Let's Talk About Tips

A few years ago, I remember having a conversation on Twitter with a girl who’d monetized her Snapchat. This was long before Onlyfans existed, and I honestly don’t think she was posted Onlyfans material. When I asked her about it, she told me that you can monetize anything. The only thing I had that was of value was my writing, but people always tell you to give that away for free.

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I recognize that it’s not all about money, but I’ve wanted to be a professional writer from the moment I held a pencil. So, how am I supposed to make a living with my writing? I hadn’t heard of medium yet, but this was around the time I joined Vocal. I had been using sites like Wattpad before, where I posted brief snippets of my writing to bring interest to the book I was working on. I didn’t make much on Vocal, but it was better than posting my work for free. I saw there was an option for readers to leave tips, but I didn’t think anyone would ever tip me, until the day someone did.

I knew most writers on the site were there to make money, not give it, so I was shocked to see that someone had liked my story enough to give me a tip. It may not have been much, but it was enough to motivate me throughout the day. I had a fan or at least someone who related to what I had written. I had never known how my writing affected someone until then. More tips came, and I appreciated each one because each one meant someone thought I was good enough and that I shouldn’t give up.

I started noticing that some of the articles I read encouraged people to tip them. I wasn’t sure what to think about this, since asking for money had always been treated as something negative. I’ve been told that I have chosen to be a starving artist and I should just be happy that someone was taking the time to look at the words I had put on a page.

While I was grateful for the views and reads, I earn money with my efforts. Even typing that now, I feel ashamed. Writers are often told that we should give our art away as if that art didn’t take any effort to make. We are questioned about the prices we sell our books for and often told that writing isn’t a ‘real’ job. I put my blood, sweat, and tears into everything I write, so why not ask for tips from the people who do think I’m worthy of being paid? Sure, I don’t expect anything, but it would be nice. Will I sound desperate, or be shamed for putting the statement under my writing? Would people stop reading my work because they thought I’d only written it to make money? I was a ball of anxiety as I wrote out a short statement to add to my stories.

I put the statement on my Goosebumps article. Unsurprisingly, no one tipped me. Why should they? I hadn’t given them anything other than nostalgia to read about. The stories I had received tips for were about my work and my relationships, things that people could relate to. Besides, most people on these sites are writers themselves, they might not be so willing to give a tip when they know we’re getting money for their views/reads. They also might not be financially able to tip since the topic of ‘how to get tips with your writing’ seems to get more traction than ‘why you should tip your favorite authors’.

I put the idea of tipping behind me until I came across an article on Medium with a link at the bottom to tip the author. I was originally going to leave a comment about what she had written, but I was so intrigued by the thought of someone asking for tips on medium that I asked her about that instead. She answered quickly, telling me that she had already made fifty dollars in tips from her story. Fifty dollars may not be much to most people, but it is more than I’ve ever made with my writing.

Should I take the plunge again and ask for tips? I work hard on the things I write and would like to get credit for it, but I don’t want to seem pushy and I don’t want anyone to think they have to tip me. While I’m still undecided about tipping, there are authors that deserve to be paid for their efforts, and I will never judge any author I see asking for tips.