Getting Paid to Write

I have been writing web-content since 1999. Over the years I have expected my pay for webcontent to increase, however, the price of offers has failed to rise.

âÂ?¢ It started with a website called Ask.com where I answered Interior Design Questions. I gladly did it free for six months. My only consolation was traffic to my website. My main business was and is Interior Design, mainly for children’s rooms.

� After that, I wrote for a site called Themestream.com where I also wrote a decorating column. I answered a few questions each week, and was paid about $12.00 for each 300-word article. Unfortunately, Themestream went belly up.

� Next, I wrote for WriteforCash.com and was paid approximately $20.00 for a 600-word article. Being relatively new to writing, I was very happy with this pay rate. I felt like I was paying my dues. $20.00 was a fair rate for a new writer, my pay rate will increase, I thought.

� After Writeforcash.com went belly up, I got a few writing jobs here and there online. I was paid an average of $25.00 for each article. I was still supplementing my part time decorating business.

About a year ago, I decided to make writing my full time business (allowing me more time to homeschool my kids) and decorating my secondary business. However, as I search the internet for well paying writing jobs for someone with six years experience, I am finding that fruitful opportunities are few and far apart.

� This past year I wrote for a new and temporary incarnation of writeforcash.com and was paid $20.00 for a 500-word article.

� I also wrote for writeforus.com for $16.00 per 300-word article. They are currently on hiatus.

� Howtodothings.com paid $25.00 per article (in gift certificates) which I did for a while, but they have lowered their payments considerably. For a non-cash payment, $10.00 to $15.00 is not attractive.

� I also write for Associatedcontent.com, and although the payments are not as high as I like, I can write about whatever I please. I also get immediate payments in cash to my paypal account, so if I do not have another article to write for more, I write for associated content.

As you can see, payment for web content has not exceeded $25.00 per article. In fact, it has decreased. It seems that many people have become writers lately, and it seems supply has exceeded demand. Offers for online writers have gotten smaller and smaller.

While a writer can find good pay for their work (mostly in print) and through diligent search, I have noticed that many publishers are not willing to pay very much. My latest online search produced the following:

� Ghost writing articles paying $5.00 for 600 word articles.

âÂ?¢ A niche writer for a young men’s magazine paying $30.00 per article.

� $6.50 per hour for a blogger (the job is for 2 hours a day).

It is plain to see that one in three articles is moderately acceptable, and 2 out of three articles are insulting. What are good writers to do?

As far as I can see, the only way for writers to be paid what they are worth is to stop accepting low payments. We need to set a minimum hourly wage for what we are willing to accept and stick to it. If you want no less than $10.00 an hour, then do not accept $5.00 for an article that took you 90 minutes to write. That is slave labor. If you took only 30 minutes to write it, then $5.00 will be acceptable. However, we as writers need to consider the value of our work. As an artist, I am paid $50.00 an hour for mural work. I personally have trouble accepting less than half of that for an hour of writing web content.