HubPages: Writing for a Byline

The major drawback for doing any type of online writing is getting paid what you’re worth. The million dollar question is: Do you, as a writer, have any idea what you’re worth and how much you would charge for your work? Or will you just take what is offered to you?

After getting back to writing and not really holding any kind of a job since my retirement in 2002, I jumped at the chance at being paid for my writing. Was there such a thing as competition for doing some temporary online work? From my experience, since everyone writing for online sites are all experts, don’t expect to be part of the cream of the writing crop when it comes to online work.

Of course, I wanted to write again, and I was willing to do anything. My major problem was that I didn’t have recent proof that I had written anything.

Like the song, it wasn’t too hard for me to see myself begging for work. I was tempted.

As a writer, if you know anything about writing outside of your school or neighborhood newspaper, not everyone gets to see their name in print. But here’s what you can do. Start small with smaller or local publications and build a portfolio of your works of writing. Unless you are already an established writer or a celebrity, don’t expect to land a place in a popular, nationally known magazine which will pay you up to $3,000+ for a mere 1,500 words.

The current year Writer’s Market and the Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market are considered the Bibles of any freelance writer. Its contents are what most professional writers shoot for. In these annual reference books which you can purchase or find at your local library, you may find listings of most publications. The individual descriptions of each publication will notify the writer if they accept solicited or unsolicited work, the name of the editors in charge, and how much the publication pays for a manuscript. As a writer, you could send an SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope addressed to you) if you wanted guidelines for writing potential articles. The literary world is always changing, so as a writer, you must keep up with potential editors, agents and those linked with books, magazines and other publications.

On HubPages, you’ll notice that most writers represent themselves with pen names and are comfortable being addressed as that. I use my legal name for anything I write, and here are my reasons why you will never see me use a pen name:

Pure ego and the “Oh, what a rush” feeling.

You go through all the steps and finally get your work published. It has your name on it, and it is yours. When I first got my articles published in the local newspaper, people would approach me and compliment me. Friends and family would send their copies to me. My published clips date back to the 1970s. If I need them to show I was published, all I have to do is put them in my computer or store them on a stick. I can send them from there. Yes, by using your real name, people will address you by your real name, and they will also use your real name for contact purposes. They will even tell you whether they like or don’t like your writing.

Except for about 15 years of a failed marriage and a job which consumed me, most of my life, I have always used my legal name whenever I wrote anything.

I was 5 and in primary school when I published my first story in the elementary school newspaper. Some people feel strongly about using pen names. Since I started writing really early in life, I didn’t know what a pen name was. By the time I found out about pen names, I had already used my real name on major writing projects at work and on my own.

Whenever I put my name on my writing, I am responsible for my work and answer to anything I write.

I wouldn’t make it as a ghost writer or one who wrote filler. Any writing job, like any job I take on, is tied into my ego, and I am proud of my work. I don’t like writing anonymously, nor do I like writing useless fluff written anonymously. I’ve tried all that before, and I find it useless and not worth my time. Yes, newspapers and magazines make it to the trash, but if the article or the story has my name on it, that’s something for me to be proud of.

If I want to be taken seriously as a professional writer, my name already is on my work. I can make copies of my clips and submit them to a potential editor to show I had been published.

If you study the Writer’s Market, what most editors ask from unknown writers are two clips of their writing. That’s fair enough, isn’t it? If you are not a “name” writer who is well-known in literary circles, those two clips of your best samples of your writing is your leverage and your selling points. You are introducing yourself to an editor who doesn’t know you and your work.

So think about it. If you want the writing assignment, then you need to follow the editors’ guidelines. You play the game and submit two or three samples of your writing. You have two clips you have published on HubPages, and you feel these clips shows your writing in the best light. Can you send those?

Unfortunately, if I wrote these clips under the pen name, WhoopWhoopWhoop, would I be taken seriously? WhoopWhoopWhoop is fun for an email address or as a writer who writes the light stuff, but come on, now. Would you want to read something by WhoopWhoopWhoop when it came to subjects you’d read in newspapers, magazines or research papers? Many novelists have pen names, but they at least have first and last names for their work. Even romance writers sport first and last names.

Do you see what I’m trying to say? There is nothing wrong with having a pen name. If you don’t plan to take your writing further than HubPages and are comfortable submitting your work and publishing it here, don’t change a thing. I have to admit some names or pen names are clever, but some are just too cutesy. But if you plan on submitting your writing to professional publications outside of HubPages, think about changing your name to either a first and last name people can remember or identify. If you are now comfortable and confident enough using your legal name, you can do that, too.

When I went after the chance for online work that paid, the editor I worked with did not question my legal name. But if I had said, “Here are my two HubPages writing clips under my pen name, WhoopWhoopWhoop.”

I think she would have problems believing me. Did I really write those articles, or did I just pull them out of some online site because they were readily available? How would I quickly identify WhoopWhoopWhoop as me?

Sure, I could throw in some of my HubPages statistics, but what would a Hubscore, the money earned, pages view, etc. mean to a magazine editor that I’m trying to sell my writing to?

Nothing.

In the world of online writing, publishing your work is as easy as a keystroke. What you write and offer needs to stand out. But how important is it for you and your writing to stand out? Your name or your pen name is only the beginning of your writer’s platform. This is how you represent yourself and introduce yourself to your readers, so if you’re looking for a name to stick and be taken seriously in profession print or in media for the masses, choose a name to be taken seriously.

A Note from Arlene: As a freelance writer who has also written for newspapers and magazines, I've got some tips for you on how to overcome Writer's Block and getting into the groove of writing. For HubPages, I've written other Hubs on Hubs which may help you with the process of writing. Check them out and see what I'm talking about!