The Value of Content

by The Awl

In 2013, Noah Davis wrote a story about what writers get paid to produce words for the internet. (Not much.) Earlier this year, he wanted to do a follow-up to see if things had changed after two solid years of venture capital trickling down into internet publishing. (A little more.) He also wanted more money than he was paid for the prior piece. (Good for him!) We came to an unusual, one-time agreement, given the nature of the piece: A base fee of two hundred dollars plus an additional dollar per thousand pageviews, and a public reveal of his final paycheck. So here we are.

Through December 1st, “If You Don’t Click on This Story, I Don’t Get Paid” received three hundred and fifty thousand pageviews (roughly ninety thousand uniques), meaning he’s getting a check for $550. If there’s a lesson here, maybe it’s something about charging your audience with the responsibility of your wellbeing? Idk.

Now that we are not going to pay him for any additional views after today, we encourage you more than ever to read his excellent and vital story about what some internet writers get paid in 2015.

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