Comments

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  Mary Jo Manzanares December 5, 2009 at 7:23am

  There are some sad realities that apply not only to writing, but to working life in general.
  
  Unemployment and underemployment are at staggering levels, and people must make choices on how to feed themselves and their family. Many with secure jobs are still being forced into pay cuts or mandatory days off without pay. While I agree that we should hold out for the best rates that we can, it's unrealistic to expect that writers should somehow be immune from the pay cuts that everyone else is taking. It's easy to say not to work for less when the wolf isn't at your door.
  
  We are competing with free user-generated content. People who aren't writers, but are travelers who are more than happy to offer up opinions, can write a review, and share their travel experience on a website. We can quibble all we want about quality and professionalism, but not all of that free content is crap. This high supply of content pushes are rates even lower.
  
  Newspapers and magazines are closing up shop, others are slashing travel content and/or the budget for travel content. The unfortunate result is pushing our rates down even more with this greatly lowered demand for our product.
  
  A writer who takes a trip will research a wide variety of topics and angles for potential stories, and will want to maximize the return on that investment of time. Adding a blog post or two into the mix is just one MORE way of selling your work. Obviously there is not adequate return on investment if it is the ONLY place you are selling your work, but do the travel and research once and then sell the heck out of your material. Any writer worth their salt knows how to spin numerous stories and angles from the same material. And if you've already done the research and written your feature articles, spinning a few blog posts out of your material shouldn't take much time at all. Even though it may be at a low rate, does it factor out to be that much lower than the time spent on trying to sell reprints?
  
  During these tough time, people are doing whatever they have to do to get by. Unemployed lawyers and accountants are flipping burgers because they can't find jobs, and people are taking second jobs to make ends meet. I can't fault someone for writing for a lower rate than they might otherwise feel entitled to in order to pay rent and put food on the table. Not everyone has the luxury of turning down the work.
  
  Suggesting that people not write unless paid at a certain rate is akin to going on strike. No matter how worthy the underlying cause, not everyone will agree to the concept or feel that they can afford to make the choice. Then there's the issue about whether or not this is the write economic time to make such a stand.
  
  Publishing and writing times have changed, whether we like it or not. We're going to need to find new ways to get the money that we deserve to be paid for our craft, and it's probably going to take some fits and starts to will do so. I hve a feeling, though, that it's going to involve a whole lot more than just saying hold out for more money.
  
  In any event, I hope that we can be gentle with one another (and our personal choices) as we all ride this out.
  
  I want higher rate
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  Allan Lynch December 5, 2009 at 1:21am

  I always ask these (foolish) gungho writers: if you're prepared to write for free, why would another editor be willing to pay you? Why wouldn't they expect you to continue writing for them for free?
  
  Most people just glare back at me and think I'm a prick for asking. But no one has ever answered my question.
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  Ed Wetschler December 4, 2009 at 11:51pm

  I don't blame you one bit for wanting to vent, Max. I have a young friend who writes for Demand Studios, a very successful operation that manages to pay hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of writers slave wages. Recently, they had the nerve to tell him he was on probation because some of his articles were "too generic."
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  Steph Wiestling December 4, 2009 at 11:45pm

  Max: Most bloggers only get $10-$20 per post. Which is fine if you're being paid to ramble off the top of your head. It's too bad they carry that over to other online writing, though, because it may be encouraging less research and less rewrites, ie. lower quality, given the pay/time. Research and rewrites are especially helpful in travel writing.
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  Jose R. Garrigo December 4, 2009 at 11:21pm

  I agree with Jose Balido. Tripatini is the perfect medeium to post your suggestions ans news. It's non-biased and from us travel writers.
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  José Balido December 4, 2009 at 8:57pm

  Hey Tom, this is the perfect place to post re transcription services, as travel journalists are the most likely to need it. Great idea, I may have to hit you up for suggestions sometime very soon!
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  Max Pesling December 4, 2009 at 8:45pm

  OK, enough is enough. Just read this on the Travel Writers News Feed above:
  
  “AOL Travel is hiring Travel Bloggers in around 25 different cities and areas, including Las Vegas, New York, Rome, Amsterdam, and San Francisco. You need to live in the destination you’ll be writing about, have writing experience and insider knowledge of your beat, and be able to churn out a few posts a day (150 – 300 words each). Pay starts at $15/post.”
  
  $15 per post. That's between 5 and 10 cents a word, depending on how chatty you feel. 5 AND 10 CENTS A WORD. Even travel writers are being treated as sweatshop workers. Is this where we're heading? Is this the kind of society we want to live in? Is there any way we as travel writers can band together and say "enough is enough?"
  
  I know the answer. But I have to vent.
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  Buzzy Gordon November 25, 2009 at 12:00am

  My two cents -- much less than a tip! LOL
  
  I am influenced by many of the guidelines here. As per Lana, if I am being comped by a restaurant, I always leave a tip for the waiter. No reason he/she should be penalized for not having been assigned another table. On the other hand, my housekeeper is cleaning all the rooms on the floor -- and presumably being compensated adequately for that task.
  
  BTW, I'm not complaining; but when guidebook authors divide their pay by hours worked, it comes to way less than minimum wage!
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  Melanie Ball November 24, 2009 at 11:13pm

  An Australian perspective for you - as Allan was seeking earlier.
  
  Tipping here is nowhere near as prevalent as in many parts of the world, because most - of course not all - people in public-service industries earn a reasonable basic wage. That said, though, no waitress would knock back a bonus few extra dollars at the end of a shift. While tipping 10% in restaurants is common, it is not the rule and in cafes, coffee shops - and restaurants - most people tip only if we think the service has exceeded what we should reasonably expect. Everyone might toss in some extra coins if we have had a great few hours of drinks and pizza at a favourite place. Sometimes, however, that money goes into a communal jar and the pool is distributed across the whole staff so you might have to give the money directly to the staff member you want to have it. Tipping taxi drivers, hotel porters, etc is almost unheard of.
  
  And getting back to the comment that started this discussion, I get annoyed being asked and expected to fork out for group tips to a driver or guide, for example, on famils because these should be covered by the host as part of the package. I am however always happy to tip someone who I deal with personally while travelling for good or special service - despite my non-tipping background! - and particularly in developing countries where wages are so dramatically less than mine.
  Following local custom on this is always the best policy - you can all save lots of tipping money by visiting Australia!!! - but I actively dislike the American (and in some other countries) policy of including a "tip" on a bill - call it a Value Added tax and be done with it! Tips should always be voluntary!
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  Mary Jo Manzanares November 24, 2009 at 6:55pm

  Following local custom is generally a good policy -- whether on the issue of tipping or anything else.
  
  Where tipping is the norm, refusing to do so won't change the greater policy or increase wages. It only hurts the worker, the last person who should be caught in this squeeze. (I wish everyone was paid a living wage so that they did not have to rely on tips.)