The WMF Archives

by Kat Foust

The following interview was conducted with Michelle Devon (Michy). Some of you may know her from her writing contests or her publishing works.

WM: Ms. Devon, thank you so much for agreeing to do the interview for WM Freelance Connection. I know your time is valuable, so I'm going to get started.

What is your profession?

Michelle Devon: I am a professional freelance editor and writer, author, poet… I also call myself a professional dreamer, mostly because I am living my dream, doing my dream job. I love every minute of my ‘work’, because it doesn’t feel like work to me!


WM: How long have you been in this profession?

MD: I’ve been freelancing part time for about 14 years, but started full-time freelancing about seven years ago.

WM: How did you begin your career?

MD: Originally, I started offering some administrative writing and bookkeeping services to some people I knew who had small businesses, and with word of mouth, those services grew. Then, when the internet really started being more commercial, I moved to an online presence. A friend of mine suggested a freelance bidding site called Elance to me. I signed up, filled out the information, and then placed a few bids. Within days, I had several ‘jobs’ I had bid on come through and I made over $10,000 on Elance my first year with them. Mid-year, I added Guru.com, another freelance bidding site, to my work list and between the two sites, I stayed quite busy.

Eventually, I had a website designed for me and started working with clients directly. Word of mouth really is the best advertising and marketing there is. Most of my clients came from people who had worked with or talked to other people who had worked with me on projects. In between all that, I was submitting, querying and writing for print and online publications. Around 2006, I discovered some content sites, like Associated Content, Helium, and Suite101 and started writing online for those sites. Mostly, I used them as places to put articles I couldn’t sell to higher paying or more prestigious print publications. I also started contract/royalty editing for some small and indie publishers. Things just continued to grow from there.

WM: You're very well informed about various websites for writers. I'm sure you've researched and worked with a lot of content mills as well as other types of publishing formats. What is your opinion of the content mills?

MD: Well, perhaps ‘content mills’ is a little harsh, but these websites that are primarily focused on churning out large volumes of content in order to attract online advertising revenue are a relatively new advent in the publishing industry. There are many die-hard old time freelancer writers who will tell you the content mills are the bane of the publishing industry. I agree and disagree. The surface of the publishing world is changing. Content is changing from print to digital, from paper to electronic. I think these content websites are, for right now, a good way for writers to make a little residual income, extra income for selling things they might not have sold any other way, and for some rare writers, it might just help launch a writing career they wouldn’t have had otherwise, because these sites give people some confidence and a little feedback to help keep them moving forward. I don’t think anyone should write exclusively for online content sites—especially any one site—because they are here today and can easily be gone tomorrow. I’ve seen writers banned from sites with no warning, losing all their income, sites go down and not come back up, and sites change policy mid stream and cutting income for writers. As long as writers realize these sites aren’t guaranteed and they could disappear at any moment, then they are definitely one way to earn a little money on the side for little additional work.

WM: Do you yourself hold a position with any content mills?

MD: No. I’ve never worked for one of the content sites as an employee. I have done some volunteer-type work with some of the sites to help the writers on the sites, but I’ve never held a position with any of the user-generated content sites other than a member or writer position.

WM: What do you see as the rewards of this position?

MD: I enjoy writing for content sites, sometimes, since I can relax and write more of what I want to write, instead of what an editor or publication might want. It gives me some freedom and lets me get paid a little for it too. Also, I like the residual income aspect of it.

WM: There has been talk of phasing out content mills. Do you think this is something we will see in the near future?

MD: Not sure who would be talking about phasing them out, since they are very popular right now. They do have a reputation for poorer quality writing, because of the open anyone-can-submit- format, but I figure as long as there is pay-per-click and pay-per-impression advertising and as long as search engines use content to rank websites on the internet to get people to click on and view those ads, there will always be some form of an online content mill. The only way to change that is to change the advertising backbone of the internet, and I just don’t see that’s going to happen soon.

WM: If you were to mentor a new writer, would you have them start at a content mill and if so, why or why not?

MD: I highly recommend writers look for high-paying professional bylines, preferably in national publications—whether that be print or online—so I don’t recommend building an entire career on writing for content sites. I also don’t recommend using user-generated content sites as a means to get your feet wet with freelance writing. The reason for this is simple: the type of writing required to be successful as a content writer on the internet is very, very different from the type of writing required to be successful as a print writer, feature writer, columnist or reporter. Online content writing that pays per page view or per ad revenue share requires a writer who can write short, concise, key worded and search engine optimized content that will not work for print venues; likewise, print style writing is hard to monetize and be found on the internet. I advocate writers learn how to write well for print first, where they can make the most money. After that, learning how to tweak the print writing style for SEO can help a writer make additional money and residual income off things that won’t sell to a print publication.

