8 Reasons “Who Pays Writers?” Is an Important Tool for Freelance Writers

Have you ever heard about the website “Who Pays Writers?” If you’re a freelance writer like me, you must have encountered this website while researching for possible clients.

The first time I heard about it, I did not try to dig deeper about it. And it was only later on that I was able to fully appreciate the information it can provide freelance writers like me.

Would you like to maximize this important tool to help you in finding potential clients?

Let’s talk about the 8 valuable insights writers can get from “Who Pays Writers?”

1. Payment Rates

If you tried to look at the Submissions Page of some online magazines, you may have noticed that not all of them listed how much they actually pay for an article. Some merely say that it depends, and is therefore in a case-to-case basis.

But if you’re a freelance writer, you know how much time and effort you need to spend to write an entire article for submission. You spend time not only in writing but in researching and gathering every information you need to write an article suitable for the client you’re submitting to.

This is where “Who Pays Writers?” can help. Being a “crowd-sourced database of pay rates across print and digital media”, it contains an estimate of payment rates for many publications you may be interested in.

With data coming from your fellow writers, you get an idea how a potential client can pay for each article. You can see whether a publication pays per piece of article submitted or per word. You can also find information as to how much they pay per word of an article.

2. Turnaround Time for Payment

With “Who Pays Writers?”, you not only get an idea about how much you will get paid for an article. You also learn how long you may need to wait before payment.

You can see that some writers indicate being paid after 30 days. Some get paid after 15 days of publication.

You can then adapt your freelance strategy considering the duration of time you need to wait before receiving payment for your articles.

3. Copyrights Purchased by Publication

You will get an idea about the type of copyright the respective publication will purchase.

Will they buy the first serial rights for your work? Will your contract involve surrendering all rights to the publication?

You need to know what you are selling so you can put a proper price for your work.

4. Existence of Contract

If you look closely, you can see icons related to each publication indicating whether you need to sign a contract for your work.

Will you be more comfortable after signing one? And before you do, what are the things you need to consider?

5. Type of Writing Relationship Needed

You will easily get an idea which publications are accepting cold pitches, or those coming from freelancers who have no pre-existing relationship with them.

This increases the chances for your article to be accepted after submission.

6. Trends and Niches

With such a vast database, you will have a tool to study the current opportunities available for your work.

What is your niche or expertise? Can you see many publications offering work in relation to them?

Or can you see other possibilities based on the data that you see?

7. Search Function

“Who Pays Writers” has a search function if you would like to quickly find the publication you need more information about. You can easily filter the results using this tool.

For example, if you want to search all the sites accepting articles about health, you can type “health” and then see all the relevant results.

8. Writer Feedback

For some publications, you can see the comments and feedback from writers that have worked with them. You will then see how they got along or how you can also adapt to the engagement even before submitting your articles.

Final thoughts

“Who Pays Writers” is indeed a valuable tool for freelance writers like me. It gives us an idea about the current trends and niches we can specialize on. It also gives us insight about the type of writing we need to submit to respective publications.

How much would you like to receive as payment for each article? Would you rather be paid per piece or per word? Is there a chance for negotiation based on previous data submitted?

Information is powerful when used wisely. It helps us formulate suitable strategies that will make the most of our time and energy as freelance writers. It also assists us in devising our plan for our short-term and long-term goals.