Read on Twitter
a (slowly typed) thread of the pieces i wrote in 2020 and how much i was paid for each of them! https://twitter.com/hirishitalkies/status/1355471158221570050
this essay for Nat Geo Traveller India's Jan issue on travel, social media and the productivity trap; i was paid Rs 12 per word (but i know they've had to subsequently slash all their rates since the pandemic) http://natgeotraveller.in/a-travellers-break-from-social-media-where-does-it-lead/
it's been my longstanding dream to write about art, so this essay on Tara Kelton's show was such a joy for me to work on. FirstPost paid me a flat fee of Rs 8000 for it https://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/where-does-my-data-body-live-thoughts-on-the-online-trail-we-leave-behind-8055651.html
author interviews have become not so much my bread and butter but my...wine? idk but i just love reading and thinking about books, and Electric Literature pays a flat fee of $75 for interviews like this one with Rachel Vorona Cote https://electricliterature.com/stop-telling-women-to-tone-it-down/
also a flat fee of $75 for this super fun chat with Gretchen McCulloch about Because Internet, one of the most fun, smart books about internet culture i've read https://electricliterature.com/why-ok-is-the-most-terrifying-text-you-could-ever-receive/
Megha Majumdar's A Burning was on literally every list in 2020, and i was paid $75 to talk to her about it for Electric Literature! https://electricliterature.com/megha-majumdar/
reported a piece for Vogue India's website on the question that i kept returning to in my mind: how on earth were people having sex in the pandemic/lockdown? i received a flat fee of Rs 15,000 for this https://www.vogue.in/culture-and-living/content/sex-in-a-pandemic-how-indians-are-navigating-new-terrain
Porochista Khakpour's collection of essays on Iranian America was stellar and i spoke to her about it for a flat fee of $75 https://electricliterature.com/porochista-khakpours-brown-album-takes-on-race-and-identity-in-america/
Elisa Gabbert's essay collection on plagues, disasters and shifting selfhoods was terrifyingly relevant and also brilliant. i spoke to her about it for $75 https://electricliterature.com/elisa-gabbert-the-unreality-of-memory/
it's been my absolute DREAM to write for Hazlitt for years and years, so this interview i did with Charlotte McConaghy about wildness and climate vulnerability was extra special. i was paid $350 https://hazlitt.net/feature/theres-still-time-save-it-interview-charlotte-mcconaghy
i LOVED Jessica J Lee's family/nature memoir of Taiwan, and i was paid $75 to talk to her about it https://electricliterature.com/two-trees-make-a-forest-in-search-of-my-familys-past-among-taiwans-mountains-and-coasts-jessica-j-lee/
i wrote this one for free for The Alipore Post's weekly newsletter, and it was probably my favourite thing i wrote this year https://thisismynewsletter.substack.com/p/this-is-my-newsletter-19-richa-kaul
and last but definitely not least, A Girl is a Body of Water absolutely BLEW OPEN my ideas of what postcolonial writing can look like, and it was an honour to be paid $75 to talk to Jennifer Nansubuga about it https://electricliterature.com/jennifer-nansubuga-makumbi-novel-a-girl-is-a-body-of-water/
for context: i started doing this yearly in solidarity with @studyhallxyz, and i'm thrilled to see @fwiopps taking up a similar mantel in india. btw the ONLY Indian freelancer i've ever seen do this is @h_tejas, but i hope we can all be more open about rates w each other x
also: in my experience of doing this for three-ish years, i have NEVER not been re-hired by a publication for sharing my rates.
i honestly believe that if we don't talk about money, the same people will keep getting better rates, and those discrepancies will remain hidden
i honestly believe that if we don't talk about money, the same people will keep getting better rates, and those discrepancies will remain hidden
oh also just wanted to add that a platform that has been super helpful to me when pitching/negotiating with publications outside india has been @WhoPaysWriters!
