Costs & Terms

Wordsworth’s preferred approach to estimating is to come and visit you to discuss your requirements in detail – get a good, clear appreciation of what the problem is that you need to resolve by using documentation, help or training. We need to know what the subject matter is, who the audience will be, what they already know, and what information you need to give them. If you don’t have all these answers, we can carry out the research for you.

The objective is that Wordsworth should provide a cost-effective solution for its client's needs, and that is best achieved by agreeing with the client at the outset a mutually satisfactory method of specifying the work to be done, calculating the price, and settling the payment terms.

Most clients need to know how much the solution will cost and how long it will take. In many situations, a rough outline estimate can be provided during the initial discussion of the project. However, it is usually the case that some detailed work needs to be done before a precise cost and duration can be determined. On many projects, therefore, Wordsworth undertakes a short scoping exercise to provide an outline or skeleton of the manual, training course or help system.

Typically, this scoping exercise will take three to five days, depending on the size and complexity of the requirement. Although such scoping work is chargeable, there is an extremely worthwhile deliverable on completion of the exercise, which is the skeleton or outline of the proposed solution. This enables the client to examine the detailed structure and content, and request changes before the actual writing work begins. It also allows a much more accurate assessment of the time and resources needed to complete the work, which permits a fixed price to be established for the writing work. This calculated fixed price need only be amended if the information on which the scoping exercise was based should change significantly during the course of the project.

As a guideline for comparative pricing, Wordsworth currently uses an hourly rate in the range £40 to £45 as the basis for calculating writing costs, the actual rate depending on the quantity, complexity and urgency of the work. We request that all invoices should be settled within 30 days. Timing of stage payments is always agreed in advance, and proprietary rights to the written material are transferred to the client on payment of the final invoice.