OK, I’m jumping the gun here, but I sent in a proposal to a company that makes resources for the d20 roleplaying system. If it’s accepted, they’ll ask me how much I want to write the book. This particular series of books are 64-pages each. I estimate it’ll take me from the beginning of January to the end of February to finish an edited 1st draft (so 2 months work initially). From what I can tell of their submission guidelines, they don’t offer royalties, so this is flat rate work. I’m not sure what kind of numbers to throw out for this. Is $2000 to much? Too little?
Since I don’t know the business too well,
here is my rule of thumb for most work that I do outside of my normal job.
How much is it worth for you to do the work?
If $2000 is the number that will keep you happy no matter what, then ask for it. If you go too little it will not be worth it for you in the end, and you will be pissed.
and since there are no royalties… you may want to make the number pretty high…
$2K? For two month’s work?!? If I could find a Sys Admin that cheap I could outsource my own job! Ever consider moving to lovely New England? 
I’d say start at at least $6K or even $8K, but my perception is skewed because everything’s so inflated up here.
$2000…no way. If you figure it out hourly, 320hrs.(8 weeks at 40) * $6.25= $2000 Let’s try $25hr. *320= $8000. That sounds more like it. You could just about flip burgers for $6.25, don’t under-value your work. Even 8K may be too low. Ask someone in that business to get a better idea.
Wow, thanks for the advice, everyone. I wasn’t sure, since the most money I’ve ever made on any one article is $100 (which is what reviewing games pays, not counting the free game).
Of course, all this still supposes they even want my proposal, but hey, I’m a positive person. 
So if you got $100 for an article…figure $100 a page = $6400 + $1500 misc and you’re just about back to $8000. I’d go with that at a minimum.
Look at it this way. Someone paid you $100 (plus free game) to review a game that was mere fluff for their publication. If you are writing a book, the words you write, the company selling the book, and the subject are all it’s got going for it. Your work is then a huge part of the revenue potential of said book.
I agree, way too little. . . . Do what you can to make them put a stake in the ground FIRST! Then negotiate from there. I love the book Getting to Yes by some professors at Harvard. It teaches negotiation where both parties are satisfied at the end - so no one feels cheated.
I’ve done a bit in the UK RPG market. The UK rates are normally done per word - about 2p-6p a word depending on the company and writing experience for the small press games. It doesn’t pay very well.
If you want to check rates against other freelancers, the best place to ask is probably the freelancer forums on RPG.net. If you’ve already been there, sorry.
If you need any advice, please email me off list and I’ll try to help (or point you at someone who can).