We are like sculptors, constantly carving out of others the image we long for, need, love or desire, often against reality, against their benefit, and always, in the end, a disappointment, because it does not fit them.
Anais Nin (1903 - 1977)
Dear Kerry et al,
It is with great regret and disappointment that I received the details of the news you have long withheld from us, of which you have dangled just out of reach, a tantalizing bauble promising hope and stipend. I know now that gem is but barely above paste and offers little hope in sustaining my family above its current challenged circumstances. With few exception, the yearly allowances of many in our circle do not provide us with the means for charity above what we already provide and, with the current political strife facing us all, gratuities to fellow aspiring writers are near impossible and far from our top priority.
Perchance I let my imagination get the better of me. I dreamed of well-written missives garnering the attention and admiration of the editors beyond meer "pick" status. I hoped, why did I let myself dare to hope, that these same missives would occasionally be considered of such high quality that an esteemed group of intellectuals such as yourselves would (may I say it, can I say it?) publish these writings in the original "Salon" magazine and that adequate compensation would be decided upon between the parties involved.
Alas, it is not to be and I find myself feeling downtrodden and bereft as I am unable to humiliate myself by calling "alms for the poor" from my own intimate circle.
In conclusion, I will continue to write as that is what I do and enjoy but your disappointing offer does not hold the promise of my alacrity, consistency, nor endeavor.
With heavy heart but as always your friend,
Mrs. Lauren Dillon
Rancho Laurena Farms
Scottsdale, AZ
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
j lynne
nanatehay
Outside Myself
Tayler Bloom
Beo
OS BOOK CLUB
Salon.com
Comments
If I wanted to wait tables, I would have made a lot more money by now if I had spent the time doing that instead of this.
Tippem is a first step toward providing compensation for members. We're not ruling out other options for the future, but this is an immediate way for writers who develop loyal readers to get direct compensation for it. MB, we're not thinking of this as a small community tipping each other. You all have readers already, and hopefully more when we promote the site more widely (and soon, we'll make it so you can track your readership). The goal is to have your valued readers compensate you. And Salon's seven-year Premium membership program shows that we have a large, loyal audience of readers who are willing to pay for content they value.
Open Salon an experiment, but we think it's a promising one. Certainly, if you don't *want* to accept any tips, don't register. The tips return to the tipper, no money changes hands.
Google and Yahoo both offer ad networks (there are others -- BlogHer, of course). We want to offer options for Open bloggers soon, too. But the amount of traffic you need for those to pay off, of course, is quite large. Directing traffic to Open blogs through ratings, curation, etc., would hopefully make it pay off quicker.
As with my Blogspot blog, I started this primarily because I like writing and sharing ideas. Knowing that people are reading and perhaps discussing my thoughts is my reward.
Not that I'd never accept a paying gig.
Also, I do think it was fairly expected by most (if not all) people who originally joined OS that if they turned out high-quality pieces, they might be displayed more prominently - i.e. on Salon's main site. I too had that sense, even though that wasn't my biggest motivation for joining.
I'm going to go a step further and note that much of success as a blogger or other internet writer has to do with dumb luck and connections. It's all about who links to you, whether you happened to take a certain angle on a certain hot topic at precisely the right time, whether you were sufficiently prolific, blah blah blah.
Weird as it may seem, there is already a clubbiness and hierarchy in the blogosphere that is somewhat disconcerting. High profile sites only seem to link to other high profile sites, even when small-time writers are turning out fresher and more vibrant work. Funny, coming from a sector that began as an insurgent movement against entrenched interests.
I suppose that's to be expected.
I am assuming that this is only the FIRST step for Open Salon undertaking to get writers paid for content. They've given us this forum to build an audience - this will get braoder and deeper as 'best of Open Salon' gets featured on Salon's pages.
In addition to Tip! I can see some other solutions Salon might consider. If I'm thinking this way, I'm pretty sure they've already thought about this stuff, only more thoroughly.
a) create a budget that the Salon / Open Salon allocates across content the editors/overlords wish to encourage - e.g. the kind of writers/content they'd want to feature on Salon, and the kind that makes OS an interesting, livelier younger sister to Salon. Maybe they spread that budget across the top (by their definition/goals) 10 writers per month, or quarter. The source of this budget is of course the question for Salon/OS to solve. They are already throwing some resources at OS so I wouldn't think it's totally out of the question to throw a little more.
b) introduce advertising on the Open Salon site - this becomes click based (or an algorithm of non-author comments and thumbs up), i.e. stories most read by algorithm indicators get a pre-determined share of the ad revenue.
c) I would think that b/c of Salon's connections in the publishing world, they have a means to promote specific writers based on a) and b) to top publishers, making it easy for publishers to pay for content.
