
How Much Is a Word Worth? - ascertain
https://medium.com/s/story/how-much-is-a-word-worth-7fcd131a341c
======
jasode
_> “If the editors announced a 50-cent per word pay cut next week, I don’t
think any of us would quit,” one contract staff writer told me, “and they know
it.” [...]_

... somewhat contradicts the claim in the next paragraph:

 _> There are other consequences to the declining value of the written
freelance word. The most obvious is that skilled and insightful writers will
ditch the profession for greener (but arguably less prosocial) pastures._

The ugly reality is that insightful writers won't quit. Or even if they do,
they will _be replaced by other insightful writers_ willing to charge $0.
There have been some amazingly insightful posts written here on HN that
obviously paid $0 to the poster. In contrast, some of the computer books for
which I paid $39.99 were worthless.

The economics of _writing_ \-- shares the same dilemma as other artistic
vocations such as music composing, computer graphics drawing, film directing,
etc. People would still want to do those activities even if society pays
_nothing_. Those activities are both vocations and avocations so getting paid
well isn't what drives new participants into the market. New economic
participants all trying _" do what they love"_ creates intense competition.
Only a lucky few get to be paid very well. All the rest are perceived as
"commodities".

A janitor might fantasize about being a journalist or writing a book. But no
novel writer fantasizes about being a janitor.

Even white collar professions have the same envy. Many lawyers write novels on
the side and quit practicing law when they have a hit (John Grisham, David
Baldacci, etc). How many successful writers dream of quitting the written word
so they can go to law school to become attorneys?

Computer programming is one of the lucky professions where there's overlap
between enjoyment and high pay. I just heard about billionaire Jim Clark
(Netscape) recently programming Objective-C for his home automation system.[1]
He already owns a private jet and yacht but didn't hire someone else to do the
programming. A 70+ year old billionaire... programming... for fun.

\- $0.00 : _" It was a dark and stormy night. ..."_

\- $100k+ : _printf( "It was a dark and stormy night. ...");_

[1] deep link:
[https://youtu.be/_rL1LnXo3Gs?t=1h2m32s](https://youtu.be/_rL1LnXo3Gs?t=1h2m32s)

------
RcouF1uZ4gsC
This reminds of a story about Rudyard Kipling. Apparently, some students hear
that he was paid 10 shillings per word and sent him 10 shillings asking for a
word. Kipling replied "Thanks"

[http://articles.latimes.com/1986-02-23/magazine/tm-10830_1_s...](http://articles.latimes.com/1986-02-23/magazine/tm-10830_1_single-
word)

------
kristianc
Aren't you undercutting yourself slightly complaining about low pay and then
writing for a platform that pays you in 'Claps'?

~~~
exolymph
The article says how much he was paid.

~~~
bschilke
$4000. He turned in a 4000-word draft, final version ~3450 words.

------
8bitsrule
This problem goes back at least as far as Hugo Gernsback, 'known to men like
H. P. Lovecraft for being a crooked publisher who sometimes stiffed his
writers when payment was due.'
[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/predictions-from-
the-...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/predictions-from-the-father-
of-science-fiction-61256664/)

Once a writer gets well-known ... a track record ... submissions don't go in
the slush pile any more. Until then, they're lucky if their stuff gets scanned
at all, because everyone wants to be (and thinks they already are) a writer.
Even if they're very good, they still have to find an editor with an audience
for their writing.

------
blackbagboys
Somewhat tangential to the main article, but I have a hunch (as yet
uncontaminated by hard evidence) that some sizable fraction of the decline in
writerly fortunes over the last hundred years or so is that even though
literate audience has expanded tremendously, barely any of them have enough
leisure time to actually read for pleasure. I doubt more leisure time would
make 'short story writer' a potentially lucrative career path again like it
was in the 20's, but it'd be interesting to see a comparison with the market
in Western Europe, adjusted for the much smaller market size of each of its
component national languages.

------
cwkoss
Writing is hard to get paid for because every CEO thinks that they could do it
themselves. Too much supply vs demand suppresses prices: too many applicants
for too few jobs.

------
DoreenMichele
I wonder what larger societal forces are at play here.

IIRC, Abe Lincoln's wife had a 12th grade education in an era when most
American women had an elementary school education of about 4th grade or less.
As education levels have gone up, vastly more people are capable of putting
pen to paper, so to speak. Simply being capable of writing coherently is no
longer an elite skill in its own right.

Additionally, there are vastly more people today and vastly more media
outlets. Your article might be read by a larger number of people in absolute
figures, but by a smaller percentage of the overall population. This means
individual articles are substantially less influential these days. They may
influence a subset of the population, but are much less likely to influence
"the world."

Plus, there are a lot more resources available today, many of them for free
and at the tip of your fingertips. There are major libraries that have put
large collections online and made them available for free.

It's cool that he personally interviewed top notch writers to conclude that,
no, seriously, the profession is underpaid. But how much value does it really
add to the piece? And if he named his sources and really dished the dirt for
$8 per word, is there any reason to believe that would have significant
positive impact on the industry the way journalistic pieces have had in past
eras?

Before becoming a freelance writer, I had been getting praise for my writing
for years from published authors I was acquainted with via internet and even a
publisher. I had some academic awards and the like in school indicating I
wrote well. But most of that had little to do with the kind of writing that
pays money, where words are worth something only if they accomplish certain
goals. That requires more than a pretty turn of phrase.

I continue to struggle towards a better income for myself and I am currently
looking into possibly doing things beyond just writing. I wish very much that
my writing paid better.

But I can't help but wonder at the larger forces at work here. Are most words
actually worth more than the going rates?

In closing, I will note that JK Rowling became a billionaire from her
children's books. As I understand it, that changes the children's publishing
industry.

I bet none of the well paid historical writers cited in the article were the
equivalent of a billionaire in their time.

------
2fifty3
TIL Medium has a premium version for $5/mo

------
exolymph
This article is silly because it doesn't discuss supply and demand at all.

~~~
Retra
This comment is silly because it doesn't discuss the interpretive value of
language.

~~~
banned1
What did you mean by "the interpretive value of language"?

------
DannyB2
It depends on the word. For example, one word (or two) could be both headline,
and brief description of news. Two examples:

Impeached!

Nuclear War!

