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As a new writer, it's quite tempting to accept anything that comes your way. After all, the idea is to get a few clips so the bigger
paying publishers take you seriously, right? Wrong! Don't let others take advantage of you because you are new
in your field or don't have any great clips to show. If you take yourself seriously and put value on your writing, others
will too!
As a writer who has fallen for a few scams of her own, I want to warn you to stay away from companies that offer any of the following:
-
Pay For Click
- Pay By Commission
- Pay By Royalties (except books/e-books)
- Pay By Stock Certificate
- Percentage Of Net Profits
- Takes All Rights
- Non-compete Clause
- No Pay, But Royalty-Free Use Of Your Work
- No Pay, But Free Exposure
Sound like something you aren't foolish enough to let happen to you, right? Think again!
You'll be surprised how many up-and-coming writers and authors have fallen
for these scams. Every writer has been taken for a ride at one time or another. Companies,
individuals, and publishers can make anything sound great!
There has been much debate over every single bullet above, and I could probably write several hundred pages on each one; giving you
samples and case studies. But why bore you with all the details? Below you will find a brief rundown of each bullet point.
Pay For Click
These sites promise tons of money if you write for them. After all, the search engines will bring people to your article and each click on that article will generate a sale!
At one cent a click, it would take 100 clicks to make one single dollar! At two cents a click, it would take 1000 clicks to make $20, and it would take a whopping
100,000 clicks, at two cents a click, to generate $2000.
Pay By Commission
These sites promise that you will earn money every time an e-book, or other product
(known as sponsors) linked to your article is sold. But what if someone reads your article and doesn't buy that product?
You don't get any money! In fact, you can starve to death before enough people click on the links or banners associated with your article!
But let's say on some small chance, you've been writing for
this site for a three months and your commissions finally start coming in.
Excited? You shouldn't be. The checks usually start out small, like $15—which averages out to only $5 per month! That's
not bad you say...in fact, it's looking promising! But wait! You've just put in twenty hours a month on this site.
Is 25¢ per hour really worth it? Do you really see anything changing in the
future? And if so, how long are you willing to wait? Won't your time be
better spent querying paying publications?
Pay By Royalties
While it's industry standard for publishers of books and e-books to distribute royalties on
works you have authored, what I am talking about here is a little different.
Writing an article for a
magazine, company, or website, or being asked to ghostwrite a book, e-book, or
presentation based on the fact that you'll get a percentage of future sales is
not your best option. (Ghostwriting is when you do the research, organize notes,
and write the material under someone else's name. You get none of the
fame, the recognition, or the perks.) The person asking you to do this is
usually tight on cash and cannot afford to pay you for your time.
So he or she asks you to work in exchange for a percentage of the royalties—from the sales
of the project you worked on.
But what happens if the project never earns a
profit? Or the book never makes it to print?
Or worse, what happens if it does make it to print and flops? What happens if
you write the entire content for a website and no one buys anything?
How many hours of your life are you willing to give away in hopes of gaining a few dollars or clips?
If you really feel the project warrants your time, why not ask for a lower per
hour fee, and then a decent percentage of the royalties?
Pay By Stock Certificates
New companies are often strapped for money when they first start out.
Therefore, they look for ways to cut corners and one way is to offer stock options in exchange for your work. This is a big gamble. If you are lucky, you'll be in on the ground floor of something as
amazing as AOL. However, the more likely reality is that you will work your tail off to find the company flops within two years, and your stock options
are now worthless! (Yes, I have
a few of these stock certificates.)
Percentage Of Net Profits
These companies feel so strongly they'll succeed that they want you to write for them in exchange for a percentage of the company profits.
But wait! It's not gross sales they are offering! It's net profits! Meaning after all their expenses and salaries are paid, they'll pay you. If they deserve
a salary, don't you think you deserve one, too?!
Takes All Rights
You finally get an article or query accepted only to find out
the company wants all rights! What do you do? Do you take the assignment or walk away? It depends.
How much is the publisher paying?
How big is this company? Will the article help you gain footage in bigger paying markets? Do you foresee a chance of reselling that article to another company?
Do you really want to put a half hour or more into an article, get paid $50 and then never be able to resell that article again?
Wouldn't you rather find a paying market that only takes first rights, then resell that same article as a reprint later? Reselling
one article ten times at $10 each time will net you $100! Which sounds better? $150 or $50?
Non-Compete Clause
Some companies want to limit your livelihood while expanding their pocketbooks. They want to always have fresh, new,
never-before-seen content, but at what expense? Yours!
Non-compete clauses state that you cannot, under any circumstance, write for (or develop) websites or magazines, that have
the same topic as the establishment you are currently writing for. In other words, if you write on a broad topic such
as "personal finance," you can never write on anything that pertains to money for anyone else but them—that is, until
your contract ends.
