Contently takes some of the guess work out of what you should charge and whether the rates you’re offered are fair. How? With a Rates Database that lists publications and the rates they’ve reportedly paid for content.

I say “reportedly paid” because the information in Contently’s Rates Database is crowdsourced (a.k.a. submitted by users) like the info in our Blast database.

The freelancers Rates Database was already a valuable resource, but Contently made changes to make it better. New features include:

1) A search function. Now, you can type the name of a publication and get results quick and easy, if there are any.

2) Automatic updates. When someone submits information about a company, the list is automatically updated, making the most recent information available immediately. In the past, entries filtered through Contently staff who added the entries manually.

3) Comments section. This newly added section provides context for the rates by allowing writers to give information such as how many words they wrote or how many interviews or sources were required.

For example, when I searched for the The Washington Post, seven entries appeared, dated between September 2014 and December 2016. From the results, it appears the company’s rates haven’t changed too much over the past two years and writing for The Washington Post Magazine is much more lucrative than writing for the digital and print versions of the newspaper.

That’s a lot of helpful information that’s available easily, quickly and for free.

So, if you’re wondering what a publication pays or a publication asks you to name your price, check out the Rates Database first.