Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedIs it time for all websites to pay writers for their articles?
Results so far:
| No | 20% | 178 votes | Total: 875 votes | |
| Yes | 80% | 697 votes |
No
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesYour time is your own. If you have a job, there is a certain expectation that you will show up when you are supposed to be there. In addition, it is generally assumed that you will perform the duties that have been assigned to you for that particular job. When you do your job, you are compensated and/or rewarded accordingly. Of course, you have choices even in a vocational setting. You can choose not to go to work and you can choose not to perform your duties. That may have a negative consequence on you, but ultimately you have the power to choose. Writing for a website is also a choice, and while some might argue that it is similar to a job, there are a few differences. Here are a few reasons why websites do not have to automatically feel obligated to pay writers for their articles.
READ THE FINE PRINT
There are plenty of sites out there that pay people for their time and contributions. At the same time, there are many sites that do not compensate people for their time and contributions. What is most important is that people understand their rewards (or lack thereof) prior to submitting material to a website. For example, Helium pays their writers a percentage of advertising revenue, and they also reward writers through contests and other promotions. They are very up front about this compensation and writers can figure out over time how much money they are making. As with any other money-making opportunity, the individual writer has to decide if the compensation is worth their time. If Helium, or any other site, did not pay their writers, individuals would have to make a decision. Would they still submit because they loved writing, or would they would quit because they had to get something for their time.
EDUCATE YOURSELF
Overall, I don't feel that any site owes the writers for their time. If the site is making money from the writers articles and the writer isn't getting paid, then the writer has to decide to either accept that fact or switch to a site that does pay. In general, most situations involving compensation require the payee to educate themselves. If the money isn't enough and money is important, then move on. Sometimes there are better opportunities and sometimes the current situation is the best that the market will provide. Either way, the writer must decide what their time is worth, and act accordingly.
Learn more about this author, Todd Pheifer.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Yes
I am a struggling writer. I want more than anything to be famous. I want to have a career in what I love. Unfortunately, my love for words hasn't yet made me enough money to put food on the table. Now is not the time to quit my day job.
We all have to survive one way or another. We have to be able to pay our bills and take care of our families. We should get restitution for our hard work and efforts. You do not flip burger at Macdonald's eight hours a day for free so why should you not make anything from writing?
I understand that there are many writers trying to break into the world and at times this too can be a cutthroat profession. Many people don't think twice about plagiarizing another's work. They do not care if someone else wrote the words, they change it to suit them and put their name on it just to make a dollar or get some recognition.
The payment doesn't and can't always be financial. In many cases, it is hard for some web sites to pay the writer exactly what they are worth because they don't have the money either. In this case, the site should offer the writer some sort of incentive for helping their site. A site should never exploit their writers for free so that they can make loads of cash.
As a writer, I am tired of having my thoughts stolen. I am tired of being scammed. I am tired of being offered things I never receive. I know I am a little guy in the big world of writing but I am tired of always getting ticked on the way to the top.
Helium is putting the writing world on the map. I think that this site has the right idea. By no means, can I retire from my earnings on Helium but now, I can say that I am a paid writer. There are many ways that I can earn money and even if I don't some online for a few days, my articles still accumulate earnings. They also allow me control of what articles I want to write to and the opportunities I want to pursue.
Helium is a good example to other sites on how to operate in the writer's world. I had never been paid for anything I had wrote until I joined this site and now I do get paid. I think a little is better than none at all. It has been my motivation to keep writing and build my own article portfolio.
In the long run, sites that do not pay writers or scam innocent people will get what they deserve. Rip off artists have no place in the Internet world. In years to come, the web sites that cheat others will hopefully be obsolete. Helium will still stand strong because as a community, they have done the write thing. They reward good work the best they can and sometimes that is all it takes.
Learn more about this author, Laura Leigh Fields.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Difference of opinion? Debate now.
- Marketing & Selling Writing
- Should you sign with a legitimate book publisher or self-publish?
- Is Publish America a legitimate publisher?
