When I first started writing for a living, I worked for several local newspapers and small magazines. I wrote mostly feature articles, often history related. It was not uncommon for me to spend 8 hours on an article for which I was paid $25–50. $75 if I was lucky.
At the time, I knew the pay was far too low for the work I was doing, but it was industry standard in our area, and I figured I needed to pay my dues. Besides, I loved my job. Slowly, though, it dawned on me that even the writers who’d been working for those publications for years were being paid either the same rate as me or only slightly higher. I did break into a Denver paper once, with a very in-depth article that turned out to be a two-page spread in their Arts insert. For that, I received a whopping $200.
When my son was born, it wasn’t hard to do the math. My meager income as a freelancer would not cover his day care if I wanted to continue the job. So, I gradually phased out of work I was really good at because it wasn’t financially sustainable.
And nothing has changed since then. The other day, I listened in on a travel writing class. Someone asked the inevitable question, “How much do they pay these days for travel articles?”
“Oh, there’s no pay in travel articles anymore,” the instructor said. “Most of the ones I get published don’t pay at all, or maybe a small…
