Author, Writer, or Pimped?

For as far back as I can remember I’ve always had a great passion for reading the works of other Authors, and for story-telling in and of itself, so much so, that I genuinely thought I wanted to become an Author – and I still do wish to become a published Author.  However, several years later and still without my own published works, other than a 52 page gift book of, Short engaging quotes of love and affection, Internet Marketing projects, and  Content writing projects; realization is beginning to sink in – how can I complete a novel when I don’t even seem to be able to compose a freakin blog post without wanting to pull out my hair.  Am I trying too hard or not hard enough?  Am I inapt or just haven’t found my true Author’s voice yet?  I’ve never wanted to give up my heart’s desire, I’m just wondering if I have the capabilities of fulfilling my dream.

What the heck made me think I could write, or continue to write and make a living out of doing it?  Just because I love doing it, just because nothing else I’ve ever done in life has made me feel this charged.  Is it enough to eat, sleep, and breathe the written word?  Or is an Author truly something special – are they born or breed to be such?  I not certain, I just know I’ve spend numerous years professing my desire to become a published Author – I have several unfinished manuscripts.  I’ve even gone so far as to proclaim that I am a Freelance Writer, starting my own writing service – which initially wasn’t doing as well as I’d hope, but has started looking more promising, and I will commit to a serious marketing campaign before the end of the year to ensure that in 2010 the business will have a higher success rate.  In the mean time, I’m curious, how the heck do people think of the zillions of tantalizing topics they post to the zillions of blogs, on a daily basis without spending endless amounts of time thinking of what to write, not to mention the research involved and still have time to devote to serious writing or to their regular job?  Do they have some magical writing program that I can purchase, do they have a new revised Thesaurus that I don’t have access to, or is it simply a talented gift they possess, that is far beyond my grasp?  I’m wondering too, if I missed a step because I’m not making the mass amount of income that other Writers profess to be reaping.  Don’t get me wrong, I have found some success with Internet Marketing, Reputation Management, and the SEO services that I offer, and although Internet usage has been on the rise for some time now, writing projects seem to have become quite lean during the last few years, especially when it comes to the pay rate.   In an effort to supplement my income, I’ve begin searching the web for writing jobs, and there are quite a number of them listed.   The only thing is, the pay rate for those jobs is insulting.  I have never been naive about the financial riches rewarded to Authors/Writers, but lets be honest, .01¢ - .05¢/wd is freakin ridiculous.  At those rates, I guess I’m not a Writer; and as far as I’m concerned anyone who agrees to write for rates so ridiculously low can’t consider themselves Writers either, and I can pretty much guarantee an Author would never compromise themselves or skills to write for pennies a word.  I may not be able to write the next best-seller right now, or be the greatest Internet Marketing Writer on the planet, but I know what pimping is, and any employer offering pennies for a writing project is attempting to pimp the Writer, and obviously isn’t expecting quality work. 

I recently responded to an ad for a “Social Media/Website/Blog writer”, and received the following response from the poster after inquiring about the rate for said writing project: “I'm not looking for someone who applies for a job with negativity on their tongue.”  This coming from a guy too lazy or inapt to even bother to capitalize the word “I” throughout his four paragraph response, in which he still neglected to answer my question.  BTW, here’s my inquiry: “I would like to know what the rate or project budget will be for this assignment? If the rate is at an insulting pennies per word rate, I must thank you but I really wouldn't be interested in participating.”  Perhaps its me, but I don’t read negativity in my request to know how much I’d be paid for providing unique content that would enhance someone’s business.  I’ve wasted too much of my time and effort applying and submitting samples only to learn the job pays only $3 apiece for 375-400 word articles that as the ad expressed, “expects each of them can pass the scrutiny of Google's duplicate contact checker.”  or $1 for a 500 word article.  I’m trying to write and earn a reasonable wage doing so,  and although I follow a blog entitled Chrystal’s Corner, I can assure you I wasn’t standing on it when I applied for any of the writing assignments, so what makes these employers think they can pimp me or any other Writer?  But I did get an interesting answer from one of the employers: “If you want to thank someone for reformatting the sweatshop for the white-collar, work-at-home, 21st century world, thank Google ... it's all an unintended consequence of the Adword and Adsense bastardization of the Web.”

