A former colleague of mine recently went freelance, so I’ve been sending him any info on potentially suitable jobs and assignments that I come across.
A few days ago, I saw one that sounded perfect: The Urban Writers, a company based in his country of Canada, offering a range of freelance writing and editing roles, all with flexible hours and on a remote basis.
Accordingly, he enquired about one of the writing jobs. Unusually, they replied quickly (a downside of freelancing is the constant hustle of pitching/applying and then following up, often to be ignored). But it quickly became apparent why they were so quick to respond.
Amid all of this company’s deliberately sassy and informal prose (lots of exclamation marks! And more than a few grammar and spelling errors!! Even though they offer editorial services!!!) were the specifics of the job, including the pay.
Starting rate: 1c per word. Yes, one US cent. Per word.
Yes, that’s the starting rate, though you do have a chance to earn more once you’re established. You can eventually double your money, and be pulling in two cents per word, if you’re good enough.
And, yes, you have to be good enough. A knowledge of SEO is preferred. You should be familiar with several major style guides. You should have recently finished a manuscript of at least 20,000 words (the length of a novella, or a long report).
So, this company is aiming to enlist the services of experienced, qualified writers and editors at a rate of 1c per word.
The Urban Writers’ website is smooth and nicely designed. They have a solid, bright presence on all the usual social media platforms. They claim to work on books and websites, and with businesses.
It is a real company. So, it is not a scam, nor is it based in a poor country where low pay is par for the course. Who, then, works for 1c a word?
In case you’re unsure what word count represents in terms of working time, allow me to illustrate.
The draft of this blog post took me 80 minutes to write about 1,200 words, prior to any proofreading or revision. It didn’t require any research beyond a little bit of web browsing, nor any interviews.
A completely straightforward piece of writing, with no deadline pressure, no quality expectations, and no specified remit, took me 80 minutes. At a rate of 1c per word, that would have brought home the princely sum of $12, or $9,per hour.
A more professionally crafted piece, with thorough research, interviews and crafted for a specific remit, followed by proofreading and fine-tuning, would have taken much longer, and therefore yielded much less money. You’d likely not take home the US minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and even with the least effort you would literally be working for the equivalent of less than a company is legally allowed to pay you in Canada (C$11.71 per hour, or US$9.09), the UK (£9.50, or US$12.43) or Australia (A$19.84, or US$14.44).
Yes, there are a great many writers willing to work for peanuts or even for free for the sake of building a portfolio. This is an unfortunate reality in such a competitive sector. But consider the majority of work offered by The Urban Writers appears to be for ghostwriting – you won’t even get a byline.
If you are just starting out in the publishing industry and need experience and published examples, and are prepared to write for low or no pay, there are any number of ways you can do this which will give you a more prestigious portfolio than would be the case with The Urban Writers, and which could lead to more lucrative opportunities.
Contact community magazines or student publications. Offer to do copywriting for charities or nonprofits. Set up accounts on Quora or Substack. Publish your own website or blog. Enquire about internships with media companies.
These may pay very little, or even nothing, but you will have real writing examples to show people, and in the process you won’t have been insulted.
It gets worse…
Just out of curiosity, I started to look around to see if there were any lower rates for writing or editing work. There was one example that equated to 0.6c per word, and then, via the same site, I came across this beauty:
A dollar for 600 words works out at 0.16c per word – six times worse than even what The Urban Writers are offering. At this rate, my 1,200 words in 80 minutes would have generated $1.92, or £1.50 per hour. Less than my very first student job, when I was 16 – some 28 years ago.
For perspective, one magazine I regularly write for pays around 5p (6.5c) per word, and that’s not an especially generous rate. I just do it because it’s a prestigious title in its field and I enjoy writing about its particular subject matter.
Still, it’s more than six times better paid than The Urban Writers, and The Urban Writers is six times better paid than whatever this outfit is. Or, my moderately paid magazine gig is almost FORTY times better paid than this thing.
It goes without saying that anybody and everybody should steer well clear of this “job”.
For that matter, they should steer well clear of The Urban Writers, too – even if they would be paid six times more than the “rewrtiers”!
Thanks!