Rivers Editorial

Writing

Companies paying writers and editors less than minimum wage

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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.

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Why editorial quality is more important than ever

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More than two decades in the editorial industry has granted me many things, and taught me even more.

What I’ve been granted is a rich and varied experience across a range of companies and publications, in different countries. What I’ve been taught is the importance of quality and consistency, as well as a keen understanding of how not to do things.

The latter point is especially important as the industry I forged my career in has undergone massive changes, and continues to do so. Consumer media nowadays is vastly different to what it was in 2000, when I took on my first job as a subeditor for a local newspaper.

However, I firmly believe that print media will never die (after all, video never actually did kill the radio star), and that there will always be a place for quality journalism and fastidious editing, in whatever format it’s delivered.

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