Comments on: Free Advice Friday: This Job, Not That Job

By: lwidmer

lwidmer — Sat, 27 Jul 2019 11:52:19 +0000

In reply to G.. Ooo, that's deliciously evil! I love it. :)

By: G.

G. — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 19:54:34 +0000

In reply to lwidmer. Lori, exactly. Writers who take low pay should purposely churn out garbage. : )

By: lwidmer

lwidmer — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 18:52:33 +0000

In reply to G..

Paula, they’re hoping most writers won’t do the simple math. At those rates, it would be better — both financially and respect-wise — to work in fast food.

Gianna, exactly. If there were a way to make computer-generated stories that were actually good (or even remotely decent), this ad wouldn’t be here. Pretty sure that’s a bad thing, too. I’d rather they churn out garbage using a computer than pay garbage to writers who work hard.

By: lwidmer

lwidmer — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 18:49:50 +0000

In reply to Devon Ellington. Devon, you're right -- it's nothing more than a content mill.

By: G.

G. — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 17:03:55 +0000

More Corporate get-rich-quick schemes involving slave labor. They would use AI if they could, so the next best thing is starving artists.

By: Paula Hendrickson

Paula Hendrickson — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 15:18:29 +0000

Bear with me as I attempt to do math (with a calculator): Assuming one could knock out 7500 words in one 40-hour work week. At $50 per 1500-word chapter, that comes to a whopping $6.25/hour. Prefer per-word rates? Three-cents per word. Oh, and who do you think will retain the rights to all of that work? Probably not the writer.

By: Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 14:55:51 +0000

As someone who loves to write serialized fiction and who had hoped to create an original project for this specific publisher, I was deeply disappointed to see this ad. A well-known author acquaintance had also been courted by this publisher. The red flags went up for her, because in the conversations, it seemed as though they expected her to bring her established audience to them, rather than working with her to grow her audience in general. But now they are looking for work-for-hire package writers at content mill rates? Huge disappointment.

There’s plenty of fiction I write and sell once it’s done and polished, without advance. I sell limited rights, and I get royalties. I’m on a contract schedule with a small publisher where I get a small advance, and then royalties.

I’ve also done plenty of work-for-hire, a little for book packagers/producers, and plenty of ghostwriting. My rate is MUCH higher on those projects, that are contracted by the publisher, with an advance ahead of anything written. In fact, it’s why I stopped ghosting when contracted by the ghostee, and only contract directly with publishers at this point. The “author” for whom I’d be ghosting tried to renege on payments or lower payments EVERY SINGLE TIME. So now I only do it through the publisher, with a substantial advance. When there are no royalties, even a higher advance, because it will be a flat fee.

On the SFWA website, they explain how they rate a professional publication, and the rate. Definitely worth checking out.

This gig is as bad as that romance writer ghost gig that was going around a few months back. It’s disgusting.

We deserve better, but there will always be some wannabe who’d rather get published at contract mill rates that bring us all down, rather than learn the craft and do the work, and fight for a reasonable rate.

It’s enraging.