Like other creators, writers are experiencing a significant decline in earnings. The emergence of artificial intelligence will only make things worse. Genuine creativity has been commoditized. Youtube and Spotify are gold mines for the platforms, while those crafting the product are tossed crumbs. Nearly half of TV writers are now paid the minimum rate. Substack and Medium are only reliable sources of income for the lucky few and the already famous.
It won’t be easy, but bitcoin is in its wide open infancy, and writers don’t really have many options anyway. Nostr and Stacker News already provide more opportunities for authors to receive value for their efforts than the fiat world, and things are just getting started. In the current environment, writing contests are held by so called prestigious publications whose “award” is more than paid for by the submission fees. For most, you pay to be rejected.
If you’re an established writer, your compensation for articles and copy is embarrassingly low, and the field is only getting more competitive.
That’s why @Scoresby, @TotallyHumanWriter and I have joined to create The Stacker News Fiction Month. It only costs 60 sats to enter, and we are offering 200,000 sats in prizes for the best work.
If participation is high and the proof of work is evident, this will be the first of many contests featuring many genres.
Siggy,
You have laid down the challenging climate for writers today, indeed it is hard to get paying customers and AI is not helping.
Let me offer some good news beyond the great initiative you shared, the Stacker News Fiction initiative.
For over a year I have been working on a piece of software that should be released next month, it is called Satoshi Notes, it will allow writers to share any article, even book length and sell it for Bitcoin with absolute privacy, and no censorship.
The software itself consists of two parts a desktop app that is completely free, and a server that provides the sharing of your writing on the web, and also lets you sell it for Bitcoin.
I plan to announce it here when it ships, but I wanted to share some screenshots from our website that will be launched shortly.
Wow! I look forward to checking out your site.
Stacker News will be the first place I announce it!
Keep us informed. This looks promising!
Not because there's anything broken in those industries, it's just like with music (#796401): supply/ability to create is MUUUCH bigger and wider than demand to consume -- so price gotta drop to zero-ish
Perhaps writers should start paying to get their content in front of people.
Looking at the professional writers online (using writer broadly here, not only referring to journalists and authors of books), it seems that the compensation from their writing is not as valuable as the audience they build.
I'd argue that it isn't just supply and demand principles (but that does play into it).
Publishing accross all arts is free but not open. The rules of the game are set by big tech - Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon. These companies don't give a fuck about equitable distribution; they only care about profit, and driving more demand.
Their algorithms lead to a huge concentration of sales from the top 1% of creators.
Basically, fiat incentives make writers and other chase the wrong goals.
Nostr, SN, Lightning, and V4V fixes this.
No, I don't think so. It means you can monetize you V4V a little, but because of the S&D effects, the equilibrium value remains incredibly low so you won't earn much.
The era of decent compensation for art or writing or music is over; technologically outcompeted, like so much else
I agree V4V (tipping) does not provide enough to compensate genuine art. It acts as an extra bonus. Still Lightning makes global micropayments possible, which is a leap forward.
I also seen something very cool on Nostr which could change things (secret project). I've read the thesis on it, and considered it a lot.
Of course it will not be an overnight change, and parallel systems will exist (much like btc and fiat)
I guess you're right. Sad but true. I always think of the musicians I love whenever I see what they get paid by Spotify.
All 7 cents of their royalty payments!!
I've made more from posting stories on SN than I ever made from trying to publish them on traditional platforms...
but that might just mean you all are a captive audience and don't get enough stories put in front of you.
(or that I'm bad at writing)
(or that I'm worse at marketing)
fwiw, ive really enjoyed your stories, but who am i to judge "bad" writing.
this, by Mike Munger, always resonated with me
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/why-do-basketball-players-make-more-than-teachers/
great read, i think he sort of "buried the lede"
there's probably a lot to be said here but in general I think the comparison you are making (as in #1058011) is that writers, like basketball players, in general operate "at a loss."
it makes me wonder if this has always been the case or are present day, fiat payment schemes/business models to blame.
Hm... Neither. I'm thinking it's a tech constraints. Once you started competing with the world, rather than your little isolated village, it became a Pareto distribution (or worse...), everyone else making nada
I actually don't think this is a great comparison. Both basketball and education are heavily distorted. Basketball by the monopoly of the association and teaching by public sector funding and unions.
I'd argue you can't really compare marginal anythings in either basketball OR teaching
Niiiiiice! Yeah, agree with that... fiat/distorted markets make it hard for us to disentangle market price info from what's just noise
Wow! Excellent quote. I hope the other economists chime in on this.
Isn’t it easier for a writer to do a job he hates so he can afford to write the words he loves?
I would say so.
I write on nostr only.
Where do we pay the 60 sats to enter?
All you need to do is post your fiction. The 60 sats is just the post fee
ive always found this to be the case.
I wonder if a @LayerZeroPropaganda poster might help with promoting your contest?
Marketing is not really my thing, but I'll run it by the other guys. It could be a good idea.
I’ve always wanted to write but life happened but now I decided to return to it. I don’t have any social media but decided to start using SN to start dipping my toe into writing by responding to posts with my 2 sats. I haven’t written anything other than a response but Im working on a few ideas. I’m also thinking about entering some of the writing contests.
Great! I'm looking forward to reading your work.
I’m gonna enter!
I don’t ask for much. The truth will do just fine.
Great!
Why should writers choose Bitcoin?
The answer to this (I think) is very simple...because Bitcoin is like royalties/copzroght.
But...as always...this is JUST my humble opinion!
A fantastic proactive initiative. I’m looking forward to reading and submitting a few pieces.
I agree fewer writing jobs. The technology though if used most naturally will increase efficiency resulting in a higher quality of average professional writer. The human written writing will come from the very best writers there are. And the rest will be individualized and sovereign self-driven -- AI replacing writers wherever the end user has the tool available to write themselves whatever they want to read. That is not to deny lamentable adaptations necessary to prepare for the changes.
The greatest benefit though is realignment toward undistorted incentive (again, assuming used naturally). Appreciation of human created writing will come from a place of distinguishing it from what cannot be done without the human present who did such a thing.
I support the direction wholeheartedly. I post cartoons here for the same reason. Sloooowly learning how to create cartoons with AI and move to the world where zaps replace hearts in a world of V4V.
Good
I totally agree, not only writers, all people who believe content, value, art or anything else should embrace Bitcoin. Eliminate the intermediary and really take advantage of the support they can get through their work.
Why not have a territory called SN stories with a 60 sat upload