What’s on the iPod: Awake the Soul by Mumford & Sons
Yesterday was a gift. Not that all days aren’t gifts, but this one was the gift of time. I had a large project I needed to put some polish to, and I was able to get through much of it yesterday. I was thankful to have the time, too. I think having an open day allowed me to really focus on that one thing.
Had a note from client/friend and marketing guru Dan who has a terrific blog on marketing. He sent over this link about the Huffington Post/AOL agreement that’s been burning up the Internet. What’s brilliant about this spin is exactly what many of us have been saying – where have all those filled with righteous indignation been?
As I mentioned last week, I thought the outrage should have come at the outset of this business model. The first time any of the writers were told there would be no pay, that was the time for outrage. Now? It’s just beating a drum in the wilderness, for no one is around to hear it – or care.
Writers want recognition. They want repayment for all those freebies. They want to skewer the powers that be for not paying them. Too little too late, folks. The time to collect was at the time of contract, not long after the fact. There’s no bargaining power if you’re holding none of the cards.
However, there’s some good to come of this. If seeing someone make $315 million off the sweat of servants without even a nod to those who helped make them who they are (and who are they – really?) causes this much outrage, there’s hope for freelance writers. Maybe this experience will cause one or more of them to think twice about giving away their work. Maybe they’ll realize the market value of what they’ve been doing for nothing. Maybe they’ll expect a decent price for their work and hold firm until they get it.
And how many HuffPo-like businesses are out there right now? Sure, they pay, but are they paying what you’re worth or are they dictating how much you’ll earn (a pittance) while raking in plenty off your content? If one of those content farms or aggregate sites showed you their balance sheets and the figures were astronomical compared to what you were being paid, would you be outraged? If so, why not be a little outraged at the offer in front of you today? Why wait?
Writers, what choices did you make early in your career that you regret? What were some of your better decisions?
13 responses to “Finding Good in the Bad”
I wish I thought people would learn a lesson from this, and maybe the individuals who got burned the worst will. Alas, I remain skeptical, and there are new hopefuls born every minute.
Your balance sheet comment is an important one. The last company I worked for used "open book management," and it provided some valuable insights that I carried with me when I went into business myself. The company, a custom publisher, had a reputation for being high-priced within an expensive industry…and they made bucketloads of money on pretty much every project they had.
I know most writers and editors avoid the accounting department and high-paid salespeople. Looking back, I'm glad that I had friends in both camps — they're the ones who taught me the essential skills on the business side.
Early in my career, I probably made the same error that most newbies do – not pricing my fees high enough on actual work. Even though I did a lot of research, I caved on some of my proposals. Nothing like a DS payment level, just lower than what I planned.
And what I did right (for me) was I applied to DS, was accepted, but when I checked it out, I never went forward. It just didn't make sense to me.
All mistakes are a lesson learned (or should be), so for that, I am grateful for the experience.
Jake, I do share that same skepticism. People have to want to do better.
Cathy, I agree. All experiences teach us something. I too had jobs at the beginning that I was underpaid for.
One job I dumped paid $250 for a small article, but I had to jump through a lot of hoops before the article was accepted so my net was way lower than my $100/hr. rate. Ironically, I still get comments seven years later on one of those articles.
Oh, but, Lori, it’s okay to take on those jobs. You get to work from home, in your pj’s, doing what you love on a flexible schedule, while spending more time with your kids!! I’m sure you can come up with a bunch more hype-marketing statements that they try to lure people in with. Don’t you just want to start decking people that treat them as benefits?
My quick take on the HuffPo kerfluffle is that writers should take away two lessons:
1. A whole lot of us drastically undervalue what we do.
2. What we do has significant value.
I realize those are simplistic statements – but if nothing else, the HuffPo financial revelations should drive home the point that there is real cash money to be made from arranging words in an interesting, informative or otherwise intriguing manner. I don't expect the writing landscape to change overnight, but I do hope this is somewhat of a clarion call to those who think that content is just what you hire a minimum-wager to slap together to fill the blank spaces once the design crew gets done doing the real work.
It's almost like we need to dedicate a day to focus on the worth of writers … Hmmm ….
This is soooo true, Lori.
And well said, Hugh!
Sadly, Lori, the mill "writers" you hope will wise up after hearing about the HuffPo / AOL deal are probably too busy cranking out content to hear about it.
I regret trusting one of my first regular markets. I assumed they paid all writers the same rate, but later learned they paid non-local writers more than local writers. They seemed to think geographic location dictated quality – that's like the neighbor having a garage sale who put higher prices on old clothes just because they were purchased in California. She didn't catch the sarcasm when a shopper said, "Oh, then they must be special." Like they don't have Target in California, too.
Wendy, don't forget how easy the job is for the right person! How can we pass these up? You would LOVE the links Gabriella's shared in the past! The site is The Content Farm, and it's full of the most hilarious articles mocking the mill style. 🙂
That's a great idea, Hugh! Maybe one of us should start that…. 😉
You're right. We undervalue our skills and we are a commodity. I'm hopeful (born with a Susie Sunshine attitude gets tiresome) that writers will wake up and embrace their value. Sadly though, I think Jake's correct in thinking it's not happening as long as starry-eyed noobs take what comes without question.
Gabriella, I have to thank you again for the link to The Content Farm. It's hysterical!
Paula, LOL! You're probably right. Those working for farms aren't able to see beyond the quota perhaps. And that client experience you had is just weird! Why would geography matter in payment if it doesn't matter in the job being performed?
Cathy — The biggest difference I see now is that there are a LOT of people exposing these "opportunities" for what they are. So really, for anyone serious about a freelance career to fall into those traps today is unbelievable. You'd have to be completely ignoring your market research responsibilities when starting a business. And if they're in that camp, they probably don't deserve any better yet anyway. Those who learn seem to learn fairly quickly and move on to better things. But with all of the information out there today, I find it increasingly difficult to have any sympathy for people who make those mistakes out of ignorance (about what's required or about seeing through the hype).
You know, I wonder what folks would have said about the pay during the "golden age of science fiction" or back when Dickens wrote long because he was paid by the word.
I'm just not bothered by people who somehow can't manage to get paid decently for their writing. There are enough of us, me, you, Jenn, — well your whole list of links or mine — that are telling them exactly what to do… Maybe I'm just not in the mood for it today.
You know, I wonder what folks would have said about the pay during the "golden age of science fiction" or back when Dickens wrote long because he was paid by the word.
I'm just not bothered by people who somehow can't manage to get paid decently for their writing. There are enough of us, me, you, Jenn, — well your whole list of links or mine — that are telling them exactly what to do… Maybe I'm just not in the mood for it today.
Anne, usually I have the live-and-let-live approach, but sometimes I get tired beating my head against the same wall. And then I wonder why I do. I care, but am I caring too much? Probably.
My goal is to inform (and yes, pester a bit). 🙂
Jenn, good point. I suspect there are plenty of new writers (and plenty of veterans, too) who just walk into the job without too much thought. You can learn on the fly in many cases, but it's so much smarter to have a plan of attack and know the minefields.
And yet, so many writers will continue to sign (and advise others to sign) all-rights contracts. It's the same principle. If you do good work, you see not a dime while someone else will profit from your words.