The Hypocrisy of Elle Magazine

About a year ago, when I was first starting out as a freelancer, Elle Magazine needed an assistant “advice vixen” for their Ask EJean column online. The job amounted to checking in on the EJean advice forums a few times a day, giving twee responses to dull life/fashion/relationship questions, and getting paid $3000 for it.

Sounded good to me!

Seriously? Giving accessory and blowjob advice? And getting paid three large evey month for it? Sweet!

No, I didn’t get it. There’s was tons of great competition for it.

Elle online apparently had another job opening recently. This more recent gig was for a homeless blogger to write about life on the street. It would be one post a day (approximately an hour of writing time) and for this she would be paid…

$150 a month

From Read, Write, Web:

For a huge media brand that traffics in the culture of the wealthy and beautiful to win “compassion points” so cheaply seems ethically questionable. Ad sales for any pages Karp’s writing appears on would likely be very profitable. She’s put in front of the New York media circus as a poor unfortunate, in exchange for a famous magazine buying her breakfast each morning. Depending on her local laws, that rate of pay may not even be legal. The AP reports that Karp is being paid $150 per month and Karp links to the story without refutation of that key detail.

Brianna Karp could make more money working for a content mill than she will working for Elle. Admittedly, it’s a great launch pad, but as someone who was also homeless when I began my freelance writing business, even I know she’s being ripped off.

When I first began last year, I was charging about $12 for a blog post. I now charge no less than $20. A content mill will pay about $6. Elle is paying about $7, but the work is limited to one a day.

I have sent Brianna a copy of Ali Hale’s Staff Blogging Course. It’s a valuable resource for how to look for blogging gigs, and what to charge for them. Ms. Karp is being underpaid, and she’s letting it happen. I hope she learns to charge what she’s worth.