Performance-Based Pay For Content Has Gone Mainstream — Which Is Probably Good For Authors

January 27th, 2012

 

This week Forbes magazine again touted its success with the business model it calls Entrepreneurial Journalism, without so much as a titter (or a twitter) from the media. Forbes’ journalism model, pioneered (then dropped, then readopted) by Nick Denton at Gawker Media, was very recently considered a controversial and even a heretical approach for journalists.  The value proposition, however, is deceptively simple and makes sense: Pay writers bonuses based on the audiences they can attract.

However, there are three common (and misguided) author objections to this model:

1. Risk – How can authors control the promotion and popularity of the host publisher?

2. Quality - When most of the value earned by the writer is based on performance, the writer is essentially making a bet with his content.

3. Stigma - Many writers simply find it distasteful to have to promote themselves or, shudder, write for search engines.

These authors may need to change their minds and start building up their Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and especially G+ circles, because authors are rapidly becoming the primary driver of content distribution.

Read more: MediaPost Article

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