No Demand for Demand Studios
You've probably seen the Demand Studios ads on such places as JournalismJobs.com and Mediabistro. They want experience, they want productivity, they want ... trust fund babies. A thread on Mediabistro's forum is worth reading for comments like this:
This type of rate is nothing more than intellectual sweat shop piece work. I'd be surprised if the business owners don't laugh over after hour drinks at the gullibility of those who actually agree to such terms. The scary thing is, this is still better than what you might get at a place like Helium.
[Note: Demand Studios responded.
I had the same experience when Demand launched the Livestrong site. They asked for cycling and/or medical experts. I was offered work: 10 articles, $300. I wrote back asking if that was a typo and nope, it was not. Not worth it, and at least to me, the low pay puts into question the quality of the site.A thought that might proceed through the mind of a skeptical journalist could be as follows: "I don't know the poster, so how do I know the observation is accurate?" Good question. I did a quick search on JournalismJobs and found a copy editing ad that mentioned rates. Although I can't guarantee that it will be up indefinitely, I can quote some of what I found:
We are looking for dedicated editors who can deliver quality work in a timely manner and are comfortable occasionally communicating with writers. Some fact checking is also required.The copy editor must have five years experience, do some fact checking, and receive $3.50 per article. To make even $20 an hour, you'd need to do between five and six articles an hour. That's ten minutes per ... what, maybe 300 to 500 words I'm guessing? From times I've edited and had to hire copy editors, the going freelance rate I found was between $45 and $55 an hour. If the writing rates are equally bad -- and why wouldn't they be? -- the editing must be painful and far closer to mass rewriting.
We will only accept candidates with 5 years of demonstrated editing or copyediting experience with a newspaper, magazine or book publisher.
This is a part-time freelance position and all work is done online. While your schedule is flexible, we do require our editors to commit to working a minimum of 12 hours per week, every week.
We pay a flat fee of $3.50 per article, with most editors averaging $20-$25 per hour, paid on a weekly basis via PayPal.
This type of rate is nothing more than intellectual sweat shop piece work. I'd be surprised if the business owners don't laugh over after hour drinks at the gullibility of those who actually agree to such terms. The scary thing is, this is still better than what you might get at a place like Helium.
[Note: Demand Studios responded.
Labels: Demand Studios, editing, markets, pay, travel writing
posted by Erik Sherman | 6:59 AM
10 Comments:
I've known for awhile that Demand Studios was something I'd never go near, but still an interesting post, and you're undoubtedly doing other writers, who might be tempted to try them out, a service.
Geoff Williams
Thanks Erik, once again, for revealing the bitter truth about sweatshops like Demand Studios---your post about Helium helped convince me to abandon my experiment with Helium.
I wonder how long it will take for the pendulum to swing back toward fare wages and good writing?
I took the bait with Demand Studios just to check out the process of applying and seeing whether anything came my way by way of potentially diligent publishers who are combing profiles.
Unfortunately all that's come my way is spam...
Erik you're right on. I'd say Demand Studios is feeding off people who would work for free just to build out their clip libraries.
When I saw that I thought, OMG why don't we just pay them for the sheer pleasure of working?
As a writer for Demand Studios for about 10 months what I can say is that over time they have tightened up what they are looking for. I end up giving 6 sources per article, do the math for how long it takes to write one article for $15. I was writing one article per hour but now that everything has gotten very strict it takes almost 2 hours per article. Needless to say I am no longer writing for them. They are looking for highly educated experienced writers and expect them to work for $7 an hour, no thank you.
Michelle C
I would imagine that writers who write "fare wages" (instead of "fair wages"), and "OMG" aren't worth much more than $15 per article.
But I suppose having an expectation like "writers should be able to write" is just crazy and unreasonable.
Meantime, if you don't wish to contribute articles to Demand Studios for $15 an article, then don't contribute. No one is forcing you. If they get decent writers to write for 50 cents an article, then that's the market, and all your carping won't change a thing. If the market won't bear 50 cents, or 15 dollars, or 500 dollars for an article, then no one will contribute, and Demand Studios will adjust their fees.
