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| No | 20% | 177 votes | Total: 866 votes | |
| Yes | 80% | 689 votes |
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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
Communications, entertainment, and web-based information platforms have finally evolved to a level of sophistication where free web based content has overstayed its welcome. For a decade now, free content information has been an important component in the evolution of web-based services. In fact the Internet is strung together by countless numbers of websites that feature free information derived mostly from the labor of webmasters and article writers.
Those days are over. The end of the writer's strike has opened the gates to a new era, an era where a writer can, and should, be compensated for their work. Webmasters have struggled for years now to find content in the form of articles that generate interest and therefore, traffic as a way to earn money or deliver useful information. Now there is hope that the writer's domain has finally been expanded to include the open spaces of the Internet frontier.
Google can take a large share of responsibility for this when it created Adsense, those all too familiar and irksome "Ads by Google" that clutter up the precious reading space on most WebPages. Adsense and its companion have provided created websites with a way to earn money by clicking on a three line advertisement that will wisk you away to some other website of interest. Along the way, the website and Google exchange currency for clicks.
Website content is king, yet for years the writers that have created the content have had to settle for adding a byline with an invitation to visit their own particular website where they hope to earn a pittance from Google's scheme. The profits have been appalling at best. As is typical in a free market system, those with the tools earn the money, while the miners keep buying tools and moving tons of earth that yields only a few flakes of shiny stuff. Most writers have found that you can chase your dream on the internet, but you shouldn't quit your day job.
Blogs and social networking sites are the two of the latest examples digital communications evolution. On these sites everyone gets to express themselves, although most go unnoticed unless they contain some form of sex and rock & roll. A few interesting niches have peaked only to fade from the public eye after only a few months. Bloggers have been left to wonder if any of it is worthwhile, while being bombarded with new schemes and opportunities to get rich with another Search Engine Optimization tool or article spinning tool. But times, they are a changin'.
Writers are professional word and story masters that deliver quality content in whatever format the information marketplace demands. They possess creativity and insight accompanied by an innate skill to weave subject, object and verb into meaningful phrases called paragraphs that are structured in interesting and entertaining ways. They know how to convey information, create interest, amuse, suspend belief, humor, and even counsel and terrify. Writers deserve compensation for their skills and the product of their gift to write for the rest of us less talented, obtuse folk.
The demand for intelligent writers is significant, yet there is little economic growth in the industry. The fortunate ones are still the novelists, the journalists, the short-story conveyors, and the editors that can make or break a career. Digital communications have caught on to the need for technology such as the Amazon Kindle, which can deliver thousands of digital books. Video and music have already made their way to the pocket of millions, mostly from the younger generation. Royalties are being paid and only the new creationists, a.k.a. writers, remain to be included in the revolution.
Free market forces will ultimately determine the economic future of a writer's profession. Compensation today is driven by supply and demand, with too much free supply for a growing demand. In a brave new world, writers will not be paid two cents a word for a 700 word article. Quality content will always be king, and a highly skilled writer will be the king maker, with a nice income to prove it.
Learn more about this author, Francis Jock.
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