There is a difference between an Author and a Writer – a Writer wrote this post, the Author is still seeking the realization of a dream – publication of a novel,  neither wishes to be pimped at pennies per word.

Boycott Internet/Writing Sweatshops for Fair Rates Or Be More Selective In Your Choices

Discussion about fair rates for freelance writing is always a hot topic. And if truth be told, most Writers have at some point in time approached the Google search bar seeking current rates, hoping for confirmation of what they know to be a fair rate – if that wasn’t the case, most of you would not be reading this article; hoping to get some insight as to what your writing is worth or what you should charge. This article isn’t going to tell you what you should charge, but may help you to make a determination of what assignments to accept.

Many Writers have wasted far too much time and effort applying and submitting samples only to learn that the job only pays $1 - $3 apiece for a 500 word article and demand that the articles pass the scrutiny of Copyscape, Google, and all other duplicate contact checkers.

The United States Department of Labor regulates that The Fair Labor Standard Act, for work performed on or after July 24, 2009, mandates that the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour – which in and of itself is an insult – seriously, $7.25 an hour to support oneself/family is utterly ridiculous considering the cost of living in the U.S, but at least it is mandated unlike the rates for Freelancers who must perform extensive research in order to provide unique content at the drop of a hat for mere pennies. Should Writers boycott in order to receive fair rates? Some of my colleagues seem to think that can possibly be the answer to achieving the goal for fair rates. That said Writers may wish to…

Keep in mind that the Internet is worldwide and while $5/article may be petty to most U.S. Writers, for someone in another country it may indeed be a worthwhile venture. Yes, it hurts those of us who want and deserve more, but regardless if we boycott those buyers, we can not do anything about the writers who choose to work for lesser sums of money. It is a personal choice. However, if the majority of Writers make the choice not to accept the insulting rates, those choices may indeed be part of the solution.

One of the major contributors to the “lack of pay” for Writers is the Internet which has created such a huge need for bulk that lots of things are passing for "writing" and this need will continue to grow. Unfortunately there are those who yearn to write so much that they readily jump at those so-called "opportunities" and do whatever it takes to fulfill even the most ridiculous demands. Perhaps it comes under the heading of "paying one's dues," but those of us with portfolios, resumes and years of experience know what is involved and (hopefully) won't be tempted. For the most part, it appears that some think that although the money is appreciated, the recognition is what is helpful in actually getting other work. Of course one can't count on that. But learning the "art" of writing online can be valuable, and allows one to expand their horizons and look at other opportunities. The question is, is it beneficial or not to accept mere pennies on the dollar for your hard earn writing efforts, or do you hold out for more, possibly risking losing a writing opportunity? One answer is, it’s a choice each individual needs to make for themselves. Another is it’s not worth the aggravation of ones integrity to stoop to that level.

Final thoughts from some of my colleagues and myself are - boycotting on behalf of writers who are seeing a new iteration of the writing/marketing/publishing business being unleash will be ineffective. Few people care what the publisher paid for the content or who they paid. Believe it or not, some of the sweatshop content at $5 an article is not bad stuff, from writers who never learned to market their work and don't believe they can compete, so they settle - which something most seasoned Writers are attempting to forego.
Each individual makes his/her own decision - We each have to find the markets that fit our specialty, snuggle into our niches, and produce quality. And then we have to spend a huge percentage of our time actively marketing by phone, email or mail to markets that suit our niche. Surfing the web and submitting a bid along with thousands of other people, or sending an application to a website that just got 1000 more today is nonsense. As professional Writers, when it comes to the types of assignments we accept, we must be more selective in our choices. Otherwise, we may find ourselves subjected to and accepted of slave wages/rates.