What do you get paid for Article Writing?

28 replies
Just out of curiosity.

I know some are making like 50-100 bucks for a 5,000 word article.... isnt that kind of slave labor?
#article #paid #writing
  • Profile picture of the author traianturcu
    Originally Posted by John Durham View Post

    Just out of curiosity.

    I know some are making like 50-100 bucks for a 5,000 word article.... isnt that kind of slave labor?
    It depends where you're living. I'm from Romania and the average income here is around $300/month.

    It usually takes me most 2 days(4 hours/day) to write a high quality 5000 words article.

    If I wrote 6 articles at 50$/500 words, I would work 12 days, 4 hours/day and make as much as others are making in a month, working 8 hours/day doing much more stressful and difficult jobs.

    I believe this is true for most Asian and Eastern European countries.

    And yes, of course there are more lucrative things to do and other better ways to make money online. But you should also need to consider that you are 100% sure that tomorrow you will have $50 if you write an article (which means you can pay your rent and buy food for your family).

    People only engage in more entrepreneurial ventures only once their basic needs are covered

    Just my 2 cents,
    Traian
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    • Profile picture of the author John Durham
      Originally Posted by traianturcu View Post

      It depends where you're living. I'm from Romania and the average income here is around $300/month.

      It usually takes me most 2 days(4 hours/day) to write a high quality 5000 words article.

      If I wrote 6 articles at 50$/500 words, I would work 12 days, 4 hours/day and make as much as others are making in a month, working 8 hours/day doing much more stressful and difficult jobs.

      I believe this is true for most Asian and Eastern European countries.

      And yes, of course there are more lucrative things to do and other better ways to make money online. But you should also need to consider that you are 100% sure that tomorrow you will have $50 if you write an article (which means you can pay your rent and buy food for your family).

      People only engage in more entrepreneurial ventures only once their basic needs are covered

      Just my 2 cents,
      Traian
      Wow. What an eye opener. Thanks, thats real enlightenment.

      Originally Posted by DanielleLynnCopy View Post


      How much do I charge for article writing? More than enough to make up for my dislike of writing articles.
      I know thats right. I write them too, but I sure dont do it for 50 bucks!

      Originally Posted by Tina Golden View Post

      You don't have to believe it but it's still true. Not a common amount for an online article but not unusual at all in the print world.
      My last 5,000 word article I made $8,523., because I write "reports"... The thought just struck me.... why on earth would anyone write articles for pennies?

      What Im getting from this thread is that article writing has a much broader definition than I assumed people were meaning by it when they used the term.

      Thanks for broadening my understanding.

      As much as I write admittedly I have considered some "Ezine" style article writing to see if it promotes ads as well as forum posting and other methods...

      I was hoping to hear someone say they make 2k a month off of one of their articles or something, and have others that produce significant income... in the thousands.... in the affiliate arena...

      Anyone have good experience with that?
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  • Profile picture of the author DanielleLynnCopy
    Originally Posted by John Durham View Post

    Just out of curiosity.

    I know some are making like 50-100 bucks for a 5,000 word article.... isnt that kind of slave labor?
    Yow... that qualifies as slave labor to me.

    I get what Traian is saying, but honestly how often do you get quality (english I'm assuming) articles from people desperate for money from a non-native speaking country?


    To OP, there are many article writers who are quality writers - and getting paid as much as $1 a word (perhaps more). It depends on your quality of writing, how you're marketing yourself, who you're marketing to, your experience, and oh... a bunch of other things

    How much do I charge for article writing? More than enough to make up for my dislike of writing articles.
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    • Profile picture of the author sam770
      Originally Posted by DanielleLynnCopy View Post

      and getting paid as much as $1 a word (perhaps more).
      sounds not real
      1$ per word?
      i dont believe that there are writers who get 500$ for a single 500 words article, no matter how quality the article would be
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      • Profile picture of the author Tina Golden
        Originally Posted by sam770 View Post

        sounds not real
        1$ per word?
        i dont believe that there are writers who get 500$ for a single 500 words article, no matter how quality the article would be
        You don't have to believe it but it's still true. Not a common amount for an online article but not unusual at all in the print world.
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        • Profile picture of the author TiffLee
          Originally Posted by Tina Golden View Post

          You don't have to believe it but it's still true. Not a common amount for an online article but not unusual at all in the print world.
          This is true.

