The WMF Archives: How to Earn Well Writing Reported Articles

Thursday, April 8, 2010

How to Earn Well Writing Reported Articles

12:08 PM

One of the comments I get a lot from writers who started at content sites is that they can't imagine how they could write fully reported stories and still earn well. They take so much time! Finding sources, setting up interview times, talking to live humans. How can it possibly pencil out?

Well, I'm here to testify that when done right, reported articles are a far more lucrative way to write. Here are some tips on how professional writers earn well writing reported stories.

1. Keep your interviews short. Unless you're doing a 3,000-word profile of somebody or something similar, I try not to spend more than 15-20 minutes talking to any particular source. This not only keeps your hourly rate for the story up, but keeps the source from entertaining delusions that they will be the whole article. Respect sources' time and yours, have your questions ready ahead of time, and keep it brief.

2. Think before you drive. Before you get in the car, adding hours to your reporting time, ask yourself whether this needs to be an in-person interview, or if it would do just as well as a phoner. Many roundup stories don't need in-person work. If you do need to travel for a story because you really need to see things and people to write it properly, take a single day and line up all the interviews the story needs, so you go straight from one to another. That's my M.O. with stories that need field work.

3. Double-down on your sources. While you're talking to sources, think about other stories you're writing for other outlets, and whether you could use them for those pieces, too. Also pick their brains for additional stories you could pitch elsewhere. Recycling your experts really saves time, and it's legit as long as it's different topics for different markets.

Example: Recently, I interviewed the head of a niche recruiting company for a career story on a major jobs portal. I learned her company had gotten certified as a Beneficial or "B" Corp, which I thought was interesting so I sold that idea to a corporate business-information Web site. She was a woman business owner, so I also got her into a story for the online site of a national magazine about women who owned her business type. Total pay: more than $1,400. Not bad for a half-hour of interview time with her, plus a few other short interviews thrown into the roundups.

4. Find sources fast. Learn how to use HARO, Profnet and other source-finding tools. Find expert authors fast on Amazon books. Become a Google pro. Tweet or tell your LinkedIn crowd about your sourcing needs. You have to find exactly who you need, pronto. If you have to interview three people to find one good expert, you can't make this pay.

5. Resell, resell, resell. Once you've done a topic, think about noncompeting markets you could rewrite it for with a slightly different angle and reuse your experts. A classic one: once you've learned about a business, ask your source where they went to college, and sell a profile about them to their college alumni magazine. If it's a daily paper piece, see if it could be resold to dailies in other markets. Crack that Writer's Market and find more places that could use your idea.

6. Build relationships. Don't be a news zombie, sucking the information out of a source's head and leaving them a dry husk by the roadside. If you think a source is articulate and knowledgeable in their field, make friends! Often, if you're friendly, respectful and don't waste sources' time, you can come back to the same sources over and over for various stories -- sometimes even for the same outlet. Just ask your publication if it's OK if you use someone you've cited for them previously.

You don't want to overuse this -- keep finding new sources, too. But when you get stories with rush deadlines, it's great to have built a rolodex of sources you know will return your calls.

If you need tips on how to be a crack interviewer, there's more here on that topic.

Photo via Flickr user Piratenpartei Deutschland

Labels: article writing, Carol Tice, reselling

7 comments:

Deb Lamb said...: Wow Carol...$1,400?!? That is the kind of money I need to be making. You make it sound SO easy and I know it is not that easy...lol.

I love your tips and guidance, now I need to set a plan in action and tackle this sort of job.

I appreciate all your advice and suggestions! Thank you.

Deb :); April 8, 2010 1:58 PM
Shannon Huffman Polson said...: Another great way to find sources is HARO (www.helpareporterout.com).

Thank you for the great ideas and encouragement!

Shannon; April 8, 2010 2:43 PM
Liza said...: Thak you for the excellent suggestions.; April 8, 2010 3:25 PM
Carol Tice said...: Shannon -- I listed HARO above! Definitely a place to know for finding sources FAST. Peter Shankman is also an inspiration on the site-monetizing front. He sends 3 emails a day of reporters' source needs, allows one ad on the email, and makes like $1M a year!! He's my idol.

Deb -- $1,400 isn't so much...I've made more than that from a single article, too. I just put that in because I feel like a lot of new writers now don't understand what professional pay rates are...they think $50 is a great rate for an article, because it's a step up for them! But it's still insanely low. Set your online Writer's Market for $$$$, the highest pay level, and see all the publications that pay it, and start pitching!; April 8, 2010 10:56 PM
Anne said...: Well put Carol. I use the same process. I just heard about HARO yesterday and am seeing it again today. A great resource I will definitely tap into in the future! I believe that in a content site, if you want to attract more readers (which translates to more money) then a well-researched article with expert sources will garner more page views.

Thanks!
Anne; April 9, 2010 1:59 AM
Alyssa Ast said...: Great information Carol!; April 9, 2010 8:30 AM
Carol Tice said...: Anne -- Well...I don't know that I'd advocate doing reported stories to post on content sites, because the pay is generally garbage, and you have to drive a LOT of traffic to get paid decently. Why not just go out and get a $300-$800 or bigger article assignment for a publication, and be guaranteed the revenue, I say...; April 9, 2010 1:04 PM