We care deeply about people being compensated fairly for their time and labor. If organizations and companies can afford to pay contributors for original content, they should. This page covers policies and processes related to payment, rates, billing and self-promotion.
Minimum Rate
We pay all contributors at least $100 for each original piece of content. This amount is what we can afford at the moment. If the business succeeds commercially, we will raise the minimum.
Rate Negotiation
If you want to negotiate a higher rate, let us know. Based on our current budget, we will see what we can accommodate. A higher rate will most likely mean we can’t accept submissions as frequently.
Contracts
We do not require contracts. If you want a contract, you are welcome to draft one or request that we draft one. We have a perfect record of paying people fully and in a timely manner.
When to Bill Us
You will receive payment after our team finishes editing your draft. During this process, we may request revisions. To secure payment, you will need to address our revisions. We will not pay contributors who are unwilling to consider any changes or discuss revisions with us in good faith.
How to Bill Us and Receive Payment
Once your content is fully approved and has moved beyond the text editing phases of our production workflow, email a PDF invoice to joseph@josephrauch.com. In the body of the email, include at least one of these payment options, if possible:
- PayPal
- Venmo
- Zelle
- Address for mailing a check, if you don’t have or aren’t comfortable with any of the above
You are also welcome to bill us with invoicing services like Wave Financial and FreshBooks. Eventually we will obtain a more robust system, perhaps Bill.com. Thank you for bearing with us.
Self-Promotion Limits for Paid Contributors
Revisiting our value of fairness, business relationships are all about attempting equal exchanges. If we pay you for content that is 100% focused on providing value to us and expressing yourself, we think that dynamic is an equal exchange. If you use our platform to promote yourself and your work, and you want us to pay you, you’re probably asking for too much.
With this reasoning in mind, paid contributors are not allowed to:
- Use their byline or the body of their articles to link to their: personal website, company or organization website, project website, product page, social media, etc.
- Tell readers to look up their work
- Ask for donations
If self-promotion is the main value you want to get out of our business relationship, that’s fine, too! Visit our partnerships page. We encourage contributors to tactfully promote themselves, in lieu of payment.
Paid Contributor Authors Can Still Promote Books That Are Available for Purchase on Amazon
Books available for purchase on Amazon are the exception to this guideline. Whenever someone buys a book on Amazon via one of our affiliate links, we make a little money. We encourage paid contributor authors to promote their books in a tactful manner. We’re happy to link to your book in your byline on articles, on your author page and in a small bio at the bottom of your pieces.
