A writer friend and I were talking recently, and she echoed my sentiments – those writers who say “I won’t lift a finger for under XX/hour or word” are either bluffing or selling themselves short. See, this friend and I are now working for a company that enhances our bottom line by four figures monthly. And guess what? The pay is not all that great. But then again, the work isn’t all that difficult.
So tell me, whaddya do when faced with the following situation – a client comes to you, offering half or less than you’ve decided you’ll ever accept. The work is clearly a walk in the park, requiring very little output for the smaller amount of cash. Let’s assume these are articles of somewhere around 750 words and you’re getting a whopping $200 apiece. Mind you, that’s somewhere around 27 cents a word. You’ve sworn you’ll never work for less than 50 cents a word. But this is an article you could do in your sleep. And it’s ongoing, steady work that taxes you none. If you’re smart, you’ll lose your standards and take the gig.
What?? Lori’s recommending you work for less than you’re worth? Before you call with your concerns, I’m not sick nor have I taken a blow to the head recently. I’m trying to point out the obvious – sometimes, the simplicity of the work is matched by the compensation. Never mind the word count – mind instead the output.
Let’s look at it from a different angle. You’re hired by Playboy to write a 6,000-word article on the sexuality of the aborigines in Australia. For this, you get $2 a word. Great! However, you’re now tied up for the next six weeks or so, tracking down experts on the culture, the ethnic group itself and you may even need to find yourself a few aborigines whom you can A) understand, and B) figure out how to ask such sensitive questions of. How much time is going into this? About six weeks’ worth, from my estimation. You’re getting paid a lot more for a lot more work.
Now, let’s look at this low-paying project. You’ve been asked to write an article on the use of physical therapy over medication. Like I said before, it’s a short article – 750 words – and you aren’t expected to quote sources or interview experts. Information can be taken from other printed sources as long as your points are supported and the reader is able to understand why physical therapy is sometimes better than using pain killers. How much time will you spend on this article do you think? Sure, you’re not getting top dollar, but you’re not killing yourself and putting all other work on hold in order to complete the job. In that case, this may be a great little gig for you.
It all comes down to your availability. If you’re already overrun with better-paying work and it would cut into your heavy workload to take on such easy stuff, then pass on it. But if you’re looking for a steady way to bring home the bacon, and it’s easy work, why not? Only you know your threshhold for what you can afford to take and what you can’t. Just don’t pass up the lower-paying stuff based on price alone. There are some gems out there that could help sustain you in the leaner months to come.
You’ve got to do it on a case-by-case basis. Something that’s a walk in the park and worth it to me might be a pain in the butt for you and vice versa.
I suggested my friend Colin check out your blog or shoot you an email. He just had to disengage from a client who expected him to be on MSN IM 24/7 for a project, and, when he wasn’t, demanded his advance back, after a good bit of work was done.
Colin refused. His response is on his blog, Freedom from the Mundane
http://freedomfromthemundane.wordpress.com.
His blog isn’t showing up. Could you shoot the link over to me?
Thanks!
I’m a firm believer in the PITA factor in pay. I’ll gladly take a job that pays a pittance if the editor is sending me the assignment and source info, the editor is a dream to work with, and the end result is a fab per-hour rate. I’m averaging about $100 an hour on assignments that many writers wouldn’t take because they don’t pay all that much per word.
I like your blog. Bookmarking it and plan to add it to my blog roll.
I second that, girl! Hope it’s going well. :]
kk
devon, I agree totally. I’m working with a client now that came recommended. I just cannot get into it. As you said – the walk in the park for writer one isn’t necessarily so for writer two.