How are Contributing Writers paid?
About.com will offer Contributing Writers in their first year a guaranteed minimum monthly payment of $500. After one year, the guaranteed minimum monthly payment will be $250. About.com also pays Contributing Writers by measuring pageview growth (month-over-month for Contributing Writers in their first year, and year-over-year every year after) with payment incentives for pageview growth. There is no cap on what you can earn—the guaranteed minimums are offered as a safety net.
Are there any minimum publishing requirements?
Contributing Writers commit to publishing at least 12 pieces of content every month. These articles will be a mix of short- and long-form content (our flexible tools facilitate publishing everything from long-form articles to glossary pages). After more than 13 years working with About.com Guides, we know that this baseline will help new Contributing Writers grow their subtopics (and their earnings) more quickly by establishing a strong foundation of content that will garner a lot of repeat visits.
The Legalese:
All Contributing Writers are independent contractors and shall not be subject to the direction, control, or supervision of About.com regarding time spent or procedures followed in performing services hereunder. However, About.com is the final decision maker in regard to the produced product and reserves the right to request modification and/or modify the product to ensure, among other things, that it complies with quality standards. All Contributing Writers are responsible for all tax liabilities emanating from their payments. Contributing Writers are not eligible for any benefits from About.com and waive any right to them.
Please note: compensation earned by other Contributing Writers is not a guarantee of any kind that any other Contributing Writer who meets the minimum expectations will earn that much, or any specific amount. About.com offers this information as a means of sharing with applicants the potential compensation that they may earn. About.com reserves the right to terminate a Contributing Writer's engagement and/or change the Contributing Writer compensation model at any time for any reason, notwithstanding any information contained in the engagement materials.
