Illustration by FSP Member Colleen Tighe
Join the Freelance Solidarity Challenge! For one year, submit all your rates to FSP’s rate-sharing database. Learn more here.
Our goal is to build a more robust database of rates that media freelancers can use to negotiate higher compensation from their publishers — as well as to build campaigns drawing attention to abysmally low pay across the industry. Whether you’re a photographer, writer, editor, illustrator, producer, translator or any kind of media worker, let’s share what we were paid and use the data to demand what we deserve.
Please make it a practice to fill out the survey every time you send out an invoice. It is the simplest way you can help us build an equitable media industry. And don’t forget to answer the question about how many hours you spent on each of your projects! Time data helps us understand whether freelancers are actually making a living wage.
To submit a rate, click here. And check out the rates that other freelancers have shared, below!
Note: The survey is anonymous, and the form does not collect your email address, so please don’t include identifiable details (such as your name) in the responses. You can also skip any questions that you feel might identify you. Your response, except for the final comment field at the end of the survey, will be published automatically on the site in full after you submit it.
Questions or feedback? Email FSPrateshare@gmail.com.
Why should you share your rates?
Secret rates allow the industry to persuade individual freelancers that they are getting a special deal or that publishers’ lowest rates are the best they can do. We know neither of those things are true. Although federal regulations make it complicated for us to collectively bargain, we can build campaigns drawing attention to unfair rates. Sharing our rates is the critical first step to building collective power. Workers in unions routinely start the process of negotiating higher rates by learning how much each member is earning. That work is foundational for us, too.
Why should you track your time?
Knowing how freelance rates translate into hourly wages helps measure the wage gap between freelancers and staff workers, as well as the distance between the status quo and the just, equitable media industry that we’re organizing towards. We highly encourage you to develop a practice for tracking your time on projects. You could consider using one of the numerous time tracking apps that are out there OR you could try using this sample spreadsheet system one of our members uses. It’s scary but worth it. Do it for yourself, and do it for your fellow media workers!
To search our database: Use the search bar at the top of the data below to comb through rates freelance media workers have submitted. You can try the name of a publication, a trade (ex: audio, photographer, writer, etc.) or any other terms of interest. Click on the plus symbol on the left (in the Company column) to see more info per entry. All entries are USD $ unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Illustration by FSP Member Colleen Tighe
Not finding the rates you’re looking for? Check out these other rate-sharing initiatives: #FreelancerPayGap (lots of UK rates here), IWW FJU, #publishingpaidme, Litebox and Who Pays Writers.