Quoting for a magazine

Moominbaby

Member
Hello all I was wondering if you could give me some advice on quoting for a job.

Basically I have been asked to quote for a magazine it's 200 pages A4.

The guy is sending me over more info later this evening but just as a start is 30/40mins a page too much or too little, what do you think?
Also is there anything else that I need to include or exclude, I know I need to state that they will provide the imagery but is there other stuff?
I dont want to stitch myself up by giving a low quote :)
And when I have done this before but mostly it was on a day/hourly rate and the only time I quoted for a whole job it turned into a nightmare and the job went on forever with me waiting for copy and images to be supplied etc. Is this something that I need to consider? and maybe state resonable time? or maybe 50% upfront would be a good insetive for people to hurry up ? :)
Sorry to sound like a complete novice but I would rather quote right in the first place :)
Thanks All x

Oh and its working from home but meeting up with them for regular meetings on the other side of London.
 
Oh and its from scratch so totally new! and style sheets would need to be set up etc oh and fonts eeek! Do I need to know what perecntage would be ad space? eek!
 
It depends on what sort of publication it is. Does it rely on heavy body text or is it mainly pictorial? Will it require a lot of typographical changes? You say that they will be supplying images but that doesn't mean they can slot straight into the layout so if it is pictorial you have to factor in retouching (I'm assuming that you're required to do this?) Maybe find where the images are coming in from. Also you might want to set some ground rules in terms of ads placed because if ads come in late (which they ALWAYS do) and you are responsible, even though they are running the mag you can be sure that they will blame you if it goes to the printers late.
 
Thanks Ian thats great I haven't got an email back as to whats required so I am begining to feel that this maybe a nonstarter. I maybe a little jaded but he did seem a little clueless when I asked about his budget. Hmmm we will see. I worked for a year revamping a magazine for a publishers so I know all about those late ads! and its a good idea setting ground rules:)thanks!
 
No problem. I think the thing with magazines is that things can go wrong that aren't your fault but you still end up getting blamed for them! Just got to keep on top of it.
 
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