Don't shoot the messenger
Money, money, money
Writing doesn’t pay half as well as it should. I know that, and you know that.
Sure, it’s great on those days when the words flow and you can whack out an 800-word piece in an hour or two (£200 for an hours’ work, yes please!), but on the days when it’s like pulling teeth it can end up feeling like you’re working for less than minimum wage for the amount of time and effort you’ve put into it. (And that’s before you even think about the changes your editor might request…)
The thing is, contrary to what seems like popular opinion, the editor is generally not the one guarding the door that stands between you and higher pay.
I can only speak for my own situation and experience, of course, but I have very little control over the fees we pay at JRNY – and I’m sure it’s much the same situation with the vast majority of editors. When I’ve commissioned guidebooks in the past, there’s often been a bit more wiggle room, but for the purposes of this post I’m talking about article writing.
At JRNY, we pay all our freelance writers the same rates (currently 20p/word). Which means that the amount I get paid to write a 1,000-word article is the same as what both you and that highly successful, multi-award-winning travel writer whose career you’d love to have would get paid for the same amount of words. On one hand, that means our fees are immovable, but on the other at least you know that you’re not being paid less than someone else who might have had the guts to ask for more.
(That’s not to say that when you’re offered a rate for a piece of work you shouldn’t ask for more; there are some publications are able to be more flexible – and it never hurts to ask.)
Do I think that 20p a word is an amazing rate? No, and I don’t think any of us at JRNY do. Is it way out of line with a lot of other publications? Also no. Do we expect people to accept this fee (and therefore the work) if they don’t want to? No.
Here’s the deal: magazine publishing is hard. Making money in magazine publishing is even harder. This year we’ve raised our rates from 15p/word to 20p/word, which feels like a move in the right direction – though of course there’s still a long way to go on that front. Last year, I had repeated conversations about how fees needed to rise, and when we were finally able to do so it felt like a real win; I’ll continue to push for more money for our writers for as long as I need to. But the truth of the matter is that I can’t do much more than that – I’m not privy to or involved with the financial side of the magazine.
You might wonder why I’m saying all this. The fact is that I am frequently held personally responsible for our fees by disgruntled writers. This is perhaps my least favourite part of my role – when I’m offering you a rate for your work, I’m not trying to take the piss or diminish the hard work you’ve put into your career, or suggest that fees across the board should be lowered. I’m just passing on our rates, over which I have no control.
I’m not saying that I don’t want people to tell me when/if they find it too low, far from it. If anything, being told that the fees are too low does help me a little – it means I can build a stronger case for why they need to rise.
I’m urging you, though, to think about the bigger picture: not just about my control over the situation, but also about the importance of relationships within this industry. You might not want to work with us for these rates, which is your prerogative. But you may want to in future once we put them up. Or I may move on to another publication you want to write for in future. The fact is, I probably won’t remember (or care) that you once turned down my offer of work, but I will remember if you were rude in doing so, and it will suggest to me – in this role or another one – that you might not be someone I want to be working with, whatever our rates.
So, if you want to talk about how bad you think a publication’s rates are, just think about how you do it, and who you’re doing it to. (And, for that matter, when you do it – being accosted at events is particularly joyless.) The person you’re talking/writing to might not have any control over them, and might feel just as bad offering those rates as you do in receiving them. As with everything else, being nice – or, if not nice, at least a little pleasant – and taking time to listen, really goes a long way.