Writing for Cheap?

Bet you didn’t know writing had its share of politics, did you? A close cousin of writing for free is writing for cheap, and there are plenty of publishers out there who will pay you pennies (or less) per word for your brilliant words.

While I have a clear opinion about writing for free, writing for cheap can be a harder issue to settle. My opinion about writing for free is simply, don’t do it. My general exception is if you’re writing for a charity that you support like your church newsletter. In fact, I did a few articles as a volunteer writer for a nonprofit before I launched my business. It was a great way to learn the writing and submission process, gain interviewing skills, and see my name in print. But again, this was a charity organization and I wouldn't do it for any commerical entity.

There are countless websites and publishers out there who will promise aspiring writers “exposure” for their work. Trust me, you can get exposure AND a paycheck, so writing for free shouldn’t be an issue for any writer. But writing for cheap is all relative – what’s considered cheap to one person, might be a goldmine for another.

Case in point: Demand Studios. In case you haven’t yet heard of Demand (and my guess is if you’ve been trolling online writing job boards recently, you’ve seen their numerous ads) – they are a content site (many professional writers call it a "content mill") that runs eHow and other such sites. I have been a member of writing forums including MediaBistro.com and Freelance Success, and most professional writers on those forums are totally opposed to writing for sites like Demand.

I personally have not written for Demand or others like it. While I don’t know enough about Demand and its reputation outside of my own writing circles, my general opinion is that there are plenty of other sites and publications that don’t carry the controversial baggage that you can write for.

My advice is to find topics that you would like to cover and then research publications that you can pitch your ideas to that will pay you fairly and what your skills are worth. Sure, it’s a longer and harder road, but at the end of the day you’ll be proud that you landed some plum assignments!

The bottom line is that writing for good pay isn’t as easy as writing for cheap. If it seems like it’s too easy or good to be true, perhaps there’s a good reason for that. Do your research and then do what’s right for you and your career as a writer.

Want to know how much some of the writers for Examiner.com are really making? Check out this article on Writers Weekly. There's also an in-depth article on Writers Weekly about writer's experiences with Demand Studios.

Please make sure you do your research if you decide to write for a "content mill."