NUJ Rate for the Job: Words, per 1000 / books

Updated: 2025-07-09

These rates have been reported by members of the National Union of Journalists and others, and printed in the Freelance, newsletter of London Freelance Branch. They are sorted by publisher/publication, then by date (most recent first). TIP: Use the "Find in page" command under your browser's "Edit" or "Search" menu to be sure of finding all occurrences of a publication/publisher. AND do note the year in which the rate was reported! See also the Freelance Fees Guide, which gives general recommendations. And read the disclaimer and the key to exactly what the entries mean.

Words, per 1000 / books Work paid by the thousand words, whose primary use is in a book. Only do this if the rate is good and you expect sales to be minimal. Otherwise, go for royalties. Percent of gross, my child, always remember percent of gross sales. If you are interested, the archived rates are here.
Tell us what you've been paid for Words, per 1000 / books		Freelance Fees Guide
Publication / Programme - details & terms	Group	Year		Total paid	GR	XXXX
Publishing Business	_PubBiz	2014		150.00		XX
Publishing Business	_PubBiz	2014		150.00		XX
The Tower 2000-word article @ £700 =		2016		350.00		O
Arcturus Publishing 1000 words (research from scratch) all rights including multi-media	_3Fox	2017		144.00		X
Book (Picador Press)		2015		23.00
Book (HarperCollins) all rights and soul demanded	_NI	2015		200.00		XX
Book on the band Queen 300-word update @ $200		2020		666.00
JC (Jewish Chronicle?) 1200-word article @ £300 =		2016		250.00
John Spencer publishers commissioned pulp fiction , terms - up to 10 shillings (£0.50) per 1000 words in 1946 - adjusted for inflation		2024		17.57		XXXX
Monocle books chapter in guidebook (via #FreelancerPayGap)		2020		480.00
Key to the rates, by column:
1 Publication / Programme, any details of work and licence
2 Owner at the time the rate was reported, where known	Group
3 The year in which the rate was reported		Year
4 Currency: either or or (US)
5 Amount paid (total of basic licence and extra licences for web use, database resale...)				Amount
7 "Going Rate" according to experienced NUJ members - do try to better it:					GR
or Minimum rate set out in NUJ House Agreement:					HA
8 Underpaid, in the fallible opinion of the Freelance editor:				50.00		X
or Just sometimes we're pleasantly surprised:				1500.00		O

Other rates:

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Freelance Fees Guide home page

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