Some companies have gone so far as to say, they'll "allow" you to resell the articles you wrote for their electronic
publication to print publications provided you hand over a percentage of your hard earned cash to them! Honestly, where do
they get off?! What right does the holder of that contract have to your hard work? Who wrote the article?
No Pay, But Royalty-Free Use Of Your Work
No company should have royalty free use of your written works unless that company pays highly for the use of your intellectual
property or you perceive the publicity from such a project to far outweigh the loss of potential income you could generate
from marketing your own works in a similar fashion.
If the company is going to turn your work into several project ideas and reap the monetary rewards of doing such, you should be
properly compensated.
Writing For Free Doesn't Pay
Should I write for free? This is really tricky territory. Depending on the publication you are trying to land an assignment with, the answer could be,
"NO". Some publications will not accept assignments from anyone who hands over a written piece of work for
free—to another publication. After all, if you are writing "for free" for someone else, why aren't you offering
your services "for free" for them?
Yet, there are great publications that do not pay and writing for them could definitely lead to some great writing clips that
would not only be honored by the "BIG BOYS" in publishing, but would really set you apart from other writers. (Such as,
New York Times: Op-Ed pieces,
large charity corporations, etc.)
Dollar Value On Written Words Has Declined
While many small businesses and publications rely on the written word to sell products, services, and publications, the value put
on the written word has steadily declined over the years. Many professional writers, journalists, and editors believe this
transition has occurred because of the thousands upon thousands of websites and publications that do not pay their writers and/or
make empty promises. (Personally, I believe it's the downward spiral of our economy which has caused advertisers to pinch pennies that
has dropped the pay rate for writers.)
When writing for small paying publications, consider the time involved in writing the piece, the kind of exposure you may or may not
receive, and the quality of the publication you are writing for. Let's say you can whip together an article in under 20 minutes
because it's on a topic you know a great deal about, but the publication only pays a $20 flat fee. You can walk away saying the
pay isn't enough or you can say, "that's $1 per minute and I can resell that same piece as a reprint later, thus increasing the
income on that piece."
Choosing To Write For Free
The allure of getting one's name in print and the allure that non-paying publications will one day help land a writer paying
assignments has many new writers giving their work away—for free. When the truth of the matter is you will never
gain fame and recognition if you spend your life giving away your talent.
If you choose to write for free, do so for the right reasons. Write for free because you believe in the company or the
cause. But make sure you do NOT give up your rights to that article and make sure you do NOT give the publisher free reign to
take advantage of you. If a publisher insists on having you sign away your rights and/or demands use your free works,
royalty-free, regardless of the medium in which he chooses to use your works, don't do it.
If you do choose to give your written works away for free, do so because it will help promote your business, your book, your
speaking engagements, your service, or your career. Do so because you believe the website or publication is honorable and
can, in the long run, help your career as a writer. Do so because you've weighed the pros and cons and there are more
pros than cons.
Writing for free takes away from the time you could be writing for pay. And the more a writer gives his (or her) works away for
free, the less time he has to weave together well-constructed articles for pay! If you decide to give your written works away,
do so for the right reasons—not to gain a writing credential. And if you think a publisher will frown on your non-paid clips,
stop writing for free or don't include them in your writer's resume.
Final Thoughts
Even though a publication states it is a non-paying market, you can email the editor and negotiate a monetary fee for use of your
articles—especially if the publisher contacts you directly. (I have done this on several occasions.) In fact, you can even
negotiate a reprint fee!
Side Notes
If you plan to write articles, don't sell your articles to one market, and then freely distribute them
to another market. As a publisher, myself, I do not want to pay for an article that I could have received for free. If you choose
to write an article for a free content group, or other
non-paying market, keep that article separate from the articles you have sold for monetary compensation and plan to sell as reprints.
Keep in mind that traditional book publishers do pay in royalties and do take all rights for your work, while your work is under contract with them. This is
industry standard. If you are interested in learning more about publishing a book, check out our book recommendations.
As for e-book publishers, the four largest e-book publishers do not take all rights; however, smaller less known publishers often try to capitalize on
looking more like a traditional publisher and will take all rights. Should you give up your rights to an e-book? I argue, "No." First,
if your book becomes a big success, you could get a print contract with a big name publisher. Second, you'll be marketing the e-book yourself; therefore, you should have more control
over it.
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About The Author:
Alyice Edrich is the founder and editor-in-chief of TheDabblingMum.com,
the author of several work-from-home e-books,
the publisher of three monthly e-zines,
a freelance writer for hire
and an artist for hire.
* This article is available for your publication, for a F-E-E.
This article may NOT be reprinted without monetary compensation and written permission from the author.
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