How to hire to write for my blog?

July 3, 2008 9:15 PM

I would like to have a few guest writers write some articles for my blog. How do I sort out the basic logistics of this?

I run a small blog about a relatively small but growing industry. I have been wanting to post some articles by guest writers that I do not have time to write myself. Now, someone has e-mailed me offering just this.

Have any Mefites done this before from either side? What are typical rates? Usual method of payment and arrangements? (Half now, half on completion? Everything on completion?) Copyright ownership? Anything else I should consider?

Finally, I would also like to pay someone to post short updates about industry news as it happens when I don't have the time to do it. How does the pay arrangement change in this case? Do I pay per post instead of per word?

posted by qvtqht to grab bag (5 comments total)

You'd like to have a (well read) blog , guest ghost writers. I'm guessing majority invisible.
posted by Mblue at 9:31 PM on July 3, 2008

If you post to the forum on Freelance Switch, you'll probably get some good advice. There are also articles on the site about pricing for different types of freelancing situations, including blogging.
posted by PinkButterfly at 9:45 PM on July 3, 2008

I've written for a relatively popular PSP-related blog and for me, the money always came after I had submitted the article. Unless the writer needs to spend on expenses directly related to the article or is writing one which will take him days/weeks to finish, I don't see the reason to pay half in advance. I was paid via Paypal since I live quite far geographically and there was no other option. Besides, it was the most convenient, even with Paypal taking a few dollars for itself.

For large feature-type articles, I was paid based on the number of words in my article. For short news-update articles, it was per post. I don't want to comment on how much I was paid. If you could mention what industry your blog is oriented towards, I'm sure you'll get a few suggestions/ideas.

The one thing you should get sorted first is about the ownership of the content which your writers are going to produce. Get everything written down on a signed contract if possible. Generally, you'll be paying a lot more if you take exclusive ownership of the content.

I'll add more as/when I remember more.
posted by cyanide at 9:50 PM on July 3, 2008

Depends on the situation. I had a very successful blog in my field, and just networking with others doing what I did we would write guest posts for each other... gratis. It helped us all.

I'd leave copyright to the writer, but wouldn't worry about pay (unless you're a very big blog and are making a significant amount of money.)
posted by Gideon at 10:45 PM on July 3, 2008

If you're planning to spend money, you can buy articles relatively inexpensively (most seem to be priced at less than 10 cents/word) at http://www.constant-content.com/ There's a bunch in their database plus you can submit requests.
posted by Jacqueline at 12:31 AM on July 5, 2008