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Add to FavoritesAll websites should not pay writers for articles, but all websites that rely solely on writers' articles [magazines, in particular]should pay. Actually, all, or most all websites that cater to the writers that write for them do have some incentive for the writers. Otherwise why would the writers write for them?
Some of the pay is in publicity, some is in convenience, and some is in expectations of greater rewards. Some writers need others to know of their writing. As an example, editors needing such and such articles can readily check out the particular website that where such and such writer has stored articles.
Publicity: It will be good to mention to the editor in cover letters, letters that accompany manuscripts, that writing samples are on mywritingsamples.com , or whatever. Depending on the editor's policies they may frown on going this extra fourth of a mile to check out writing styles, quality, etc., but I see this attitude changing as competition for the better on-line writers speeds up.
Convenience: Where else can writers write and write and write, if not on-line, and have a hefty bunch of articles to showcase to friends, to editors, to whomever. [The scales of writing justice is beginning to tilt in the favor of the writer. Too long has the publishers ruled and the consequence has been some good writing ht the slush heap while 'what pays the office expenses' got published.)
Expectati ons: Writing where expectations face off with reality is truly a slippery slope. Not all is equal here. But a writer that is a writer learns in time that he is actually writing for himself. When others demand his kind of writing then that is 'writer heaven'. If he has not compromised his integrity to meet the expectation of greed, then the rewards will be even greater.
There are as many kinds of writers as there are views about them. A writer simply writes and lets each day take care of itself. But few give up their day jobs; and this is especially true if the writers happen to be those who like to write, need to write, regardless of ability, or time, etc., and find nothing untoward about writing for places that promise much but pay little.
Their thoughts could be, "someone out there may need to know what I have to say, therefore I am not going to deprive them for the sake of money'. Writing is and has always been an honorable profession. Think back to when you learned of the scribes that copied The Good Book by hand. Then, boredom was probably not an issue, but they were probably glad to get past all that begetting in Numbers.
Still, online writing or elsewhere, writers should be compensated for work well done, for work where agreements have promised pay, and where pay is warranted. But everything being equal, jamming letters together into fractured words and haphazardly forming sentences that start from nowhere and go to even less, is not writing. When a writer is a writer, he writes; what he doesn't know, he learns; and when paid, he is grateful and with the money he buys more pencils.
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Learn more about this author, EMoore.
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Yes
It is time for all websites to pay writers for their articles. All websites need content. The more pages of content, the more money can be earned from ads showing on those pages.
Websites that post fresh new content daily, or have new content added throughout the day, get higher search engine ranking. Busy sites attract more visitors, and earn a lot of advertising revenue.
Good writing sites like Helium, Triond, Associated Content and others, share their advertising revenue with the writers who provide content. The more articles published and read, the more money is earned. It is only right that writers receive a share of the revenue.
~ The Advantages of Paying for Articles
Bloggers and webmasters often fail to get quality traffic to their blog or site. They want to earn money from the ads and banners on their site, and to do this they need more clicks from visitors to the site. The reason why many blogs and websites fail to earn any revenue is lack of content.
A blog with a single post, or a webpage with one brief article about making money online, will never gain enough traffic to make much money. A monetized blog or website needs to reach out across the world wide web and draw in thousands of visitors. To do this a website or blog needs content, more content, and additional content, to be added as frequently as possible. Stagnant sites do not make money. A busy website can earn thousands in advertising revenue.
This is where the article writer can help. A good web content writer can supply articles for blogs, posts for forums and content for websites that people will actually want to read, featuring keywords that attract quality traffic to the site. Most visitors arrive at a site from search engine results. If the content matches what they are searching for, they will read want to click on relevant adverts or banners, and their actions produce revenue for the website owner, or blogger.
~ Free Article Sites
There are some websites where writers publish their articles and expect no payment. These are the article directories that writers use to get backlinks to their profile page, blog or personal website. Writers use free directories to submit articles with an author link, and anyone who publishes that article on their own blog or website must include the author's link.
Free article sites can be effective for getting web traffic, but writers who submit to them are also helping the directory owner to earn a huge amount of advertising revenue. You may think this is fair, as the site provides a service for writers, but what about all the visitors to the site who read the articles and leave without visiting the writers' links? Some people will be diverted away from an article page by an enticing advert, which they click, and never return to the original article.
~ Why Writers Should Be Paid for Providing Web Content
If the writer has earned nothing, but the website or blog has earned money for a click, that is not very fair. Surely anyone writing and submitting articles online ought to receive a share of the revenue their articles have helped to earn.
Big news sites and corporate businesses pay for articles, and buy exclusive content to feature on their sites. It is time for all websites to pay writers for their work. If a website is to go on earning advertising revenue, it is only right to pay for the articles that keep drawing visitors to the site.
Learn more about this author, Ruth Belena.
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