Monetizing Posts at Writer Unboxed for Regular Contributors: How and Why
By Writer Unboxed | June 28, 2015 |
Today, we’d like to introduce you to our newest feature at Writer Unboxed: tinyCoffee. TinyCoffee allows us to embed code at the end of our posts, providing you with an option to make a small donation–in line with the cost of a cup of coffee–to the author of that day’s post.
Do you have to use it? Of course not; only if you’re so inclined. But we’re sincerely happy to have a way to offer you this option, and we hope you’ll feel compelled to at least occasionally reward those who generously donate their time to create this site’s rich and empowering content–especially when a post resonates with you and/or you know a lot went into writing it.
We’ve already taken steps to make this feature more user-friendly based upon early critique. Now you can donate as little as $2 to the author of a post, and the font no longer screams at you IN GIGANTIC TYPE. That was our fault, by the way, and not developer Arūnas Liuiza’s, so don’t blame him.
Speaking of Arūnas Liuiza, we want to give him a public shout-out for working with us to customize tinyCoffee for use by our ~50 contributors, when it was originally intended to work with only one person. We’ve donated a goodly number of cuppas to Arūnas in the process, all richly deserved–he made our transaction easy and rewarding–and we hope to work with him again on future initiatives.
You can see tinyCoffee in action in some of our more recent posts, including articles by monthly contributors Dan Blank, John Vorhaus, Barbara O’Neal, and Porter Anderson.
Why is WU doing this?
It seems like the right thing to do, doesn’t it, to at least offer the option for readers to give directly to the content creators of this site? We thought so, too. We found a way to make it happen via tinyCoffee and Arūnas’s perfect customizations, so here we are. Easy as pie coffee.
Can I contribute more than $2?
Yes. There’s a sliding bar that will let you choose a $2 donation, a $4 donation (the default), on up to a $20 donation if you want the author of that day’s post to get a serious coffee buzz. (Note: All of Porter’s money will go toward Campari.)
Is all of the money received by the author of that day’s post?
Yes, except for the small amount that PayPal automatically retains in its sticky PayPal net, all of the money goes directly to the author of the post you decide to reward. WU does not take a cut, and that’s just how we want it. We have been very lucky to see a steady stream of subscription donations to the site, which help to keep WU running and with the cost of the this-and-thats, like new plugins and customized theme changes (one of those coming soon). If you’re so inclined, you can learn more about broader site-specific donations HERE.
Thanks for supporting this new initiative.
Questions? Comments? The floor is yours.
Writer Unboxed began as a collaboration between Kathleen Bolton and Therese Walsh in 2006. Since then, the site has grown to include ~50 regular contributors and a variety of guests on rotation throughout a given year.
In 2016, the Writer Unboxed team published a book with Writer’s Digest / Random House. AUTHOR IN PROGRESS: A No-Holds-Barred Guide to What It Really Takes to Get Published is a comprehensive guide focused on helping writers over/around/through hurdles faced at every stage of the novel-writing process. It’s received some ***** reviews; we hope you’ll check it out.
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Write on!
Sounds great! Ooo, there’s a small down side to this.
Hey brother, can you spare a dime (or twenty?)?
I think this is a fantastic idea. Here we have a site devoted to every aspect on the craft of writing, and one of those aspects (a very important one, imho), is PAY. This step is an example of asking for (a *hard* thing to do for some of us) a little compensation for our writing efforts. And I know it was a difficult step for WU to take…I mean, should WU actually *ask* for contributions for their content?
A resounding YES.
Once again, WU, you’re leading by example. It shows me that I should appreciate my worth and, as difficult as it may be, put a value on it.
But that being said, my Pulitzer prize winning comments will still be free.
You’re right, Mike–it wasn’t an easy step to take. But it was an important one, I think.
And I love your Pulitzer prize winning comments. I’m glad we’ve finally freed them from spam!
Pay writers for their time and talent? Are you crazy?
Yes you are, just a little bit and in a wonderful way. That’s why I love WU!
Great idea.
Thank you, WU, for reminding in a tangible way writers (and others) at this site that good writing is valuable and that paying for good writing is a worthwhile way to show appreciation. The thoughtfulness and skill amassed here is amazing. I am so glad to have found you.
What a brilliant idea!
Yes, good writing is valuable, so let’s open it up to replies, also. Or is that not considered writing by the ~ 50 contributors to WU?
Hey, Ray,
I understand your comment to mean writers’ responses to comments on the site, so I’ll share my experience concerning that.
I’ve found that most of the regular contributors do respond in a timely fashion to (almost) every comment, but I don’t fault them if they don’t. I consider the articles to be their contributions and any further discussion, gravy.
I know that for myself — a mere unknown — I keep pretty dang busy. Some of these contributors are world travelers, speakers, best-selling authors, incredibly gifted agents and the like.
