Dear Angela:

You asked to hear from DS writers and we responded. Some of us are not happy, as your careful sorting of responses highlighted. Communication between writers and content editors is often abysmal. Formats constrain creativity. The pay per article isn’t always what we wish it would be. We often disagree with upper management about new policies. However, what you did not include, because you are so certain that we are oppressed, is the fact that many of us make our living by what we write for DS.

I don’t make anywhere near the top income, and often only submit one to three articles per day. I have never had the 30-article week that I aspire to have. However, I pay my bills, buy my groceries and support myself and my partner without any government assistance. Demand Studios pays us twice a week, $15 to $20 per article. And yes, I have gotten several of those elusive $20 titles. I can write one to three articles an hour, which means my work day can be as short as an hour and a half or as long as I choose. What does that mean? I can do what I please with the rest of my time.

I have often recommended DS to people I know are struggling to make ends meet, and they have been very happy to find a second income stream to round out their incomes. Hungry children don’t care if you are not as highly paid as a New York Times beat reporter. I don’t get my hair done or drive a car, but I enjoy every moment of the in-person research I do for my outdoor and construction articles. Because of DS, I am currently living in a treehouse. Me, acrophobic, overweight, asthmatic, arthritic me, climbing 22 feet in the air several times a day so that I can write about using a boxwood stove, building treehouses, self-reliant living and other topics that I used to just read about.

Yes, I get disgusted, frustrated, angry, tired and downright mean-spirited when I don’t think my concerns are being answered, but I’ll take writing for DS over working for a salary any day. The old allegory about the coyote and the dog is the best explanation: After the dog explains that his owner provides all his needs in exchange for wearing a collar and chain, The coyote tells the dog, “I’m cold, hungry and tired, but I’m free.”

I can take a day off any time I want. I don’t have to write unless I feel like it. I work from a coffee shop, where I yak with all the patrons in between swilling mochas and munching on homemade hot fudge brownies. Sometimes I get so caught up in what I’m doing, I forget to eat at all. I’ve firmed up, fought old fears and reshaped my life into something that is more meaningful than I ever thought was possible.

You do your readers an incredible disservice when you write such a clearly biased article. I am not on DS’s payroll other than as a freelance writer. I am not paid to say good things about the company. It has flaws, but they are not the ones you highlighted. No one holds a gun to my head or chains me to a desk to write. I’ve written DS articles from a recreation center swimming pool, a cabin in Beallsville, Ohio and from the Arizona State University campus library.

Jane M. Smith, DS freelance writer, and damned proud of it!