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[syverce]

So I haven't been posting a lot of writing here because I've been working on embarrassing fandom projects. To ease my financial issues, I'm considering offering literature commissions. There's not a lot of call for it so I don't expect to make oodles of money, but every little bit helps. This post is more about discussing the feasibility of such

Comments

[tmelange]

I think it's a great idea. Writing is a marketable skill, and I know I would pay for a commission, just like I pay for art commissions. The question for me would be the topics you'd be available to write.

I think $1 per 400 words to be a very low rate. I freelance write on general topics and I make $13 - $25 per 400 words. I think if you are writing original it is more valuable than fanfic, but I think even fanfic is more valuable than $1 per 400. I equate 400 words to an artist's sketch or doodle, like making chibis. I have paid art commissions like that from $10 - $25...

[syverce]

By my understanding freelance works differently from commission writing, and commission writing is very poorly covered on the internet. Those few authors I could find providing it who were, in my opinion, comparable, offered rates that broke down to about that. This is why I'm asking, tho', to get a sense of the value of the written word.

I may take you up on the freelance thing. I'll have to produce a worthwhile sample first--I'm pretty sure my weirdshit fiction won't cut it.

[tmelange]

Very true. I think it all comes down to what people will pay. I think many people won't harp on the specific price if they know it's for a good cause. People have started paying for writing commissions for charity, but I think there is as valid a window for writing commissions that support the writer's income as there are for art commissions. In other words, if I saw a writer or artist open up commissions as a way to bridge income requirements while looking for a new job, I would support them.

I can give you a sample, and you can re-write it, if you like. The only problem is all my samples are business-related. You could use one of your blogging posts on gaming, though. That's a viable topic.

[syverce]

I'll look through my stuff from college, see if I can find one of my "translations", I had a class where our weekly assignment was to take professional literature and translate so anyone could read it, there may be something there I can re-write.

I was part of a discussion about this with an artist I'm no longer friends with, why its viable to pay for fanart or other art commissions but no one commissions writing. There's a general sense of devaluing writing, as its more approachable--it requires very few special tools, and is viewed as requiring much less in way of specialized skill. We never came to a conclusion on the topic.

[tmelange]

What?! Really? I never viewed writing as an inferior talent to art. There's a big difference between the good and bad writers, though. Fandom tolerates bad writers better than it tolerates bad artists. I would say that the good writers are worth at least as much if not more than the good artists, for sure. Telling a story is so much harder, IMHO. Art is just a single scene in time.

[syverce]

She was arguing that writing was at least as valuable, but there's certainly this sense of devaluing writing, especially among fandom communities.