We talked some the other day about how there is a perception among some writers and among many non-writing folk about how Internet writing isn’t “real” writing, and how Internet writers are perceived as somehow being second-tier. I told you then that I didn’t agree with the analysis, and that there are specific benefits of Internet writing over print writing. Today, I want to explore some of those benefits in more detail. Why is Internet writing better than print writing?
photo credit: Mr. Wright
Internet writing has better odds.
Everyone who’s ever tried to have something published in print knows that you don’t win them all. In fact, when it comes to print publications, even the best writers don’t win many. There are exceptions. Once you hit a certain level in your niche, you can pretty much get anything published. Take my favorite fantasy author, Ed Greenwood, for example. Ed can write as many novels as he likes, and almost guarantee that someone will pick them up. Same for Stephen King. In the nonfiction world, the same would apply to folks like Seth Godin or Deepak Chopra.
I’m a decent writer; if I weren’t, I couldn’t make a living doing it. But the ratio of what I’ve written to what I’ve published when it comes to print is about 10 to 1. On a good day. And that number doesn’t even take into the account that most of my print writing doesn’t get published on the first submission; its usually the third or fourth. And my numbers are, as near as I can tell, very much in the average category.
Contrast this to my Internet writing. Everything I write for the Internet can be published. It might be for a client, or it might be on my blog, but it can be published. If I have an article topic I want to write that a client isn’t interested in, I can still write the dang thing and find a place to publish it with little effort. As an Internet writer, the odds of rejection are so small as to be insignificant.
photo credit: cassandra michelle
Internet writers make more per word than typical print writers.
I know what you’re thinking. “Bob, you’re full of crap.”
You’d be right. Only, not about this particular statement.
See, I’ve got a good number of steady Internet writing clients. My rate, while not as high as some, is sufficient to make the writing worth my time. And my clients give me specific writing assignments, which I complete, and get paid for. Every damn one of them. And, I’ve done the math: based on my rate of print publication, I make about twice as much per word written (not per word published, of course) on the Internet than I do with print. If you can get all of your print writing published, I’m sure it’s more lucrative. Bravo. Maybe you are a real writer and I’m not. But I can get all, or nearly all, of my Internet writing published, and I’m going to make money on it, even if I have to publish it myself.
See, I can write an article, maybe on a topic like common Internet writing mistakes, for this blog right here. In time, that article makes me money through contextual ads, affiliate sales, direct advertising and, eventually, my mentoring program. I can also spend about an extra 20 minutes rewriting that article or portions of that article three different ways, posting it to an article directory to make some additional pageview revenue and generate traffic back to my blog. The article directory income is relatively insignificant for a given article, but if you can get a thousand or so articles up on four different paying sites, you’ve got a healthy little supplemental income going on. I’m not all the way there, yet, but I’m making progress on that part of my journey, to be sure.
photo credit: Point-Shoot-Edit
Internet writers can have full editorial and marketing control over their writing.
Obviously I’m not talking about pen-for-hire work here. But anything that you self-publish on the Internet can have your own personal editorial stamp, and can be marketed as you see fit.
Does this create more work? of course.
Internet writing can be somewhat challenging because it forces you to learn to edit your own writing, and some folks can never seem to really master this concept. It also means you’ve got to develop an eye for design and know something about markets and marketing. But it also gives you a heck of a lot of latitude. The fact of the matter is that editors, in the print world, have different agendas than writers. I’m not saying they aren’t useful or even necessary; I’m just saying that it is nice to be able to rise or fall on your own merits, rather than on whether an editor makes you change something that really shouldn’t be changed. It also is nice to maintain some integrity when it comes to the marketing process, rather than leaving your integrity to an advertising agency.
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So, what do you all think? Based on the responses last time, many of you believe Internet writing is indeed better than print writing. What other reasons have we missed?
22 comments ↓
I’ll add one: Internet writers develop a wider range of skills based on their experience. We learn marketing, advertising, copywriting, attracting clients or readers, data management, organization, scheduling…
We can run a business like nobody’s business.
Now, other types of writers learn different skills, sure. But if their Plan A craps out, do they have a solid base of Plan B skills that lets them jump into almost any industry and have a working knowledge of how to hold down another job outside their comfort zone?
Probably not.
But ‘net writers can
Hi Bob – another great post. James is right, I’ll say I’m learning at a phenomenal rate from people like him, and yourself.
One thing I’d add (which I tweeted about earlier tonight) is this – for me, someone who is not (as of yet) making money from this, I get one very important thing that a print writer probably won’t get:
Good, real-time feedback.
I love it. I write something, if someone likes it, they tell me. And it feels good. Likewise, if you write something cool (which you do with alarming regularity!), I can say, “hey Bob, that rocked”.
That is pretty important to me right now. And it probably always will be.
Thanks for the words.
[...] Why Internet Writing is Better than Print Writing [...]
