Looking to do Story Commissions

kooncds · 03-15-2017

Hello everyone! My name is OfficialWerewolf, and I am a TF writing first starting to cut his teeth in the world of erotic transformation literature. A few months ago, I wrote my first story, and it received a rather wonderful reception, and I have been very much looking into getting back into writing. You can find my story below for reference.

https://www.sofurry.com/view/957701

So, as the title implies- I'm looking to do commissions! I'm in college now, and sadly due to my schedule really can't take a full time job. I'm in no means in financial trouble, I'm just looking to make an income in order to save for my eventual graduation, and going ahead and moving on with life. I'm hoping that by doing cheap, reliable commissions of decent quality, I can add to the wonderful array of stories that involve TF, as well as maybe satisfy some of the urges and desires that some people happen to have. I'll happily take what ever desire that anyone may have involving animal TF, and do my best to fulfill it. However, I do have some questions I'd like to ask some of the more experienced members of the community.

What would be a good price range? I'm not looking to live off of this income, and I'm kinda cheap to be honest. I was thinking 5.00 per every thousand words, but I'm wondering if that may be too low, considering the time it takes to write a thousand words.

What sort of things should I expect? What is a reasonable time range for writing? It took me roughly three or so hours to pen A Mother's Love, and that was rough work, I can still see it's a little raw. Considering I did that out of class, I think maybe a month or so per commission may be reasonable.

How should I set myself apart from other commissioners and remain competitive? I know there might not be too much interest at first- I'm a new writing and I've only written one story, but I do want to make sure I am a desirable person to hire and that I can kinda fill a niche.

And likely many more. Regardless, I was hoping to put myself out there, gauge interest, and see what I can learn going forward.

LycanDope · 03-16-2017

I've done some writing commissions so I can speak to this a little.

The issue you may hit is that if you don't have a good amount of representative work out there and a decent amount of fans/watchers/whatever, it may be difficult to get commissions. And that also builds the "uniqueness" you're looking for. When people read and like your stuff, they know what style you have and whether that works for them.

The amount you decide to charge is what the market will bear. Previously I charged $12 per 1,000 words and may bring that up to $15 because I feel that's what my time is worth and I think I write fairly well. But, it's also because I don't live off of any of this. If nobody wanted a commission then I wouldn't be too upset about it.

And that's about all I have. in general. The more you write, the more interest you'll have and the more you'll find you can charge.

Good luck!

alphinecentury · 03-16-2017

The story was a pretty good read OfficialWerewolf!

Personally, I find the most draining part of creative writing to be the planning process. Some commissioners will give you free reign, whilst others might provide you with a very detailed plot. Obviously the latter makes your job easier. For me, I've been taught never to start a story without first planning from intro to finish, typically in point form. I tend to prefer long and detailed stories (typically between 7000 words+) and spend about 2 hours coming up with a proper plot.

When it come down to writing itself, depending on how detailed/descriptive I wish to be, usually 2000-2500 words per hour is manageable. Once you have the story line set in motion, typing it out should feel seamless. After doing a first draft, take a break and check for typos/fine-tune where necessary, I usually spend close to 30-45min on this.

Regarding pricing, it really depends on your popularity. But don't drown yourself in accepting too many commissions at a time, unless you know you can commit to finishing them fast. For starters it might be alright to take 2-3 commissions per month, assuming each story is about 7000 words or less.

With regard to charging, you can also aim to make a basic sum for a decent length story and do a tier-charging system. I.e. $6 per 1000 words for the first 5000 words and $5 per subsequent 1000 words with a cap of words per story if you prefer not to write long ones.

kooncds · 03-16-2017

Thank you for all of the advice so far guys! So, after considering what you guys have said, I'm wondering how if it would be a good idea to do free requests at first? Some smaller stuff to go ahead and build myself up an audience as well as time to go ahead and refine my craft? I think that could be a good way to move forward before directly charging people.

alphinecentury · 03-17-2017

I wouldnt recommend starting free requests. Its like working for free, it sucks. Start with a lower price level per 1000 words and work your way up from there. There will always be customers.

