Being a freelance critic for $25

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Freelance writers put up with a lot: Publishers Weekly is paying even less now for the brief reviews of forthcoming books that are a hallmark of every issue. The rate of $50 per review is dropping to $25. That’s what Galley Cat reported this week, and that’s what one of our contributors, very disgruntled about it, told me as well.

‘Please know that we value the work you do for us,’ the announcement said, ‘and we sincerely hope you will continue to review for PW. Your astute reading and writing are what makes our magazine so valuable in the industry and we regret this necessary action. All of us here are also experiencing change but we expect that we will continue to be the gold standard in book reviewing.’

This week PW’s editor in chief, Sara Nelson, responded at Critical Mass, the blog of the National Book Critics Circle board of directors, and it’s worthwhile to go there and read her comment and those who respond to it. I can’t help but see both sides: In difficult times, no area of a budget is off limits. On the other hand, $25? There is a potential bright side in all of this, as pointed out by our frustrated contributor. She said that, for really fast readers, $50 was ‘a bit of pocket change to depend on.... I’m guessing this will ditch all the pros from PW’s pages.’ If that happens, then maybe they should look us up. We’re easy to find.

Nick Owchar