Continues bold experiment in pauperizing writers.
“Huffington Post" is to “Writer” as…
A. “Logging” is to “Forest”The current blogosphere model of the Aggregator making a sweet living bestriding the intertoobs is a Ponzi scheme that will collapse the minute a critical mass of internet content milch cows stop giving for free.
B. “Industrial Fishing” is to “Ocean”
C. “Coal Mining” is to “Appalachian Mountaintops”
D. All of the above.
Then things will get interesting again.
In other words...
Pay. The. Damn. Writer.
Even if it means you have to fly coach to Davos.
6 comments:
At this point, I've done so much for free in the past five years that emotionally, let alone financially, I'm spent. I am making money from online consulting and some actual editing, but nothing from writing.
"Pay the Writer" is getting to be a mantra with lots of us. It's work, it's skill, and it's worth something.
NO ONE who is not a celebrity or a non-profit adovcate trying to get eyeballs for a pet project is writing for Huffpo, by the way. Word on the internet street is people are sick of working for millionaires and "entrepreneurs" for free. And there is serious resentment from people who have street cred and talent being expected to work on spec and never see a dime because it's not part of someone's business plan to pay adequate compensation for the content "around which they wrap advertising" (Tina Brown, Blogher, 2009)
why don't all the smaller blogs join together and make a Big blog and combine all your clicks and readers?
how much does it cost to set up a blog like HP?
Dude, you are a writer, OK? A God damn good one too.
I have been following you for YEARS now.
Get a fucking donate button up post haste or I will send all my HillBilly relatives to Chicago and have them hunt you down. Much like some cheezy Patrick Swayze movie that won't come to mind right now.
"You are a writer, OK? A God damn good one too," That is true but that isn't what keeps me coming back. It is the pure, unadulterated, truth delivered without "fear or favor" which keeps me coming back. It's the real soul with a conscious that keeps me coming back. Money can't buy that, in fact, I have generally found the two incompatible. I pretty much quit reading one blog because I felt so much pressure to "donate" when I like so many other of the "little people" teetering on the brink of nothingness. But by God I would send something even if it is just some of the junk laying around here that nobody wants to buy, unless of course, DG didn't want it either. I hope whatever happens that the essence doesn't change. I love the absolute fearlessness of the delivery.
Blue Gal,
Amen. Time to start making "Pay. The Damn. Writer." tee-shirts.
Anonymous,
There are only imperfect models to draw on, and it's not like writers haven't always had a hard time in the marketplace. 10 years ago, I'd have analogized it to setting up a publishing house or newspaper -- efforts that cost a lot of effort and start-up money -- but those models are now showing their age and weaknesses.
Bustednuckles,
Thank you. And the donate button is on the way.
knowdoubt,
Thank you very much.
Damn. No kidding. I'm a writer (semi-technical type fare, but it's a living of sorts), and this is the mantra my coworkers and I hear regularly from our boss: That what we writers do can be had for free on the Internet now, so we should count our lucky stars that we haven't been fired yet. It's always a joy to hear.
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