Writers can even set a price for republishing content - publishers can compete. E.g. a writer can set a price for $25 on an essay. Publishers can bid on it to win, or even contact the writer to make contractual arrangements for one-of-a-kind content.
I would be somewhat disappointed if this Tip! business were the ONLY way OS plans to fulfill the 'pay for content' promise...
however, I'm well aware that many published authors and freelancers - in other words, people who write for their living - barely scrape by, even with an established audience, agent and roster of publications that tap them for their writing services. Many have 'day jobs' to make ends meet. So I wasn't expecting there to be any 'magic bullet' that delivers significant monetary opportunities provided to OSers not already available to the pros in the biz. Writing doesn't pay - writers know this more than anyone. That's why we do it mainly for ourselves.
OS is not just a writing site but a blogsite too - and blogging and writing are not identical, though they can intersect. For me, I'm less interested in blogging, but I do enjoy certain other people who are much more prolific and proficient (and funny and incisive and in touch with pop culture) than me. I probably wouldn't tip them, but I hope they find some sufficient reason - PPC by advertisers, or whatever - to keep blogging, b/c I will be a loyal reader.
For me, I came to OS to find a broader audience for my writing - personal essay and fiction. But if OS didn't exist, I'd still be writing fiction and personal essays. OS has helped me here - it's expanded my *writing* as well as my audience, i.e. I've written pieces I otherwise might not have, simply because there was an interested audience available to show it to . If I can get paid, that would be great. I'd prefer for it to be easy to get paid, by I also recognize that it doesn't always work that way.
Lauren's flood control project is indeed worthy, as would e's Kiln Fund (if she had one), or any body else's pet project.
I'm not trying to be insulting or condescending, I just don't feel like telling an organization I've never heard of any of my personal financial information - it's just not something I'd be happy doing.
PF, you identified the root problem as being the expectations. I guess I personally never expected much. I never figured I was a good enough writer to be placed over at Salon.com so I never thought the money thing would really apply to me.
There are other talented writers here who definitely deserve more than tips for their excellent writing. I don't see how the tipping system interferes with their realization of success.
I admit that I thought tipping online was out of vogue maybe 8 years ago, but I can't say I know much on the subject. Despite the bugs and frustrations, I did sign up. I'll be flabbergasted though if I make even $5 in a month.
Here's my question, will it be tempting to "play nicer" with posts here in the hopes of generating more tips? Will I want to shut up on my thoughts on Clinton's chance for VP so I don't alienate anyone? (Whoops, too late!) Will I be tempted to not write about atheism?
Or does the tipping system make it more likely to see personal sob stories?
I'm curious whether the tip option will change the content in any way.
It's amazing to me how this smallish issue brings up so many parameters.
I think Lauren pegged it for me by referring to "expectations". I've mostly been writing for myself this past couple of months and consciously keeping my expectations somewhat low. I know I don't write stuff that ignites comment wars and such, and that's fine with me. I am engaged in the *discipline* of writing - keeping the muscles limber.
But as someone else mentioned, I certainly wouldn't turn down a bona fide offer...
Salon obviously has an evolving business model ... much as we're all enjoying this experiment, you're not in it for yucks. This is about ROI, as it should be. Sandra has some good ideas. So do a lot of us. If we were part of the beta, why not utilize our knowledge and experience.
As for money, Sandra's last graph sums it up for me and many others. Lauren's post speaks for, I suspect, even more.
Freelance writing has always garnered slave wages, but $$'s are $$'s to those who need them and if writers are paid based on OS ratings and readership, the big get is all about *exposure.* Which, as discussed, is a tough nut for the editors. Good stuff gets missed, more inevitably will as OS grows.
That said, there's an elite group who appear on the home page daily, often with stupendous posts but sometimes with meager offerings, few comments and no ratings. Surely there are others--and new bloggers--also worthy of this valuable exposure. Surely there are ways to mine for that gold.
Good luck as you keep digging.
(Not one on my own either)
I'm not super jazzed about the tip system as being the only form of compensation, but I've also been blogging for so long that I think that getting money for it is pretty damn sweet. I understand the discontent, though.
