Whether writing for content websites or trying to break into print magazines, it's becoming clear to me how business practices translate into a 2-year wait for compensation.
One of the biggest cons to writing for content websites is the reality that you're writing as an investment.
You do not get paid up front (for most content websites)----pay is performance based. It takes an average of two years for an article to earn enough views (and ad revenues) to translate to decent pay. And yet, I'm finding that going the traditional route of magazine publishing is not much faster! Either way, it's seeming really plausible that it may take two years to see much of anything accumulate from this freelancing venture.
That's reality when it can take magazine editors 6 months to decide if they like your idea/article, hold onto it another year to try to see if/where they can fit it in their magazine, then let you know they're planning on using it, taking a few more months to go through the editing stages, including getting my feedback. Add this up, and you see more than 18 months have passed. Then the article is finally printed, and your pay is issued 90 days after publication! (Standard operating procedure.) SO with this reality in mind (sometimes even longer), I'm beginning to see that whether I go standard publishing or take my chances with content writing for websites, it's a 2-year investment either way.
I wrote a number of feature articles in February and March, and sent either the full manuscript out or a query letter about the idea. I'm still waiting to hear back (if I ever will) from the majority, and this is no surprise; some of those specific magazines said to expect six months, and most said a response is granted only if they decide they want to print my story.
For three feature articles, however, I've already gotten some variety of favorable response. One was accepted for print in April (super fast), and we've gone through the editing stage, and the print version is expected this fall. From all accounts, that was a speedy transaction, and yet, a full six months will have passed between my sending the article and it's fruition in print. (Eight months from when I started writing it.)
Another story was unofficially accepted, with a caveat that the editor wasn't exactly sure when/where they'd use it. After a couple of months and my inquiry, I found they wanted to hang onto it for a year and try to find a place for it though it didn't specifically fit into their plans for upcoming issues. (They did graciously say they understood if I wanted to sell it to another magazine, giving me the OK to shop it around while they held onto it.) So I'm starting over with that article, shopping it to other publications.
My third favorable response was to a query. The idea was of interest, so I wrote the story, turned it in 3 weeks later and am still waiting to hear if the actual story presents the idea they liked in a way they liked.
All in all, you can see that six months into my freelance journey, I'm realizing this is no quick route to cash. In two years I might see that I've been well paid for the work I've been doing lately. So if you can afford to wait two years (on average) to see some decent money, then trying to break into freelancing cold as I am I a good idea.
And realize, too, that I'm charting only the time that elapses from articles that get interest right away. How long will it take to sell my articles that spend 6 months in queue at a magazine that decides they're not interested? Or an article that spends many months, even years, getting passed on by editors before I find its perfect home in a magazine eventually? Especially to sell to a magazine with a large circulation, trying only two of them will take a full twelve months.
So yes, freelance writing, in my experience, breaking in like this, is very much a long-term investment.
This confirms that I think people are writers because they love it or simply have to write to feel alive, whether they get paid or not. They're the only reasons I can fathom that we have motivation, cuz it's certainly not external motivation!
A challenge then is for me to decide whether an idea I love is best to try to sell to a print magazine that may not print for over a year, or publish online in a matter of days or weeks. I just wrote an article, "Sunburn Prevention: Take Off Those Sunglasses!" and published it online, mostly because I think it's newsworthy now and didn't want to wait until next summer, the next time a magazine would publish summer topics (though I'd still have to write and send the article shortly as it'd take all year to get through the process!) I may still try for a print version in a parenting magazine, though much longer, incorporating a few more prevention tips that are still cutting edge and that I haven't read in common parenting literature.
Other articles I chose to publish online because, at least in part, I didn't want the topic to lose its timeliness waiting in an editor's slush pile of unsolicited submissions, include:
Kids with Higher Consumption of Pesticides More Likely to Have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Breast Cancer Less About Genetics Than We Used to Think
Oh, I have a lot to learn on how to best navigate this business. I'm sure I'm making mistakes I won't realize for months or years, but you've gotta start, and right now we writers have to do it without a map as the publishing word is changing like a rug shifting under our feet.