I don't write for Demand but will soon begin writing for either them or another similiar websites. I go into it fully aware of the rates, or lack thereof I guess, and will write to begin the process of getting some articles "out there" and will be coordinating with a couple of blogs I write for, which are pretty new. I am lucky in that I have just recently been able to retire and while my income has dropped, I still can afford the luxury of writing and not worrying really about how much they are paying me. If I was attempting to write and make any sort of living from these type websites, I would surely look elsewhere.
I'm brand new to the online writer's community——and frankly, I don't think I've actually stumbled upon it yet. If I have, I'm definitely turning around.
When did accepting $15 for a published article (and I don't care if it took you fifteen seconds to write it while you were in a coma) become acceptable? What highly educated, professional writer would do that? When did it become a matter of professional pride to draw a line in the sand at $7 an hour rather than an example of an amateur with her head in it?
I suspect, John Galt, that if the market has 'borne' it this far (or low) it will bear it all the way to the ground. Obviously, it's not decent writers they want or maybe even need, but rather people whose wish to call themselves writers——and all the delusions and lack of sophistication that comes with that——they're really looking for. How can it be otherwise?
I suspect the internet and its bloodlust for content, no matter how insipid or meaningless, has only made it easier to be a 'writer' much like boil-in-the bag technology allowed more people to proclaim themselves 'cooks.'
And if this is the case wouldn't you agree, then, that the market that mustn't bear these conditions in order to trigger the springs of the free market system will have to be the reader?
Or perhaps all the 'readers' they need (read: 'traffic') are all the 'writers' incessantly checking on their page hits and the competition. Nice racket.
Thanks for the vent, Erik ('vent' is OK, is it, John? How about 'OK?' And I have been a bit of a floozy with these single quotation marks...grin)
Kind Regards
Diane
As a freelancer, I find outfits like Demand Studios and Examiner.com (who pay by how many hits your stories generate) highly offensive. Basically, it has de-valued writers' work.
Look at how the "factory" attitude of outfits like Demand Studios is bleeding over to more legit media concerns like Time Inc., who wants its freelancers to pay to get paid in a timely manner.
I spent a brief time at Guru.com, and that gives you a very sober look at what people think writer's work is worth these days. You have to bid on projects, and you're ALWAYS undercut by "journalism factories" outsourcing from India. I thought this was a joke, but nope, it's not. Putting "native English speaker" in your profile is supposed to be a plus.
The only jobs I got offered via Guru were not worth the paltry money offered.
Writers, all I can advise is: JUST SAY NO. What we do is valuable. It IS. So please act like it. Quality writers should not be casting their pearls before swine.
Let Demand Studios have the hacks whose work is riddled with typos and inaccuracies and plagiarism and fabricated sources. REAL writing and REAL insight should come with a fair price.
Interesting post. I am a DS writer and yes, while I agree that at times it can be an intellectual sweatshop, I can't complain too much about some of the incentives DS offers its writers. Make a long story short, I graduated with a degree in English in 06' and had a tough time finding work. From 06 to summer of 09' I was struggling with dead end jobs not in my field. I needed more concrete work and a serious cash flow. After doing some homework, I decided to get into freelance writing -- finally, start my career in something that I graduated in and actually enjoy what I do. Problem is, didn't have a portfolio of work or writing samples...God bless Demand Media for taking me aboard so I as able to create a body of work I am okay with -- (Ehow btw, did wonders for me as well but that's a whole 'nother story) and even though their pay is low, I can finally pay my bills. Payments processed ON TIME, and twice a week at that (can't beat that) and I don't have to have anxiety attacks when a check is late or missing, and I certainly don't have to punch anyone's clock b/c I set my own schedule. Yes, I will begin seeking better freelance opportunities, but I can't deny that DS was a great start.
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