03-15-2017	#1
kooncds Puppy Girl in Training Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 146	Looking to do Story Commissions Hello everyone! My name is OfficialWerewolf, and I am a TF writing first starting to cut his teeth in the world of erotic transformation literature. A few months ago, I wrote my first story, and it received a rather wonderful reception, and I have been very much looking into getting back into writing. You can find my story below for reference. https://www.sofurry.com/view/957701 So, as the title implies- I'm looking to do commissions! I'm in college now, and sadly due to my schedule really can't take a full time job. I'm in no means in financial trouble, I'm just looking to make an income in order to save for my eventual graduation, and going ahead and moving on with life. I'm hoping that by doing cheap, reliable commissions of decent quality, I can add to the wonderful array of stories that involve TF, as well as maybe satisfy some of the urges and desires that some people happen to have. I'll happily take what ever desire that anyone may have involving animal TF, and do my best to fulfill it. However, I do have some questions I'd like to ask some of the more experienced members of the community. What would be a good price range? I'm not looking to live off of this income, and I'm kinda cheap to be honest. I was thinking 5.00 per every thousand words, but I'm wondering if that may be too low, considering the time it takes to write a thousand words. What sort of things should I expect? What is a reasonable time range for writing? It took me roughly three or so hours to pen A Mother's Love, and that was rough work, I can still see it's a little raw. Considering I did that out of class, I think maybe a month or so per commission may be reasonable. How should I set myself apart from other commissioners and remain competitive? I know there might not be too much interest at first- I'm a new writing and I've only written one story, but I do want to make sure I am a desirable person to hire and that I can kinda fill a niche. And likely many more. Regardless, I was hoping to put myself out there, gauge interest, and see what I can learn going forward.

03-16-2017	#2
LycanDope Smutty Lady Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 620	Re: Looking to do Story Commissions I've done some writing commissions so I can speak to this a little. The issue you may hit is that if you don't have a good amount of representative work out there and a decent amount of fans/watchers/whatever, it may be difficult to get commissions. And that also builds the "uniqueness" you're looking for. When people read and like your stuff, they know what style you have and whether that works for them. The amount you decide to charge is what the market will bear. Previously I charged $12 per 1,000 words and may bring that up to $15 because I feel that's what my time is worth and I think I write fairly well. But, it's also because I don't live off of any of this. If nobody wanted a commission then I wouldn't be too upset about it. And that's about all I have. in general. The more you write, the more interest you'll have and the more you'll find you can charge. Good luck!

03-16-2017	#3
alphinecentury Frequent Poster Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 102	Re: Looking to do Story Commissions The story was a pretty good read OfficialWerewolf! Personally, I find the most draining part of creative writing to be the planning process. Some commissioners will give you free reign, whilst others might provide you with a very detailed plot. Obviously the latter makes your job easier. For me, I've been taught never to start a story without first planning from intro to finish, typically in point form. I tend to prefer long and detailed stories (typically between 7000 words+) and spend about 2 hours coming up with a proper plot. When it come down to writing itself, depending on how detailed/descriptive I wish to be, usually 2000-2500 words per hour is manageable. Once you have the story line set in motion, typing it out should feel seamless. After doing a first draft, take a break and check for typos/fine-tune where necessary, I usually spend close to 30-45min on this. Regarding pricing, it really depends on your popularity. But don't drown yourself in accepting too many commissions at a time, unless you know you can commit to finishing them fast. For starters it might be alright to take 2-3 commissions per month, assuming each story is about 7000 words or less. With regard to charging, you can also aim to make a basic sum for a decent length story and do a tier-charging system. I.e. $6 per 1000 words for the first 5000 words and $5 per subsequent 1000 words with a cap of words per story if you prefer not to write long ones.

03-16-2017	#4
kooncds Puppy Girl in Training Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 146	Re: Looking to do Story Commissions Thank you for all of the advice so far guys! So, after considering what you guys have said, I'm wondering how if it would be a good idea to do free requests at first? Some smaller stuff to go ahead and build myself up an audience as well as time to go ahead and refine my craft? I think that could be a good way to move forward before directly charging people.

03-17-2017	#5
alphinecentury Frequent Poster Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 102	Re: Looking to do Story Commissions I wouldnt recommend starting free requests. Its like working for free, it sucks. Start with a lower price level per 1000 words and work your way up from there. There will always be customers.