Ask HN: What payout makes writing a tutorial worth your while?

2 points by tuttyboy 2 years ago | 2 comments

I recently started a technical content service that provides tutorials to tech startups. The tutorials show developers how to build solutions with a startup's APIs and supporting technology. They are around 2,000 words. This word count includes all the code.

I'm trying to find the sweet spot to pay seasoned developers who have experience writing how-to content in concise English. To build an app, create a repo for your code, and deliver a tutorial that's publish-ready, what payout would make it worth your while?

$1000? $1250? $1500? $2000? More?

Assume you are writing for a legitimate startup with a reliable platform (no major bugs) and good docs.

whatamidoingyo 2 years ago |

I think $50-100/hr. would be a decent rate for writing such content, honestly. An article of 2000 words may take 8+ hours (could be less, could be more).

Are you looking for writers? Feel free to email: matt (at) javascripttoday.com. :)

tuttyboy 2 years ago | |

Thanks, Matt. The first tutorial for a platform probably takes between 10-20 hours. For more tutorials about using the same platform, probably 10+ hours to build a simple sample app and walk others through the build. For this reason, I thought about giving writers more for the first tutorial.

Anyways, I started with $500 as a payout and was unable to attract the attention of developers/writers who I liked. I had to hire overseas. Which is fine but the quality just is not what I'm looking for. For example, for the latest tutorial I sent to a customer, I spent 5 hours editing it.

Moving forwarding, I'll increase the payout to $1,000 per tutorial. I'll check out your website and reach out if and when it makes sense, especially if the tutorial requires some JS ;)