One of the biggest cons to writing for content websites is the reality that you're writing as an investment.
You do not get paid up front (for most content websites)----pay is performance based. It takes an average of two years for an article to earn enough views (and ad revenues) to translate to decent pay. And yet, I'm finding that going the traditional route of magazine publishing is not much faster! Either way, it's seeming really plausible that it may take two years to see much of anything accumulate from this freelancing venture.
That's reality when it can take magazine editors 6 months to decide if they like your idea/article, hold onto it another year to try to see if/where they can fit it in their magazine, then let you know they're planning on using it, taking a few more months to go through the editing stages, including getting my feedback. Add this up, and you see more than 18 months have passed. Then the article is finally printed, and your pay is issued 90 days after publication! (Standard operating procedure.) SO with this reality in mind (sometimes even longer), I'm beginning to see that whether I go standard publishing or take my chances with content writing for websites, it's a 2-year investment either way.
I wrote a number of feature articles in February and March, and sent either the full manuscript out or a query letter about the idea. I'm still waiting to hear back (if I ever will) from the majority, and this is no surprise; some of those specific magazines said to expect six months, and most said a response is granted only if they decide they want to print my story.
For three feature articles, however, I've already gotten some variety of favorable response. One was accepted for print in April (super fast), and we've gone through the editing stage, and the print version is expected this fall. From all accounts, that was a speedy transaction, and yet, a full six months will have passed between my sending the article and it's fruition in print. (Eight months from when I started writing it.)
Another story was unofficially accepted, with a caveat that the editor wasn't exactly sure when/where they'd use it. After a couple of months and my inquiry, I found they wanted to hang onto it for a year and try to find a place for it though it didn't specifically fit into their plans for upcoming issues. (They did graciously say they understood if I wanted to sell it to another magazine, giving me the OK to shop it around while they held onto it.) So I'm starting over with that article, shopping it to other publications.
My third favorable response was to a query. The idea was of interest, so I wrote the story, turned it in 3 weeks later and am still waiting to hear if the actual story presents the idea they liked in a way they liked.
All in all, you can see that six months into my freelance journey, I'm realizing this is no quick route to cash. In two years I might see that I've been well paid for the work I've been doing lately. So if you can afford to wait two years (on average) to see some decent money, then trying to break into freelancing cold as I am I a good idea.
And realize, too, that I'm charting only the time that elapses from articles that get interest right away. How long will it take to sell my articles that spend 6 months in queue at a magazine that decides they're not interested? Or an article that spends many months, even years, getting passed on by editors before I find its perfect home in a magazine eventually? Especially to sell to a magazine with a large circulation, trying only two of them will take a full twelve months.
So yes, freelance writing, in my experience, breaking in like this, is very much a long-term investment.
This confirms that I think people are writers because they love it or simply have to write to feel alive, whether they get paid or not. They're the only reasons I can fathom that we have motivation, cuz it's certainly not external motivation!
A challenge then is for me to decide whether an idea I love is best to try to sell to a print magazine that may not print for over a year, or publish online in a matter of days or weeks. I just wrote an article, "Sunburn Prevention: Take Off Those Sunglasses!" and published it online, mostly because I think it's newsworthy now and didn't want to wait until next summer, the next time a magazine would publish summer topics (though I'd still have to write and send the article shortly as it'd take all year to get through the process!) I may still try for a print version in a parenting magazine, though much longer, incorporating a few more prevention tips that are still cutting edge and that I haven't read in common parenting literature.
Other articles I chose to publish online because, at least in part, I didn't want the topic to lose its timeliness waiting in an editor's slush pile of unsolicited submissions, include:
Kids with Higher Consumption of Pesticides More Likely to Have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Breast Cancer Less About Genetics Than We Used to Think
Oh, I have a lot to learn on how to best navigate this business. I'm sure I'm making mistakes I won't realize for months or years, but you've gotta start, and right now we writers have to do it without a map as the publishing word is changing like a rug shifting under our feet.
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