Should Writers Be Paid for Their Work?

Yes! Without a Doubt. Absolutely

I’ve been writing short essays and humor for decades, and my work has appeared in dozens of anthologies, including 10 Chicken Soup for the Soul collections.

I love being asked to contribute to a collection. It’s always a thrill to be included in a book.

But? I refuse to participate in any project that makes money for its editor and publisher, but not for its writers.

(The one exception I make is an anthology whose sole purpose is to raise money for a cause I support.)

Over the years, I’ve been asked to contribute work — without payment — to a number of collections and anthologies.

“We’re a small press,” an editor will explain. “This is a worthy, but an under-funded project.”

I’m here to call bullshit on that.

The fact that you are publishing a book means you believe it will make money. If so? The writers whose work you include deserve their fair share.

I’m a writer, but I’m also an editor. I’ve put together 12 collections of humor by women, with titles like When Cats Talk Back and Men Are From Detroit, Women Are From Paris. All were published by small presses.

And I paid every single contributor to every single one of them.

Could I have gotten away with offering the hundreds of writers and cartoonists whose work I used “the opportunity to expose your work to a wider audience” instead of cold, hard cash?

Yup. Most of them, while talented, were just starting out. In most cases, mine would the first book they would appear in.

If I hadn’t paid my writers, I would have made a lot more money. But? I would have been exploiting their talent to pad my own bank account.

And that’s not okay.

If you can’t afford to pay writers upfront? You can offer them the opportunity to accept a percentage of the money the book brings in after the costs of producing and marketing it are paid.

I did this with one my anthologies when my publisher could only afford to pay me a tiny advance that didn’t even begin to cover my out-of-pocket costs.

I offered to split each royalty check with them. I’d get half. They’d get half.

The bad part? I ended up having to cut checks to my 20 contributing writers twice a year.

The great part? I got to cut checks to my 20 contributing writers twice a year!

Sure, it was tedious and time-consuming. But being able to pay writers felt great.

Writers should get paid.

Period. Full stop. End of Sentence.

The best thing about Medium?

Writers are paid. Not nearly enough, if, like me, you tend to write short.

But? Medium believes in paying us.

Which is why I believe in this platform.

I plan to stick around, and so should you.

And if an editor ever asks you to contribute your work to a book but offers to pay you bubkas?

Send them this post. And tell them to take a hike.

Writing Coach and editor-for-hire Roz Warren, who writes for everyone from the Funny Times to the New York Times, can help you improve and publish your work. Drop her a line at [email protected]. (That’s Ros with an “s,” not a “z.”)