Who Pays Writers The Most

It’s not who you think

It’s a common misconception that you have to write for the big boys to earn the big bucks. In fact, some of the biggest companies pay the least to their writers.

I’m talking about companies like these:

• Apple
• Adidas
• Nike
• Vogue
• Buzzfeed
• Huffington Post
• Inc.

Although a few may offer high-level earning opportunities to writers, many provide mediocre or less than average wages. Sometimes they pay just a few cents per word.

Why Is This?

Companies like this know that writers want to write for them more than anything else. Most writers are lining up to receive their small wages. They know that even if they offer less than industry standard wages, they will still fill the writing job with a hard-working and passionate person, ready to produce first rate copy for them.

Why Do Writers Bother With These Gigs?

It’s all about the prestige. Having a big name like this on your resume is a badge of honour, it’s almost a rite of passage for a budding writer. Once you’ve got a headline name within your work history, you can apply with confidence to any other writing job and it will massively increase your chances of landing the role. Employers will be more inclined to work with you just because you’ve had a gig in the big leagues.

Who Pays Well?

Typically, the best payers are the intermediary companies. They’ve dedicated a decent amount of money to marketing and specifically copy and want the best of the best to help their business be as successful as possible. It’s the sort of company that recognises the need for marketing and wants to generate a big push in their content to help them take off within their industry. These companies are still hungry for success and know they must stand out from the crowd to achieve it.

How Can You Find Them?

The best way to stay up to date with rates being offered by employers is through a website named whopayswriters.com. This website has a comprehensive list of companies from all over the world. Other writers just like you create the crowdsourced list of companies and their pay per word rate. It also includes information like how many days it took to be paid and sometimes writers leave comments explaining their difficulties with the publication or informing other writers of how great the gig was.

Some of the best paying writing gigs according to this site are the following:

• Yoga Journal ($1.00 per word)
• Wine Enthusiast ($1.00 to $0.50 per word)
• Takepart ($0.75 per word)

Compare that to the wages of these guys:

• Buzzfeed ($0.01 to $0.53 per word)
• Huffington Post ($0.12 to $0.44 per word)

Sometimes the big names pay well too. Consider Cosmopolitan, they regularly pay over $1.00 per word and sometimes pay over $2.00. This is why it’s super important to be informed and understand the industry.

Remember to give back to this community of voluntary and anonymous writers. When you land a gig, be sure to inform the community of your experience. This helps us all find the right publications for our work.

Should You Try To Write For A Big Name?

Yes and no, don’t just go after these jobs, not only are they super competitive but they provide an underwhelming pay. It’s all about balance. To be a successful writer it really helps to work with one of these guys, but once you’ve got one of their names on your resume, you can start focusing on the places where the real money is and leave the small pay checks behind.

Have you had a really high paying writing gig recently? Or perhaps you’ve been unfortunate and had a low paying job, either way share your experience with the community.

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