The Check is in the Mail
Will quality writing pay out?
Growing up, my heroine was Jo March in the book Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. I loved that she was a tomboy who earned money for her stories before women wore trousers, and that she delighted in earning a cheque for her writing.
Jo March was well compensated for her creativity. Back in the 1880’s, she earned $100 for her first story, a sum worth about $2000 today and enough to send Marmee and her ailing sister Beth to the seaside for a month or two. In the 1980's, Jo March would still have been paid $100 for an article in Reader’s Digest, valued at a fraction of what she received a century ago.
Today, we write to have a voice on social media and to make meaningful connections with people and society. Money is not really on offer.
In 1880, there were only 7000 newspapers in the United States, according to Collier’s Encyclopaedia. Today, WordPress reports that over 409 million people view more than 14.5 billion pages each month. Users produce about 42.6 million new posts. No wonder ‘quality’ writing is being devalued. It’s getting lost in this sea of content.
We have never in the history of mankind seen such a wealth of self-expression and yet such a poverty of resources to discover and support such creativity.
How did we get to the point where a writer (or film maker) struggles to monetise content that is the byproduct of research, intellect and passion and has the power to educate and inspire global audiences?
We have abandoned quality in journalism, in video content and in many creative fields opting for quick fixes of viral content. The balance of power between quality and junk is not to be debated. Junk has won.
Even back then, Jo struggled with her own inner battle when it came to quality. When she listened to the people around her, she chopped and changed and lost her way, wanting to create ‘sensational’ content (aka viral). Her father encouraged her to focus on what she wanted to build.
“Aim at the highest and never mind the money.”
But, let’s not kid ourselves, money is important.
Great creativity deserves to be elevated and appropriately compensated.
Can we turn a corner on this? As an industry, we grapple with how we put a value on quality. Certainly advertisers, poised at the sidelines with big TV ad budgets, want to associate with quality. In fact, they will pay more for it because it is more engaging, has better brand association and generates data. And as Netflix has shown, consumers will pay too, if the content is great.
We need to build and support platforms that value quality, and create a natural haven for people looking for clarity from clutter. Like Medium, such platforms can drive network effects around quality ideas, stories and opinions. Focussing on quality over lowest common denominator content can not only bring financial success but also longevity.
We all need to be fed creatively. We need to keep stimulating the creative industry to produce bigger and better ideas to keep our brains going.
Creating such a platform is not easy. Few put the time in, sweating every detail down to beautifully chosen fonts and the way the user experience ebbs and flows like a gentle tide. And sure, like any tide, great waves will be made that can be difficult to control or navigate. For what is the purpose of a tide if not to be the gravitational force that pulls you towards great stories, opinions and ideas.
By Sofia Fenichell
Edited by the skillful hand of Lily Greenwell-Farrell
