I am considering creating a space on the blog and charging a small amount per post during the month of July.
There are three reasons I am thinking of this.
1. I want to do some buttons, bags, featuring tweets and #Blackgirlsarefromthefuture. Selling the posts would give me the start-up capital.
2. A commenter stated that my blog is a public service and the public servants DO get paid for their work and that I should as well.
3. Last fall, I was speaking to LaToya about charging for Racialicious posts, and she said that she didn’t want to do that because it would put her content out of reach of the people that she wanted to reach in the first place.
4. There is a young woman of color author who has earned a handsome sum selling her fiction online charging nominal amounts between $1-5.
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What is holding me back?
It seems tacky to charge. However, writing IS work. And while I do know that some work is paid, all work is not paid work and that doesn’t make it any less valuable.
Which leads me to one question, would you pay?
How much?
How often?
PeaceLoveandLight
Thank you for being honest about what is holding you back and for asking readers what we think about your possible switch to a pay-per-post model.
Recently (like in the last couple of days), I heard a person say that zee(neutral pronoun) doesn’t write a blog because zee’s work is not free, and the nature of a blog is to provide free access to one’s work. I have been thinking about/struggling with that conversation since. Then, today, I hit up NewModel, and you are talking about the same topic over here.
Here are my thoughts:
NewModelMinority is on my blog rotation. Yep. Bookmarked and uuurythang. I think you are a brilliant thinker/scholar/blackgirlfromthefuture. I appreciate the work you do, and I acknowledge that writing is WORK. However, I find the pay-per-post model in blog spaces a little problematic for a couple of reasons.
Reason #1: Paying per blog post can become incredibly expensive, and then it, indeed, restricts access to your site by specific audiences.
Reason #2: Selling writing is a business that involves more than just the writer(s), and because of that it (selling writing) changes the expectations of the readers. Bloggers are often forgiven for typos, grammatical errors, unclear sentences, and other writing mistakes that paid writers are expected not to make. Readers of [free] blogs often overlook structure in favor of focusing on the quality of thought contained in posts because they realize that blogging is a free service, and they assume that most bloggers (1) are not professional writers and have other “day jobs” (2) don’t often have the time or money to pay and/or work with professional copy editors, and (3) are not interested in being paid for their writing. In exchange for these assumptions, the blogger is free to post whenever/whatever zee wants to post, and blog readers cannot make demands on content or frequency of the posts.
Have you have considered alternative ways of using your writing as a way to generate capital? A membership model could be dope (and very affordable). Perhaps charging a membership fee of $____ dollars per month for unlimited access to this space (with a commitment from you to post a specific number of posts per month) would be a viable option for those of us who may not be able to afford/want to pay for each post.
Another possible alternative to the pay-per-post model is to make a donation tab available at the end of each of your posts. Yes, I would donate.
I would buy your book, and I would encourage mad folks to buy it, too; however, I am not completely sure that I would pay for your blog posts if you switched to a pay-per-post model.
Sending love.
eym
Honey.
First of all. Thank you for being an avid reader and thank you for taking the time to respond. This means a lot.
I like your membership fee idea, but I don’t see how it is any different from a blog premium idea. The next logical step would be to make the whole site a premium space.
A donate tab at the end of each joint? Eeek!
I wouldn’t do a pay per post model.
It would be pay for SOME posts a la carte.
Just for some. Namely, the ones that are really time consuming. The Beyonce joint took the better part of the morning to write.
Thinking about your words and thank you for sharing.
-Renina
A paid newsletter is another option that charges a flat fee for one or two letters/long-form posts per month. I’ve seen a few writers do this, @gwenbell is one of them.
Ohhh. I like the idea of this. I can send it out via constant contact…or something like that…and then re post it on the blog…At a later date. Thank you for this suggestion.
hi. well i dont know if this is helpful but…..
I feel you. I would love to stop digging in the dirt for a living and get paid to be a thinker/writer. communities need our artists and critics but the only way we can figure out how to support their sweat and labor is to hole them up in academia, where the power of art/criticism to offer change and Vision is diverted to the few.
this is an excellent blog, thoughts that push me to think and intrigue. would i pay for it…? maybe, but depends how much and how often.
some ideas:
What about pay for archived posts?
What about a suggested donation (i.e. $0-?) membership to access all but the most recent couple of posts, so people at least have to think about whether or they want to/can support the work monetarily.
(and if you figure this one out, tell the rest of us how ok?)
l.d
Thank you. I have never seen you comment before, and honestly you all are giving me AWESOME suggestions.
I really appreciate it and will be honest about how it turns out.
-R
You could also package your posts into an online magazine via Issuu, and then sell content that way. Like, say you do a month’s worth of writing. Then you could put all that into an e-zine format and sell it as a back issue(Kinda like what the Liberator does?). The advertisements for that would be snippets of the articles. Or you could get lit-gangster and make real zines–maybe we could help you get seed money.
I think if you do a payment program it will also prompt you to develop as a writer in a new way. We’d be expecting you to consistently deliver hard-hitting content(which you already do) on some next-level ish, I think.
I’m down to support you how I can; I always look forward to your work and it inspires me as a writer/thinker.
Wow. Amadaneus…
Thank you. The idea of packaging and selling them in an online or printed capacity may be fresh.
I need an editor.
I really appreciate you taking the time to read and respond.
Warmly,
-R
I don’t think it’s necessarily “tack” to ask readers to pay for your work.
It is work.
It’s takes, time, & effort and like any other job it is not unreasonble to be compensated for it.
As far as the #blackgirlsarefromthefuture merchandise. I’d buy it all.
Tees, bumper stickers, coffee cups, hats, keychains.
All that.
You should also copyright that asap or whatever it is so that you maintain control over how it is used.
I love ” Amadaneus” suggestion and think that by creating an e-zine you’d have more space to create, an inform your readers on other great writers.
Go for it.
I thought you were putting together a book? Didn’t you do a survey of some sort a few months back? You have enough material on your blog to revise, do additional research, and put together a book. Being that you are a scholar, writing a book is a decent way to step your game up and even get into the public speaking arena. You just have to come with it! And based on the blog posts I have read AND learnt from…you have the ideas with great potential! Shoot you could even have a book that comes along with a CD that features emcees (women mostly? all? mixed?)–> this way, you involve others and everyone helps everyone.
Also, you have quite a few catchy phrases (i.e. “#” … dunno what they’re called) that would go well on tees/hoodies etc., just as Ashley has suggested. Perhaps you can collaborate with an illustrator/designer?
Personally, I would buy a book from you, I would buy merchandise from you, but I wouldn’t pay for some kind of subscription service. Forgive the honesty, but **** that!
If you decide to start a e-zine, I would happily be an editor. Free of charge. We may have to discuss certain things though. Same goes for if you decide to write a book.
Have you heard of Indiegogo or Kickstarter? Google, if you haven’t. Cool way for independents to raise funds. I would donate to help you self-publish your book and CD that features many talented emcees (mostly or all women? mixed?).
Good luck! And you CAN do it!