          Having worked in the magazine world for quite a few years now, I've seen some obscene financial figures go to writers for relatively short and "dry" articles. I mean, this isn't exactly War and Peace and some of the paydays were just astronomical.
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          • Profile picture of the author myob
            Much of my own article writing, for marketing purposes, is for offline trade and specialty magazines. It's not unusual to be getting checks for a few thousand dollars; sometimes a lot more. That's in addition to the much larger benefit of a byline and web info. Checkout some of the rates being paid to authors in Writers' Market.
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        • Profile picture of the author Honest Abel
          This seems far more in line for what the compensation SHOULD be. I've never understood how on earth or why on earth anyone would write articles for pennies/word - if you're even a descent writer you can make so much more using those articles for your own content - and if you're good at it - LOTS more!
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          • Profile picture of the author uwandu
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        • Profile picture of the author Kieran D
          Originally Posted by Tina Golden View Post

          You don't have to believe it but it's still true. Not a common amount for an online article but not unusual at all in the print world.
          I totally agree that this is "true."

          I've come across it. There are definitely people that will quote this sort of figure in both the online and offline world (however yes I agree with Tina it's far more common in the offline world).

          They will rattle off their qualifications etc and very much say "look at me."

          At the end of the day it's all about your outsourcing strategy and how well you go about finding your writer/s.

          The bottomline is that you can always find someone just as good (if not better) that can work within your budget (whatever it is).

          For example: You may be able to find a retiree with years of experience (and just as many qualifications if not more) that fits within your budget as they are just looking for some extra income. So it can be a win/win situation for both parties.

          If you look hard and well you can always "find" in my opinion.
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        • Profile picture of the author biznics
          Originally Posted by Tina Golden View Post

          You don't have to believe it but it's still true. Not a common amount for an online article but not unusual at all in the print world.
          Agreed. I know a writer who charges $1 per word and believe me, I believe her.

          There are pros out there who are still not "slaving" as they are delivering quality, OR you can say, they are the perfect decision maker; as they've grabbed some real clients at the beginning. I am not saying that finding clients (for $1/word) is impossible now; all you have to do is to prove yourself and dig the market.
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      • Profile picture of the author DanielleLynnCopy
        Originally Posted by sam770 View Post

        sounds not real
        1$ per word?
        i dont believe that there are writers who get 500$ for a single 500 words article, no matter how quality the article would be
        As Tina and Tiff said, don't think internet marketing - think corporate/large companies who pay for quality writers to write for them.
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      • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
        Originally Posted by sam770 View Post

        i dont believe that there are writers who get 500$ for a single 500 words article, no matter how quality the article would be
        You don't generally make that in the 500 word range, but in the 1,500 - 2,500 word range. It's also generally in a printed publication, not on some directory somewhere.

        The process is somewhat different. You will usually make proposals to the publication in question, include an abstract of what you intend to write, and identify your previous professional experience. If they like your idea, they'll send back a series of editorial guidelines and a delivery deadline. You write the piece and get it to them by the deadline, there's usually an editorial galley sent back for blueline, and two or three months later when it's published you get a check.

        You can also expect a month or two turnaround on your proposal. So the entire process takes about six to eight months.

        This is why most writers aren't making a living. Think about it with marketing eyes: you can only offer the proposal to one client at a time. That means you need to have several proposals out at once. With a 10% conversion rate, you need to send out about ten proposals a week - at your own expense - to get one client a week. Then you do the work for that client, tracking the deadline and getting it to the right people in the right timeframe, and it's not uncommon for publishers to "forget" your check and need a phone call.

        At any given point in the process, the full-time freelance writer working on periodicals is juggling a hundred proposals, twenty working assignments, and a dozen or more accounts receivable. Each week, he has to get ten more proposals to markets that haven't seen this proposal yet, and complete an assignment from one of the proposals that got accepted.

        And that's with 10% conversion. The average freelance writer has something more like 2% conversion, and will do almost the same amount of non-writing work to make a whole $2k for the entire month.

        Of course, since he gets only one proposal a month accepted, he does a whole lot less writing.

        Makes writing articles for IMers at three cents a word look a whole lot more enticing, doesn't it? Mmmmm... ten 500 word articles, and $150 into PayPal the day I take the job... oh, yeah. I can handle that, you betcha.

        Lots of people talk about the $1 a word jobs like it's great work and everyone should be chasing after it, and on some level, yeah - lots better than making a career out of the article writing. You'd need to write about 25 articles (12,500 words [EDIT: corrected original math mistake]) a day to match the return from a 2,000 word assignment.

        But don't neglect the excise tasks around the process. And consider the kind of content, too - if you write short stories, and you do one a week, and you send it in for publication... you build up this massive body of content that can be sold over and over. (Fiction is evergreen.) You eventually streamline the process and develop a system, so you can get your proposals to the right people in the right places and track it through the system easily.

