed and as such, can't pay for your awesome work. >_<

"they've got their own reasons in their own minds as to why they comment..."

Haha, indeed. Everyone has reasons - just not all of them are good.

"I suppose I had a writer's streak."

Sexy. I haven't had any of those for... years. It's kinda sad. I got discouraged some time after highschool 7 years ago, and I haven't really written since. Sort of like an extended (but hopefully not completely permanent) writer's block =/

"Honestly, I want to comission you, but I'm unemployed and as such, can't pay for your awesome work."

Aww, thank you very much. I understand, I'm in a bit of a pinch myself at the moment :b X3

Also, I like your avatar :3

Hey, thanks. I was all over it the moment I saw it. Felines like that just scream 'cuddle me' but obviousy, doing that's not really a good idea. <_<

I know how it feels with not having a writer's streak in years. I got discouraged when so many people started liking my fanfiction writing that I became a slave to it and not just something I did for fun.

I'd love to get back into it though, I just need something interesting enough or perhaps an... Incentive *cough*money*cough* to start again. <_<

XD