Quote:
Originally Posted by twobob
That more or less sums it up. There just won't be many of them and as time goes on the numerical pressure of the global population will make it look a lot smaller. This is the way of things.
|
Even that is hard to predict: As writers and writing outlets diversify to encompass more specialty markets not profitable in the past, we could see a veritable "glut" of writing experts on everything from 20th century fashions to Star Wars comic books. Most likely, the salaries for most of them will be minimal, prompting those writers to work at other jobs... or maybe to write for multiple outlets at the same time to make ends meet.
Or maybe some other form of advertising will be constructed around these writers and their online work, allowing ads to pay them (more like the television model).
In terms of entertainment writers (like me), I do think a way to protect content and provide equitable payment is a possibility; but the web has so much baggage at the moment that developing that model, even if we knew what it was, would take time. I expect it to happen within my lifetime (assuming there isn't a Metrobus grille out there with my name on it), but whether I'll still be writing at that point is anyone's guess. In fact, I may stop writing until it happens, then pick it back up.