Never Been Paid

I have been mulling something over recently.

I think I am a reasonably good writer. I have certainly had positive feedback from others about the way I approach covering issues. I'm by no means perfect and I do sometimes look back on old blog posts and wonder if I could have done things a bit differently.

I have written close to 1,500 posts for this site in the 4 and a half years it has been going which is close to an average of one per day. Which I think is a pretty good level of experience.

I have won awards for this blog and I think I have a solid reputation amongst my peers. I have also had my work published by various online media including The New Statesman, The Independent, The Guardian Datablog, Left Foot Forward, Liberal Conspiracy, Lib Dem Voice, Conservative Home and others.

But there is one fact I cannot escape.

I have never earned any money for my online writing. Ever.

I have written myself about how the structure of journalism and making a living from writing is rapidly changing and the past is certainly no guide to the future. So in this context maybe my lack of any sort of remuneration is not particularly surprising. But it does make me wonder just how high the bar is set.

I am just one case. Maybe loads of my online contemporaries are coining it in. But I doubt it. Those who have managed to land columns with newspapers and magazines off the back of blogging I am sure earn from it. But I know of others who regularly write for online sites where you might expect they would be paid and are not so even that is no guarantee.

I have actually made some money from my online media activities but it has been tangentially through radio and TV appearances. I never would have got the offers were it not for my writing so it has sort of been inspired by my writing but not directly for it.

One thing I have decided to do is to start to ask if a fee can be paid when I write for other outlets. Because I do realise that I very rarely bother doing that assuming the answer will be no. But if you don't ask you don't get.

I am not reliant on my writing for my living. Good job or I'd be in real trouble! For me it is just a sideline. But if I had any expectations of ever making it more than a sideline as least I am under no illusions about just how hard it is to make a living at this game.

One final note. It is currently mid way through May. So I am going to tack one more item onto my predictions for 2013 and it is this:

12) I will be paid something, anything for one of my pieces of writing during 2013.

Let's see if I can make it happen.


I would also be interested to hear other people's experiences of getting paid (or not) for their writing in the comments below.