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Abstract

the end result does not demonstrate the volume of actual work that went into it. I’ve had people read 2000 word magazine features that I’ve written, and they have not realized the hours of research, outlining, writing, editing, taking photos, writing captions, editing again, and then revising before editing and revising again that went into it.To the average person, it seems that all that is needed is to sit down in front of the computer and type out a few thousand words. Unless you do the work it's difficult to quantify the time, effort, and talent necessary to do a good job at it.We want everything cheaper and faster and to an extent are willing to sacrifice quality to get it.I’ve seen the same race to the bottom take place in the trades as well. In order to get work, shops will drive their prices down to the break-even mark or take a loss in order to get work through the door. I’ve worked for employers who have used this strategy and sought out the rock bottom pricing from their vendors.Undervaluing the skills required to craft the deliverable has one significant and fatal flaw.If your business model requires pricing that is scraping the bottom of the barrel, what happens when your vendors raise their pricing or disappear?I know exactly what happens.One of my former e

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mployers found a guy to do his sheet metal forming at prices that were half of what any other shop would charge. This was good for my former boss because he was able to quote very low and get a lot of good work.Then his forming guy had a stroke and shut down his shop.Now my former employer had to pay realistic rates for the backlog of forming he had to get done. I know this because these forming jobs came into the shop I was working at, and I found out first hand how upset my former boss was when receiving the invoice for the work we performed.Undervaluing unique skillsets may work out in the short term but I’ve seen it go bad so many times that I am certain that it will never work out in the end.There is also the sense that writing is not ‘hard’ work. This idea is total bullshit (pardon my language).I am a welder/fabricator by trade, before that, I was a soldier. I know what hard work is and I can tell you without an iota of exaggeration that writing is hard work.So how do we as writers fight this?It is simple.Do not drive the rates down by undervaluing your own work and make sure to educate your clients and potential clients about the realities of why it is necessary to pay a fair price for the high quality of the writing you are producing.</article></body>

Why is Writing so Undervalued?

Is there something we can do about it?

I got suckered into writing for iWriter and the second I was able to cash out I did. Then I headed on over to UpWork thinking that maybe those who use that platform to find freelancers may be willing to spend more. Though I’ve found work through UpWork I’ve also found a fair volume of frustration as I scroll through the job list.

I understand that there is a segment of the freelance market that lives offshore, and can subsist on making a few dollars per job. For the rest of us asking to have a 2500 word well researched and SEO optimized academic article for $20 USD (on top of which UpWork takes 20%) is downright insulting.

Fortunately, at this time I don’t rely on writing to eat so I have the luxury of waiting for work that pays well. What I don’t like is scrolling through page after page of jobs that have rates that only serve to anger me.

Why is it that writing seems to be so undervalued? Why is it that there are individuals out there who believe that $150 is a good price for a 50,000-word E-book?

Writing is one of those skills that the end result does not demonstrate the volume of actual work that went into it. I’ve had people read 2000 word magazine features that I’ve written, and they have not realized the hours of research, outlining, writing, editing, taking photos, writing captions, editing again, and then revising before editing and revising again that went into it.

To the average person, it seems that all that is needed is to sit down in front of the computer and type out a few thousand words. Unless you do the work it's difficult to quantify the time, effort, and talent necessary to do a good job at it.

We want everything cheaper and faster and to an extent are willing to sacrifice quality to get it.

I’ve seen the same race to the bottom take place in the trades as well. In order to get work, shops will drive their prices down to the break-even mark or take a loss in order to get work through the door. I’ve worked for employers who have used this strategy and sought out the rock bottom pricing from their vendors.

Undervaluing the skills required to craft the deliverable has one significant and fatal flaw.

If your business model requires pricing that is scraping the bottom of the barrel, what happens when your vendors raise their pricing or disappear?

I know exactly what happens.

One of my former employers found a guy to do his sheet metal forming at prices that were half of what any other shop would charge. This was good for my former boss because he was able to quote very low and get a lot of good work.

Then his forming guy had a stroke and shut down his shop.

Now my former employer had to pay realistic rates for the backlog of forming he had to get done. I know this because these forming jobs came into the shop I was working at, and I found out first hand how upset my former boss was when receiving the invoice for the work we performed.

Undervaluing unique skillsets may work out in the short term but I’ve seen it go bad so many times that I am certain that it will never work out in the end.

There is also the sense that writing is not ‘hard’ work. This idea is total bullshit (pardon my language).

I am a welder/fabricator by trade, before that, I was a soldier. I know what hard work is and I can tell you without an iota of exaggeration that writing is hard work.

So how do we as writers fight this?

It is simple.

Do not drive the rates down by undervaluing your own work and make sure to educate your clients and potential clients about the realities of why it is necessary to pay a fair price for the high quality of the writing you are producing.