        But developing that system takes time, and you're a few years into it before you get that worked out.

        It's also worth noting that you can develop a close relationship with a publication and receive preferential treatment for your work, if you're a very good match for them and their audience. I've never managed to do that, so I'm not sure how it works, but I know it can be done.
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  • Profile picture of the author O0o0O
    It depends on the quality of the writing. United States writers typically charge $8 or $9 for a 400-500 word article written in fluent English. It would be very difficult to find US Authors to write articles under that, but they are certainly out there.

    It also depends on what type of content you're producing. If you have a very niche specific membership blog that has a cult following and avid reader base, then your articles will be more valuable to you. On the other hand, if you're focusing on an autoblog that specializes in AdSense and Amazon revenues, then you would typically invest in more search engine oriented content.
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    • Profile picture of the author Honest Abel
      Originally Posted by O0o0O View Post

      It depends on the quality of the writing. United States writers typically charge $8 or $9 for a 400-500 word article written in fluent English. It would be very difficult to find US Authors to write articles under that, but they are certainly out there.

      It also depends on what type of content you're producing. If you have a very niche specific membership blog that has a cult following and avid reader base, then your articles will be more valuable to you. On the other hand, if you're focusing on an autoblog that specializes in AdSense and Amazon revenues, then you would typically invest in more search engine oriented content.
      Even $8 - $9 seems pitifully low to me - I'd much generate income by using my articles for content - MUCH higher pay out!
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    • Profile picture of the author AprilCT
      Passive income generated by articles you write for yourself earn the most.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kierkegaard
    I get paid around $40 an article.

    Since I just bothered to write up a 1355 word post on the subject - including comparisons to writing for print I'll link to it here:

    How much should you get paid for Article Writing
    (takes you to another Warrior Forum thread)

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  • Profile picture of the author LetsGoViral
    Depending on length. My average rate is about $0.03 per word. It also depends on the niche and what has to be written. Rates are to be found on my website.
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  • Profile picture of the author bnwebm
    Depends on the client and potential for additional work, byline and referrals. It also depends on how much research is involved in creating the article. Generally, $30-$150 for a 500 word article.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbissonz
    Well, I think it depends on where the writter is from!... if they come from the Philippine they will be a lot shiper no!
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    • Profile picture of the author Kierkegaard
      Originally Posted by sbissonz View Post

      Well, I think it depends on where the writter is from!... if they come from the Philippine they will be a lot shiper no!
      Well some are ship
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    • Profile picture of the author tamarindcandy
      Originally Posted by sbissonz View Post

      Well, I think it depends on where the writter is from!... if they come from the Philippine they will be a lot shiper no!
      Was this slaughter of English meant as some sort of irony or are your grammar and spelling genuinely that horrid and you can't spell "hypocrite"?
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      • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
        I generally get paid money, though I've sometimes only gotten exposure, but I would also consider trading an article for a house or one of those fancy motor homes that expand to the size of almost a normal house, especially that one that comes with its own little tiny car in a lower compartment.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kael41
    I've been running a content production company now since..oh..2005 (articleauthors). And since I've seen the market fluctuate for what people will pay, one thing has always remained true: pricing expectations run the gamut. We've had airline companies ask us to produce training collateral, and some Ford dealerships in the midwest want us to do print work as well.

    Those corporate clients have no real concept of the meat market that is the elance/getafreelancer world. I refuse to put bids in on some projects because i know there's an Indian or Phillipino writer who will do the job for pennies on the dollar. I'm all set with giving my writers those kind of projects.
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  • Profile picture of the author Transcripts
    I am a contractor for several American content companies. I'd say you honestly could find an American writer at the $100 mark for a 5000 word article.
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  • Profile picture of the author drmani
    Originally Posted by John Durham View Post

    Just out of curiosity.

    I know some are making like 50-100 bucks for a 5,000 word article.... isnt that kind of slave labor?
    When I (rarely) write for others, around $0.50 per word, more
    in medical niches.

    When I write for myself (most of the time), it's around $1 per
    word, but spread out over the lifetime of the content.

    When I started writing, I wrote for FREE - because I love to

    All success
    Dr.Mani
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  • Profile picture of the author DIGITALCHAMELEON
    Well it depend of what country you came from and how the conversion rate of dollar and national currency differ usually some writers in the Philippines ask $2 to $5 per 400 to 500 words of article for them those rate is quiet reasonable.
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  • Profile picture of the author shurets1
    It depends on the quality of article. I charge $8 for 500 words re-write, but $15-20 for original article.
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