Yes, I am thrilled when they have the additional time to spend in the comment section — I pick up so much more valuable wisdom — but I certainly understand if they can’t and am more than happy to settle with just the article.
And I’ll chip in gladly for a cuppa when so moved. :D
Mike, my comment was perhaps not clear enough. I do not think that the usual writers should be rewarded for their response to comments. I feel that those making comments ( which are often much better than the article being commented on) should be entitled to the same chance at a coffee reward as those who are writing the article.
For instance, if someone saw your comment to my comment and thought it was worth it, they could buy you a cup or two of coffee. If they thought mine was worth it, they could do the same for me. It gives everyone a shot at being informative, witty and money driven. And with the implied competition for quality thought, wittiness and erudition such a system can only serve to elevate the level of discourse, but also elevate the coffee funds of those who are up to the challenge.
Do I expect WU to adopt such a system? Hardly. I’m sure there are a number of drawbacks that will be voiced – bookkeeping, software problems, tax problems (you are reporting such to the IRS, are you not?) and the never voiced but probably thought idea, “Screw this guy for trying to mess up our cute system.”
Anyhow, I’ve had my say on behalf of the quipsters and troublemakers who often lurk out in the ether waiting to make snide and smarmy comment. Now I’m going to go buy a cup of coffee – for myself.
Ray,
OH…I see…and agree! I wish there were a way to do that, for sometimes I feel I’m in a coffee shop or at the Algonquin round table and would love to buy the next round.
Great suggestion. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s feasible, but here — have a virtual cuppa on me! :D
Definitely valuable, Ray! WU would be nothing without its community of readers, who leave comments that evolve the conversation.
It has been pointed out that contributors to WU are already compensated — with exposure and awareness — and that’s true. It’s also true that none of us is going to get rich “a cuppa joe” at a time. That said, this functionality is another example of the market trying to find itself and define itself in turbulent times. We don’t know what’s going to work, so we should try everything and anything, and see what fits. I view this “cuppa joe” thing in that light: It’s an experiment; it’s not a good thing or a bad thing, just a thing we’re collectively investigating.
With Amazon over there cooking up the crazy notion that we should only be paid for words that readers actually read (try returning your print copy to the seller for a 90% refund), it’s a given that all sorts of experiments have been run and will be run. This is one of those. Let’s try it and see if we like it.
For the record, I don’t think anyone should be giving money out of a sense of solidarity or “sympathy for the struggling scribe.” You should be buying the product because you like it and value it. Interestingly, where you have to buy most products before you try them, this is one that you can explore completely before deciding (retroactively, so to speak) whether it’s worth your dime.
There’s precedent/inertia to be overcome here, since WU has provided free content from the outset. Mental adjustments must be made by us early adopters, but note that anyone who finds our content from this point forward will take it as a given that they have the option to “buy after they try.” Remember also that it’s an option. Buy or don’t buy — it’s up to you.
I hope this functionality catches on, though; from my heart, I do. I go back far enough in the business to remember when I could tell potential online buyers of content that “I don’t offer any content for free under any circumstances.” Those days are gone. Competition from other sources and continues downward pressure on prices have made “free content” a part of every writer’s equation. Let’s hope that these tiny cups of coffee are a reversal of this trend.
Finally, this: changes in marketing modalities are not good things or bad things — they’re just things that are. If we analyze those changes from a practical, not emotional, point of view, I think we’re all better off.
Exactly what I hope will happen. Thanks, John. Thanks, too, for being one of our early guinea pigs with this. You received some of the more valuable feedback that we used to improve tinyCoffee’s appearance on WU.
I am not a contributor, just a reader who is constantly bombarded by different worthy causes with requests for money. I must confess that the first time I saw a request for “a cuppa Joe,” my reaction was, “WHAT? Another request for money? Is nothing free? Where does it all end?”
I have spent my share on books, ebooks, and workshops to learn how to become a better, more marketable and respected writer. At times it has been quite a struggle to come up with the money, since I am retired and on a fixed income. The internet became my salvation; a way to continue learning and growing without cost.
Having said that, I am glad you wrote this article, because it has enlightened me. Knowing it is a group effort and not the idea of one contributor who thought his/her work was worth more than anyone else’s, I better understand your thinking and, yes, it is true that a talented contributor is offering something of value.
I am taking the middle road in this discussion. Although I can’t contribute money each and every day (and yes, it is clear that I am not required to pay at all), I have decided that if an article teaches me something new, or reminds me of something I haven’t been doing, or in any way gives my own work value, I will certainly thank that contributor with a donation, just as I would pay for a book or workshop that taught me ways to improve my own work. I am certain if I met the contributor in person, I would be more than willing to buy him “a cuppa Joe.”
This is such a kind and thoughtful response, Linda, thank you. And your approach is what mine would be, if I came at this issue from the reader-side of things. Write on.
