Preparation of a 50,000 word manuscript is considered a minimum of 12 months full-time work for a historian.*

The fee should reflect the time the historian spends completing all aspects of the work, dependent on qualifications and experience.  For a historian with postgraduate qualifications, this should not be lower than comparably qualified professionals.

The historian's fee should be considered under a separate budget from the amount allowed to cover overheads in producing the manuscript.   

* (Note:  this is a general guideline only  - every project must be individually assessed according to the type of history to be researched and written, availability of archival material, oral history components etc).

Overheads may include:

• Travel and/or accommodation, eg. if access to interstate archives is necessary

• Photocopying

• Sourcing/copying of images

• Professional indemnity insurance

• Public liability insurance

• Transcription services/word-processing

• Equipment, eg. audio tapes, hire of recording equipment

• Search fees at libraries/archives

• Indexing services