What Makes A Writer Professional?
March 25, 2007 by Anne Wayman
Filed under Jobs
For a long time I considered any writer who got paid for their writing to be a professional writer. It was a simple definition that worked will until the internet and Google adwords.
With the push for search engine optimized articles at rates like $1 and $2 for 500 words, I have to rethink what I mean by professional.
Carol, who blogs at the Writing Junkie, has a great post about professionalism called You Get What You Pay For.
But there’s more to the story. Back in October I kicked off a two-part series that probably should have been called The $4 Article. The first, The $4 Article Buyer linked to an interview Carson Brackney did with someone who pays $4 or less for articles.
Then Mike Sieber, who at the time wrote at those low rates, agreed to be interviewed. Hence The $4 Article Writer. The good news is Mike, the writer I interviewed, has been able to up his rates considerably since then. Although I might have been hesitant to call him a pro writer in October, now in March I know he’s professional. Check out his blog.
I have no way of knowing, but I suspect that out of every 100 would-be writers that agree to write for $4 or less per writer, only one or two of them have enough talent and enough persistence to use those gigs to polish their skills so they can move up to decent pay. Maybe even not that many. But a few do use these gigs as a launching pad.
I wonder… Dickens got paid for the word which explains the length of his novels. How many others during that period were writing for low pay and never rose to the top or close enough to be remembered. The same thing is true of the so-called golden age of science fiction and/or mystery magazines.
Do I recommend the $4 article as a way to begin a freelance writing career? Not really; at least not for long. Mike made the transition to higher pay in months which means he’s got some real talent.
Like Carol, what I really believe is employers ought to be willing to pay more than $4 an article… not that they’ll listen to me;)
Write well and often,
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Great post Anne. And thanks for the kind words. I don’t think a lot of beginning writers realize that there are greener pastures out there, or if they do, they don’t want to put in the effort to get to them.
Over the past 2 months I’ve contacted by mail, e-mail or phone, well over 500 businesses that need writing services.
Good writing is really only half the battle.
Hmm. I wouldn’t exactly call writers who write articles for such low amounts “not professionals” – a lot goes into making you a professional at what you do, and very little of that deals with pay, I think.
For example, when I started out substitute teaching I was paid less than permanent teachers, and was better than several of them. The teacher I ended up subbing for for a couple of months straight had a pain killer addiction and regularly fell asleep in class (hence her time off and my taking over) – not very professional, though she still got paid more than I. Her higher pay had to do with years in, rather than professionalism.
So, your performance, dedication, determination, pride in your work, and drive to advance make you a professional. Though, I completely agree that writers shouldn’t hang around the $4 article market very long – if, that is, they ever want to be paid what they’re actually worth.
Mike, you’re right, marketing is at least half of the pix
Alicia, you’re right on too.