[...] Why Internet Writing is Better than Print Writing [...]
I think James made a good point in discussing how Internet writers may pick up a broader range of skills, as a natural result of our ability to create our own sales channels.
Today for example most of my time was taken up working on my online shopping cart and getting an eBook cover ready for a product that’s launching there.
I expect that real writers and print writers spend the same amount of time on marketing, but a technical skill set is definitely a more of a plus for the former.
And here’s another major benefit: you don’t have to stand in line at the post office and attempt to explain to the clerk what a SASE is and how you are trying to weigh it in order to put enough postage on it…
I’d be hard-pressed to go back to “regular” free-lancing. I much prefer the internet.
Great blog! Glad to have discovered you.
Amen. That coming from a non-religious person. But still.
I have print writer friends who spend weeks doing interviews, writing, editing, etc all for one piece. I can whip up 30 blog posts a day, that with legal research and scouring news, etc. Even if I only work two days, or have an off day where I only write 5 or 10 posts, I’m still earning a whole lot more than my print writer buddies who are spending all week on one $1500 article.
James, great point about the business aspect. I’d never thought of it that way, but it’s very true!!!
Hi Bob, great article!
What I like about internet writing is the feedback. When our readers comment (or don’t comment) on our posts, they are telling us whether or not we are writing about something that interests them, and other things like whether we’re providing enough information, if it’s written clearly enough, etc. By listening to the feedback, we learn who our audience is.
It’s also a good way to launch a print writing career. One can build his or her audience online, and then publish a book and pitch it to his or her loyal readers/fans. That’s one way to ensure book sales. I’d like to do that one day..
@ James – Good point. To be sure, any freelancer has to have a fair amount of those skills, but Internet writers do wear more hats.
@ Brett – Thank you for your kind words. Feedback, I think, becomes less necessary as time goes on. Don’t get me wrong; I love to be complimented, and told that my stuff is cool with alarming regularity. Please, don’t stop that, of course. But I’m to the point where putting gas in my car provides most of the satisfaction I need, in terms of my writing.
@ John – Thank you for sharing. I hadn’t even considered the technical and graphic design side of things.
@ Charlotte – ROFL! I love it. Fortunately, I live in a very small town. I only had to explain SASE once – to the postmaster.
@ Amy – Hallelujah. 30 posts in a day? Impressive. I can hit 30 web content articles, but blog posts tend to take me more time, I guess.
@ Raivyn – Hiya, and thanks for commenting. You raise an interesting point, beyond what Brett did, I think. I, of course, was thinking feedback in terms of how it makes me feel; what you’re saying is that feedback is, really, useful as a tool to understand the market.
I suppose if I’d have had James’ business sense, I’da caught that
@ Bob: You are welcome – and thanks for making me laugh too, feedback of course doesn’t pay the bills & put gas in the car unless it is green paper…
[...] Why Internet Writing is Better than Print Writing [...]
[...] Why Internet Writing is Better than Print Writing [...]
I’d say the main reason Internet writing is better than print writing is the opportunity if affords to people who couldn’t – or shouldn’t – make it in print writing.
That’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of pros who write for both print and web, and it’s not to say that everyone who writes for the Internet is a failed print writer, but clearly, thanks to the web, anyone who wants to be a published writer can be a published writer.
Whether that’s good for the craft or not is another debate.
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What I really like is the unexpected niceness of some clients, they really appreciate what you’ve done and before you know it they come back for more and pay 50% up front without being asked.
I never ask for up front payments but when people offer it I am inordinately pleased, not just with the money but the underlying trust behind it. I love writing for the internet.
sue’s last blog post..Working on the Long Tail
@ WW – I think that it’s good for the craft. Again, I’m of a mind that the market works magic. The more competition, the more the good stuff rises.
@ Sue – You’ve got a good point. The Internet writing world is more personable, because your clients are, generally speaking, smaller clients.
Take a look at this blog of a PR writer who does both print and online writing and who comments on language in the online world. http://www.prwriterextraordinaire.com/blog.html
@ Rebecca – Not sure the relevance, here. Help me out a bit.
Good article. It’s nice to hear positive outlook regarding an area I want to get involved with. You just gave me more hope than any high school counselor ever did.
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Whilst I agree with what you say here. The downside is that the internet gives the inadequate (and the downright dire) opportunity to clag up the ether with garbage. Still, can’t complain – my genre doesn’t pay anyway !!
I’ve been writing and publishing all my life, but until I started capitalizing on the strengths of the Internet to publish and get known, writing was my career not my vocation! I’m providing my students in my course, Introduction to Internet Writing Markets, with links to your blog, so they can hear the same encouragement from you as they do from me. Thanks for a great article.
I’d have to agree with the sentiment of the page. I have never published anything in print. I’ve tried a few times, but being a pure amateur at my trade, I’ve found much more success publishing sunday school material online than trying to get into publishing houses.
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