A big Campari Fund cheer to Therese and the gang (and Arūnas Liuiza!) for this effort.
I’m honored that a post of mine was one of the first to test-drive the “cuppa” and I love the willing, upbeat responses we see here from Mike (of the free Pulitzer-winning comments) and everyone.
I ratify what John Vorhaus is saying in his comment above — we may hardly be looking at the ultimate effort in this direction, but how grand to give it a try and to open, in the process, a great conversation about how we value each other’s work and understand evaluations of our own writings.
John is pointing out the Internet-wide assumption of free info and the changes it has brought in how we all see and work with our “content.” The very biggest organizations have had to struggle with this, just as Writer Unboxed is doing. I’ve found that the companies and organizations I appreciate the most are the ones concerned enough to try something, to experiment, to see if they can work on compensation of some kind for their writers. And Writer Unboxed now is one of those outfits.
While (John is right) no one will be getting too rich off the cuppas, somewhere inside each of our contributor-minds, there may be a quiet, small urge to do something in a post a little more carefully, a little more thoughtfully, just because the WU community has been kind enough to set up a way for folks to say thanks if they’d like to.
Classy moves beget class acts. Thanks again!
-p.
On Twitter: @Porter_Anderson
Porter,
A glass of Campari to you from me in NYC just for that classy comment.
I’m glad we could find a way to make it work, Porter. Hopefully we’ll be able to keep your glass full, at least on posting days.
Now that’s a damned fine cup of coffee…
Excellent idea, guys, and well executed. WU blog and regular contributors deserve to be rewarded for their fine work and time, at least in my not-so humble opinion.
As ever,
-doc-
And a damned fine comment (says this fellow Twin Peaks fan). Thanks so much, Doc.
Hi Therese –
I had started seeing the cuppa thingies at the end of some posts and wondered about how they came to be. It seems like a great way to help compensate your contributors–and you have some great ones!
After you’ve run it for awhile, I’m hopeful that you’ll share some data about usage. I think you may be onto a real trend here.
Do you plan to expand the program to guest posts in the future?
All the best –
David
Hi David! I won’t have any data to share. The transactions are private, between the giver and the receiver.
And while the idea of setting this up for guests is a nice one, I don’t see that evolving, at least anytime soon. The bottom line is that the plugin is reliant on user pages here behind the scenes, and guests don’t have individual user pages. Creating those would be time-consuming and data-consuming. In a perfect world, right?
I applaud the trial, and think it worthwhile to try to find a way to reward the contributors for all the time and love they pour into this site.
That said, I’m not going to be opting in to the cuppa joe link because I have a mostly unfounded, well, OK pretty well founded, dislike of Paypal and the extent to which they would be drinking my coffee. So, if in the future you read one of my posts and want to buy me a cuppa joe here are your options:
1. Go to the next Unconference, seek me out, offer to buy me a cuppa joe, and chat with me over life, writing and the general meaning of existence.
2. Go to the upper righthand sidebar link titled “Help Support WU” and donate some money to the general Writer Unboxed fund. That goes straight to Therese Walsh who is essentially funding all of this all of the time.
I will be buying you a coffee, for sure. Or, better yet, a chocolate martini.
Therese & Co–
After having read–and learned–from the comments on the monetizing issue, I would like to add one suggestion. John Vorhaus accurately describes this as an experiment, and he points out that “none of us is going to get rich ‘a cuppa joe’ at a time.”
True. So, why not offer contributors–in particular guests rather than regulars–the option of directing any cuppa joe contributions to Writer Unboxed itself? Expenses are involved in any site of this complexity–why not allow post writers to help out in this way?
I appreciate your idea, Barry. My leanings are to let the guest posts be as they are for now, but you never do know how an experiment will evolve. Thanks for thinking outside of the box for WU.
Thanks for the explanation, Therese, and thanks for being willing to try something like this out. After all, that’s what this place has always been about, right? Thinking outside the box! Trying new things! And creating a community that values writing, writing insights, and writing innovation.
Oh, and PS: I can’t wait to see the theme changes!
Absolutely right, Kristan. And I’ll steal a favorite line from NaNoWriMo’s Chris Baty and add, “Why the hell not?”
(As for the theme changes, I think you’ll see them Wednesday morning. Nothing drastic, by the way, but a needed update.)
Great idea! It might not make anyone rich, but who doesn’t get a glow of satisfaction at receiving a physical token of appreciation? And anything helps to defray expenses.
Thanks for offering the option.
So nice to see tinyCoffee being used just the way I intended it to be used. And to read all the nice comments. You really have a nice community here.
Therese didn’t mention it, but if you guys want to use the same function in your own WordPress sites, you can find tinyCoffee and install it via the official WordPress plugin directory. You can even change the coffee cup icon into a beer or a coctail glass.
I think it’s brilliant! It doesn’t even look like donation more like a person wants to express his respect or sympathy.