The Writing Industry Is In Trouble by Risa Attrell

The writing industry is in trouble, or at least it looks like it may be heading for trouble. And whose fault is that? It is the fault of you the writer.

Yes, that's right. You Mr or Ms Writer who are accepting payment the likes of 5 dollars for a 500 word article!

Go look around on the internet. Check freelance writing websites. Go look at Craigslist. What you will find on such websites are people in need of freelance writers, posting their job assignments and the pay they are offering. And frequently the pay is about 5 dollars for a 500 word article, or even lower than that. It's obvious why so many people in need of writers are offering this kind of slave-labor wages. Obviously they are able to find writers who are willing to work for that kind of pay.

Why in the world should anybody offer to pay a writer decently if they can get away with paying this kind of chicken-feed? The fact that you, Ms Writer, accept this kind of payment, is why they are getting away with this. This hurts the writing industry for everyone. Any writer who thinks he should get paid what he deserves, is now in competition with those who will accept less than a penny a word.

I ask all writers-please stop! Why are you bothering to write a 500 word article for 5 dollars or less? Do you think all your writing is worth is a penny a word? If you think your writing is worth that little, go take a writing course, or go into another profession. Don't hurt all us writers by agreeing to slave labor wages.

So how much should writers get paid? Well that's a hard question. I don't believe there are any rules about this. Some writers get a dollar a word or even more. Yes, a dollar a word. That means for a 500 word article, the writer would get 500 dollars. Compare that to 5 dollars! But if you are a new writer and just trying to get your foot in the door, it is probably not a good idea to demand a dollar a word. But I wouldn't suggest settling for anything less than 10 cents a word. Well... okay, maybe if you're really new, you can go down to even 5 cents a word, just in the very begining. But please, not less than that! Let all those folks who post jobs for writers with their chicken feed pay, see that nobody is taking the job. Then they'll be forced to pay writers what they really deserve.


This article may not be reprinted without the permission of the author. If you would like to use this article on your website, blog, or print publication, please email me about buying reprint rights. Yeah, and that's right- don't offer me less than 10 cents a word!

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