WM: You have a firm grasp of how content mills work. Can you please explain the premise behind them so that writers who have never heard of them can understand how they work?

MD: Content mills, or rather, user-generated content websites, generally pay a writer either a small amount upfront for their content, or a small amount upfront and then a residual amount that is based on page views or on ad revenue earned by the site. Some content mills also sell content to other websites who need content on their site in order to draw clients, customers, clicks, traffic, etc. The writer might or might not receive additional compensation. The writing that is needed for this type of work is usually SEO-friendly writing, that is, writing that has keywords and LSI so that the content can get indexed in the major search engines and drive traffic to the site where the content is posted. The way to make money for the writer on a content mill type website is to churn out massive amounts of content in a short period of time. If residuals are paid, the website either pays a small percentage of the ad revenue earned for the content or pays the user a small fee per page view. For example, some website will pay .015 cents per page view; that’s less than a penny per view. Common page view revenues for online content sites are between $1-4 per 1000 page views, on average. This can add up to a hefty sum once a large library of content has been created, or when a surge in traffic occurs due to being promoted or discovered virally and organically on the web. Otherwise, the pennies trickle in and it takes a long time to even reach the payout levels most content mills set as the minimum payout threshold (as low as $1.50 on a site like Associated Content and as ridiculously high on sites like Mahalo at $150).

WM: You have an excellent reputation as one who encourages writers in all phases of the field. What advice do you have for those who strive to be professional writers?

MD: I love helping writers realize the potential that is found in freelance writing. For some, writing online and replacing a minimum wage salary while sitting at home with their kids, being able to be there when their kids get home from school or to actually home school their children, while still contributing to the family, well, that’s just amazing! For others, their potential can literally bring them upper five and six figure incomes by submitting articles, content, and even fiction works to high-paying publications. Freelancing isn’t for everyone, but for those who can stay focused, keep productive, and be consistent, making real money working from home can make a big difference in their life and the quality of it. Unlike some, I don’t condemn those who choose to write for content sites, as long as they are making an informed choice. There are people out there who will pay $25 on the low end and upwards of $2-4 thousand on the upper end, for ONE article. When money like that is to be had, some will wonder why anyone would want to write for a content site and sell an article for $3-5 bucks. I highly recommend everyone strive to earn just as much as you can by always submitting to the highest paying market for the articles you’re going to write.

But I know how hard making some of those higher paying gigs can be, and how submitting to them isn’t guaranteed. When someone needs to make ends meet, the surety of getting that steady payment every day is sometimes better than the gamble of the higher-paying jobs that might or might not pan out. My advice, though, to all writers, no matter their income level, education or experience, is this: every week, even if it’s just one submission, find a market that you feel is out of your comfort zone and submit to it. It’s just one market per week. If it doesn’t sell where you submit it, you can always put it on a content site and make some money on it, but at least you tried!

Think of it this way, if you sell one article to a higher market and make $100, and you usually only make $5 at a content mill, you are 10 times ahead now! That’s a whole day or two days worth of churning out content for a mill, thus giving you more time to write to and submit to more larger markets.

WM: Is there anything else you would like to add?

MD: One thing I do want to add is this: remember that even the very best freelancers only sell about 60% of what they write and submit, and they are the best, experienced writers. If you are just starting, you can expect your rejection rate to be higher than that. I don’t say this to be discouraging; quite the opposite. You see, if even the best are not selling all that they write, if you get a rejection, it doesn’t mean you’re not a good writer! It just means the market is competitive. If you take the time to submit weekly or even daily to the larger markets, use the things you don’t sell for the online content sites, you can start building a pile of tear sheets and a portfolio of published credits that will constantly help your sales percentages increase. Content mills aren’t all bad if you keep them in perspective and don’t let them prevent you from breaking out and achieving even greater things with your writing.

Keep writing! Thanks for the interview. Excellent, thought-provoking questions about content sites. For writers looking for more information about freelancing or fiction writing for pay, stop by the writing forum and network with other writers from all walks of life in various stages of their careers too. http://accentuatewriters.com/. See ya there!

Interview with Michelle Devon