Recently, I’ve had some good luck in writing content for a few companies online. They really seem to like my vibe and what I have to say, so I’ve been making consistent sales. Which is a good thing. But one of the big problems with writing content like this is they are paying you for your words (which as a writer is great news!). But you don’t get a byline.
And that sucks.
I saw some content of mine that I wrote the other day, and yes, I know the money I get to put in the bank is why I wrote it, but to see somebody else’s name on it…just gives you a sick feeling.
The bummer is that the agency that I write for prohibits writers from making direct contact with the clients, so it’s not even as if any of these clients could contact me and say, “Hey, do you want to be on our staff and collect a regular check?”
I have written articles for Canadian tourism websites, Oregon tourism, Wyoming, Colorado, etc. and I can’t even give clips or links to the stuff I have had published because it was ghostwritten. By me.
But the number of hits and clicks I get on my two websites is negligible. Even though my content, on a different platform, earns enough for someone else to pay me decently. I like to work, and I like to get paid, but there is something about a writer’s ego to be said about taking credit for it too. And there is the element of also being able to claim writing/publishing credits too when it pertains to possibly getting more work. Selling your work tends to have a snowball effect. The more you sell/publish, the easier it is to sell/publish more.
There’s no money in this site. I just keep my thoughts here because I think creatives should work harder to lift each other up. I also like to ruminate publicly it would seem. Like a wayward goat. Affiliate links through Amazon are also a joke. They used to pay people decently, but I guess Bezos the Clown needed that extra 30% to gold plate his platinum toilet or something. The coding doesn’t work with WordPress anyway, unless you bump yourself up to Business or Premium. Which I might have done if it had the potential to pay for itself.
Right now, this site is a labor of love. I hope the dozen or so regulars who come here (and twice as many bots) appreciate the content. It’s hard out there for a pimp. Not gonna lie.
But a day of doing this beats the hell out of working in Higher Ed.
Wendigo Mountain 