Writing That Pays
Crafting poetry for a literary magazine – think the Missouri Review or Ploughshares – is not the most solid bet for writing that keeps a roof over one's head. Publications like that often make appearances bi-monthly or quarterly or even semi-annually.
And the competition is insanely thick with wordsmiths who toil in letters for love, but pay bills via other means. If that’s a particular writer's bag, s/he should go for it. But this is an article about getting paid to write. So, onward…
Fiction. Same deal as poetry.
Non-fiction. That’s the ticket. Better yet, journalism. That’s where it is for a writer looking to see his/her name in hard, ink-on-paper, grab-onto-it print.
Why Work in Journalism?
Magazines hit shelves and grocery checkout lanes a bit more frequently than those literary pubs do. But rating best of all in the frequency department are newspapers.
Weekly. Twice- or thrice-weekly. Daily.
In the scheme of writer payment, print magazines rate higher than newspapers. They are slick, full of color, full of pricey advertisements. Newspapers are, as has long and often been repeated in the industry, “News today, birdcage liner tomorrow.”
They are printed on paper of lesser quality than are magazines. Money is not spent in such high figures as in magazines, either. But the benefit – and the reason ad space need not cost advertisers so much – is the frequency. More frequent opportunities for advertising, more revenue coming in to the publication, more opportunities for a writer to get paid.
So, write today. Write tomorrow. Write next week and the next. Get paid, get paid, get paid. Get paid for three or four or 12 stories in a newspaper, should on-going relationships be developed with the editors there, compared to getting paid once – or maybe twice – in the same amount of time for a magazine.
Better yet: Do both.
What Writing for Newspapers Pays
Expect newspapers to offer lower payment than lifestyle magazines, but all opportunities need to be measured in context. Each writer needs to establish what his time worth.
Take into account all aspects of the assignment: research, interviews, writing and revising. Also take into account that, legally, writers will owe – at least in the United States, and many other countries – a dose of taxes out of that paycheck.
Small town community newspapers, or ones that are published only weekly, may pay in the ballpark of $30-40 U.S. per article. Weekly business-to-business publications may pay around $100 per article.
Larger daily newspapers should offer more than that, maybe $75-200, depending on the type of story and length.
If necessary, a writer should go ahead and negotiate with the newspaper editor. She needs to feel it out. Go for an open, honest dialogue; use the opportunity to establish ground rules for what will hopefully become an on-going relationship with the editor.
The writer must keep in mind the whole context, knowing how much he needs to make but understanding the constraints of the editor as well. Writers shouldn't burn bridges they expect to need in the future.
And remember that getting the gig is only half the job. Doing the work and turning in impressive work that meets any guidelines the editor has given is necessary to build a positive reputation and keep working in this field.
Freelance writing is a career that can – no, must – snowball if a writer intends to make a living by it. The key is getting started on the right foot.
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