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Post by hal9000 on Feb 8, 2018 4:19:13 GMT
If you were contacted by a large site to republish a piece of your writing, say, HuffPost (but not HuffPo…), how much payment do you ask for?
If it were a friend’s site or a more niche blog, I wouldn’t think of asking for payment, but for an internet behemoth who makes $$$ off clicks, I feel differently.
Who has some insight into this?
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Post by viserys on Feb 8, 2018 8:05:12 GMT
As a professional content writer I say: FLEECE THEM.
HuffPost is notorious for trying to get people to write for them for free simply for the perceived glory of being published there. Same goes for trying to get people to republish their stuff there. As you say, they earn the advertising money, so they should pay their writers properly. I'm so sick and tired of this whole "write for free, just enjoy the glory of seeing your name online" crap in online journalism.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2018 8:26:58 GMT
Same- get what you can get!
But if you want a rough guide, an indie theatre website is paying me around $150 for 1500-2000 words. They're a tiny site with not much money but strong morals. So don't take less than that from Huff Post size places.
Sorry to detract from the actual post but yes, I too am sick of the 'just write for free' mantra. From being told I didn't 'deserve' to be paid for my writing because I hadn't properly 'paid my dues' and 'in my day we didn't ask for payment we were just glad to write' To a certain theatre website owner who harasses me via email to share their advertising, claiming they make 'no money' from it....
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Post by lonlad on Feb 8, 2018 8:39:02 GMT
Huff Po won't pay you a penny. Beware.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2018 8:48:27 GMT
Huff Po won't pay you a penny. Beware. He said 'like Huff Post not Huff Post' |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2018 10:24:21 GMT
Initially, I'd consider how long it took me to create the blogpost (three hours maybe, including research time?), multiply the number of hours by the current national minimum wage for my age bracket, then tack on some extra, as writing a decent blogpost takes significantly more skills (and I mean that in the professional sense, not a snooty sense) than fruit-picking or shelf-stacking. It may not be a proper professional way, but for something on the scale of, say, Exeunt Magazine, it's not a bad start. But if we're talking about one of the big boys, then I'd head to the Freelance Fees Guide and do the thing properly: www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/index.phpI third (fourth? Where are we up to?) the NEVER WRITE FOR FREE sentiment. Exposure won't pay the bills, and even if you don't feel like you need the money, every piece of work you provide for free ultimately shafts the writers who depend on their fees for their living. In the words of the shampoo ad: "because you're worth it". |
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Post by Honoured Guest on Feb 8, 2018 10:31:24 GMT
I third (fourth? Where are we up to?) the NEVER WRITE FOR FREE sentiment. Exposure won't pay the bills, and even if you don't feel like you need the money, every piece of work you provide for free ultimately shafts the writers who depend on their fees for their living. In the words of the shampoo ad: "because you're worth it". But thw topiv under discussion is about republication of an existing blog. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2018 10:33:23 GMT
Your work is still worth money, whether it's something you already made or something you make on request. The culture of expecting people to provide work for free, whether pre-existing or created on request, still shafts everyone in the long run. Your point does literally nothing to invalidate my points.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Feb 8, 2018 10:43:39 GMT
Your point does literally nothing to invalidate my points. "NEVER WRITE FOR FREE" - Here, they earlier wrote for free before selF-publication on their blog, so shouldn't your screech be: NEVER PUBLISH FOR FREE (EXCEPT ON YOUR OWN BLOG)? |
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Post by viserys on Feb 8, 2018 11:35:31 GMT
Your point does literally nothing to invalidate my points. "NEVER WRITE FOR FREE" - Here, they earlier wrote for free before selF-publication on their blog, so shouldn't your screech be: NEVER PUBLISH FOR FREE (EXCEPT ON YOUR OWN BLOG)? If I want to share my thoughts on something - a show, a book, the state of the nation or whatever - for free on my blog, that's my prerogative to give it away for free. I do that too (on my own website, not a blog) because I like sharing my thoughts on London theatre with friends. But it's NOT for a third party to take this and make money off it. If someone wants to make money from whatever I free, I expect a share of that earning. By your logic, it would be fine to, say, screen a DVD you bought in a shop to 50 people and charge everyone a pound to watch with you. The finished work is out there, so what's stopping you from earning a few quid from other people's work? It would be fine to rip a CD and share mp3 copies for a pound, since the finished work is out there, so why not earn a bit from it? Who cares that the creatives aren't seeing a cent? |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2018 11:57:54 GMT
Your point does literally nothing to invalidate my points. "NEVER WRITE FOR FREE" - Here, they earlier wrote for free before selF-publication on their blog, so shouldn't your screech be: NEVER PUBLISH FOR FREE (EXCEPT ON YOUR OWN BLOG)?  Yes, alright then, SuperPedant, never write *for anyone else* for free. Congratulations, you win the internet, your mother is very proud, etc etc etc. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2018 19:05:17 GMT
"NEVER WRITE FOR FREE" - Here, they earlier wrote for free before selF-publication on their blog, so shouldn't your screech be: NEVER PUBLISH FOR FREE (EXCEPT ON YOUR OWN BLOG)? Yes, alright then, SuperPedant, never write *for anyone else* for free. Congratulations, you win the internet, your mother is very proud, etc etc etc. Also, in writing for one's own blog it's highly likely you're making (or could potentially make) money from advertising revenue. Just if we're being pedantic. Which we clearly are. Also, as viserys said in a far less sarcastic and withering tone than I'm going to manage. If I choose to spend my evenings crafting in depth thoughts on the private lives of dung beetles to share with the, small but admittedly vocal dung beetle community that's my call. If I am doing it out of a sense of public service, or enjoyment of engaging with the Dung Beetle Community and that is it's own reward, so be it. If however Dung Beetle Weekly wants to use my words, and will profit off them via their (naturally huge) advertising returns, then they are damn well going to pay for it. |
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Post by kathryn on Feb 9, 2018 7:49:13 GMT
I would add that when you self publish on a blog you are providing free access to your content at your own discretion - you can delete or remove it or put a paywall up at any point. As soon as someone else is publishing your work you lose that control over it, so should be compensated for that. You will most likely be granting them the right to do all sorts of things with your work - including charge money for reading it - in perpetuity. If it’s worth them publishing it then it’s worth them paying you for it.
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230 posts
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Post by hal9000 on Feb 9, 2018 10:34:53 GMT
Thank you all for your feedback!
As it turns out, I knocked them back but had a good and fair conversation with the commissioning editor.
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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 9, 2018 10:54:33 GMT
I've also had some involvement in writing for online publications, so I'll chime in an opinion.
If the content is already available free online, it would be unusual to get given a fee. However, you could ask for a decent bio, credit to the original source and a backlink.
There's limited value to having exact copies of the same content out there, but this is fine occasionally if you're looking to build a readership.
Personally, I think a better option would be to ask for a commission to write an original piece, based on the strength of the earlier piece. This could be related to the original one, or an entirely different topic. Ideally, this will be paid and exclusive. And you can still ask for a link as well.
Some sites don't pay, but instead split the advertising commission with the writer, so that's another possible option to explore. And, there are always reasons to write for marketing and publicity reasons, rather than cash (I don't get any feeling of "fame" by seeing my work published any more, but I get other benefits like paid bookings to speak).
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Yes, alright then, SuperPedant, never write *for anyone else* for free. Congratulations, you win the internet, your mother is very proud, etc etc etc.