Also, (and I haven't read anything posted here yet because HOLY CHRIST my kids are three kinds of crazy right now) but, you know, you write something good, you can submit it to Salon or countless other publications. You don't have to just throw it up on the blog. Moreover, you can take what you write on your blog and sell it later. I've done this. A blog can be a kick ass testing ground for material.
I don't even have a dog in this fight, really. I show art, not writing. And my "writing" is just a means to an end of getting ideas out of my head. I have a different kind of POV, but that is about the extent of it. I think the term "graceless" comes to mind. My craftsmanship lies in making things out of stuff in the real world way.
Sometimes, especially in the face of this, I wonder why I spend time on this. Maybe OS is really a social outlet for some of us here. And being paid to socialize makes you a whore.
I think that is why the tipping thing is uber-weird for me.
Since he is going to preschool in about 30 days, I have to start working again (my own head says this, nothing else). And I have to get back in the mindset that I make thinkgs that have value and it is not bad to say they are worth money and all that. I would honestly just give it to people that would appreciate having it. But I have found over 20 years of selling art, that if people don't pay much for it, they don't value it, either.
So now I charge a living wage for my work based on hours and resources in plus profit. It isn't easy and I still won't do craft fairs, there's plenty to blog about there, but I won't bore you all with that.
It just makes me feel for folks that are having to write, a process that I find effortful when I am trying, to earn money.
I work with clay to make money. And I sell my pots when I am "in production" mode, which is now. But it still feels weird. That is why I usually let galleries do that part. It keeps my head clear from all the issues of how I should change my work to increase my marketability and all of the things that are coming up here.
As a non-writer, I understand the predicament, though, through my own whoring around.
(Amazing what you have to put in a 10-k filing to the SEC)
Chris is right in the way he describes the blog dynamic. Blogging success is based on traffic, but breaking into the big blog scene can be tough. Open was designed with that in mind, to make it easier for new bloggers to find (really smart) audiences without all the time and self-marketing that usually goes into it.
Also, to Chris (and Sandra, to an extent): Yes, the idea is still -- and very soon -- to start highlighting great Open posts on Salon.com, too, with its much bigger audience.
Sandra: Yes, the idea is that we can help people break out and get more exposure this way, find publishers, etc. -- and also, with whatever tools we can build, make money along the way.
Sally: Neither Joan nor I -- nor anyone at Salon -- can actually accept tips. Those buttons will eventually disappear from our blogs.
PF, ST, et al: The idea of what kind of content will get compensated is an intriguing one. I can't imagine that people actually will pay for brash pundit talk. It will be interesting to see.
Really, thanks for taking the time to be so (sometimes brutally) honest here everybody. We're taking it all in.
I'm neutral on the Tip button. It doesn't bother me but I will probably not be using it to pay someone a tip either. But I'm flexible on that. If Lauren registered with the service I'd be tempted. But that would be a combined scorpion and frog burial fund in addition to her writing.
As beautiful a writer as Steve Axelrod is in his craft, as lyrically wonderful a writer as Sandra is--as much as I've enjoyed them and others, many others, I don't feel a compelling need to tip. In fact, I'd feel kind of weird about it. 15%? 20%? of what?
On the other hand, I would feel weird about getting a tip too. I'm an ok writer. I'm not a journalist, I feel like I'm barely a blogger. Most of my stuff centers around my art, my photography, and has limited appeal and in this venue, only subjective value used to compliment a meager point. I've sold my photography and some of my stuff has reached high 3 figures in auctions (laugh--that's pretty good for a dilettante). And I just got word that my photography book is about to be published. Pelican Publishing is sending a contract over soon...advance royalties are a modest but welcome $7500 for about six months of hard work.
But I have no illusions about the worth of the stuff I write. Don't get me wrong...I like what I've written here so far, but really, it has limited value or appeal.
I think, based on Haggis' wonderful incisive parsing of the SEC filings for Salon, that Kerry, Joan, Terry et al are doing a good job of setting up this element of Salon as something that will sustain itself at least, and perhaps add value to the corporation.
I'm happy to be a part.
I'm sure the reactions to your tip concept have come as quite a shock. I'm sorry it had to hit you that hard and that fast, when you likely expected it to be at least somewhat positively received.
Again, I have faith that you will do the right thing, within your means. As for me, I'm just going to keep dumping my baggage all over this place regardless.
what Chris said!