In a sense this is an experiment, but not one lightly embarked upon.
You see, I have been very fortunate over the last 35 or so years to get paid for writing and publishing technical documentation.
But, up until a few years ago, I had never gotten paid for my poetry or fiction. Then my friends and I published a collection of short stories and poems, and actually sold some of them. It's not like we've actually made a profit at this point. But just having people, often strangers, buy your book, i.e. pay to read something you wrote, is an awesome event.
The writing, editing and publishing part of the process was made easier - but not easy exactly - by my years as a technical writer. Yet somehow that did not simply translate into being able to submit my poetry and fiction for publication to people and publications that might actually pay me straight out for the privilege of publishing my work.
Ah, but, just because I haven't quite got to that point, doesn't mean that you can't.
I've been thinking for a while how publications have gotten started in the past. Small groups of people that got together and found ways to publish and charge for content. Many of them started paying their writers immediately, either from founders' contributions, subscriptions or advertising revenue.
It seems like many of the places today make promises that you can make a lot of money - someday, especially if you pay them something up front, or if they collect the money with the promise of paying you sometime in the distant future when your balance reaches a certain threshold. Nice carrot!
Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter ... I am offering to pay for guest posts to this blog. It is going to be a six-month experiment. And I am going to pay on acceptance, $0.01 per word. Yes, that's one cent per word. And, that doesn't sound like a lot of money, I know. But while I was writing this, I did some Googling on "upfront pay for writing" sites, and even well-establish sites don't pay a lot more for "new" writers.
I've often heard that many famous writers got started in magazines that paid per word, but couldn't find a lot of hard evidence in a quick Google search.
Anyway, I'm going to give it a try. Because you deserve to get paid for your writing don't you?
Payment will be on acceptance. Guidelines will be forthcoming. Looking for 300-500 word articles on almost any subject except crudity or controversy for it's own sake and anything that intends to attack or alienate people. What you got?
You see, I have been very fortunate over the last 35 or so years to get paid for writing and publishing technical documentation.
But, up until a few years ago, I had never gotten paid for my poetry or fiction. Then my friends and I published a collection of short stories and poems, and actually sold some of them. It's not like we've actually made a profit at this point. But just having people, often strangers, buy your book, i.e. pay to read something you wrote, is an awesome event.
The writing, editing and publishing part of the process was made easier - but not easy exactly - by my years as a technical writer. Yet somehow that did not simply translate into being able to submit my poetry and fiction for publication to people and publications that might actually pay me straight out for the privilege of publishing my work.
Ah, but, just because I haven't quite got to that point, doesn't mean that you can't.
I've been thinking for a while how publications have gotten started in the past. Small groups of people that got together and found ways to publish and charge for content. Many of them started paying their writers immediately, either from founders' contributions, subscriptions or advertising revenue.
It seems like many of the places today make promises that you can make a lot of money - someday, especially if you pay them something up front, or if they collect the money with the promise of paying you sometime in the distant future when your balance reaches a certain threshold. Nice carrot!
Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter ... I am offering to pay for guest posts to this blog. It is going to be a six-month experiment. And I am going to pay on acceptance, $0.01 per word. Yes, that's one cent per word. And, that doesn't sound like a lot of money, I know. But while I was writing this, I did some Googling on "upfront pay for writing" sites, and even well-establish sites don't pay a lot more for "new" writers.
I've often heard that many famous writers got started in magazines that paid per word, but couldn't find a lot of hard evidence in a quick Google search.
Anyway, I'm going to give it a try. Because you deserve to get paid for your writing don't you?
Payment will be on acceptance. Guidelines will be forthcoming. Looking for 300-500 word articles on almost any subject except crudity or controversy for it's own sake and anything that intends to attack or alienate people. What you got?
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