How do we talk money?

Q: How do I handle the question, ''What kind of salary are you looking for?''

B.K., Washington, D.C.

That's a tough one, and an obviously important one. You don't want to low-ball yourself, giving the impression you have a low opinion of your work and feeling like a chump, or seem over-priced and greedy.

A: Let's deal with minimums, first.

It's usually reasonable to expect to get a raise when you make a move. Start with what you're making now, and look for an increase that is somewhat larger than what you'd expect to get in your next few years at your current job. Some say you shouldn't move for less than a 15-percent bump. Unless you're moving solely for a dramatically better opportunity or location, you're probably doing it to make more than if you stayed put, right.

Get a cost-of-living comparison, too. A buck doesn't go as far in LA as it does in La., so get a handle on what you need to make just to stay even. Whoa! Sound complicated? It's not. Use a cost-of-living calculator to see how the money translates from one city to another. Money magazine has a good on-line cost-of-living calculator that will do the work for you. You can use that calculator to figure out what you'd need to make in that new city to achieve that 15-percent increase, too.

Establishing a floor for your salary needs might keep you from starving, but it won't necessarily keep you from looking like a chump. To do that, you need more information about what the place pays. There are ways to do that.

Answer a question with a question. When they ask what you want, ask them what they are paying people with your level of experience. It's a fair question. Expect to get a minimum or a range.

Ask other people at the paper, who have jobs and experience similar to your own, what the paper is paying. Don't ask them for their own salaries, but ask about the range.

An on-line source of salary data is The Newspaper Guild. This union lists top minimums for just more than a hundred daily papers where it has contracts. The list is here.

If you have trouble getting the information there, try the Editor & Publisher Yearbook, available at the reference desk of most libraries. The yearbook also lists starting pay for many newspapers.
''Top minimum'' requires some explanation. A top minimum is the minimum amount someone at the top of the scale can be paid. Oops, there's another phrase that needs some explanation: ''top of the scale.'' The scale is based on years of professional experience -- at that or another newspaper. The scale gives workers raises until they reach the top year for which raises are automatic -- usually between three and six years, depending on the contract.

So, at a newspaper where automatic wage increases stop happening at five years of experience, the top of the scale is five years. If the top minimum at that newspaper is $800 a week, then everyone with five or more years of full-time professional experience should be paid at least $800. Newspapers are free to pay more than the minimum, and do.

As you negotiate salary, don't forget other considerations that might be just as important to you, but easier for the paper to provide. What about vacation time? Moving expenses? Development opportunities? Retirement savings? Papers are unlikely to provide anything other than the standard options, but you need to know what they are to consider the package.

Save detailed questions about pay and benefits for later in the interview process -- even until after you have an offer. Asking about pay, benefits and vacations first can make editors think you're jumping the gun and that journalism is a secondary consideration.

To read more about negotiating, go here.