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Topic: is it ever appropriate to demand payment for work
| Author | Message |
| mrpelican56 | Posted – 8/17/2007 1:27:23 AM | show profile Sorry for overusing these boards, but I have never really scored very big on money through my journalism work. Most places say they won't pay for me, and this magainze that I know pays freelancers at least sometimes, is unwilling to pay me for an article I pitched them. Is it worth doing? This is a response to a pitch I had with them and I think it's my first successful pitch to this weekly newspaper of a small city. I was thinking of demanding at least some small fee like 25 dollars. "You've hit upon a story we've been trying to write up for a few months now, so we're going to let you take a crack at it if you're interested. If you are willing. Please go ahead and write the article. A few terms and conditions just to be clear: There is no guarantee that we will publish the article. Should we decide to use it, there will likely be editing performed by myself or another editor here. We also cannot pay you for this article so if you do choose to write it, you will not be receiving any form of payment from us. If you're still interested, please write up the article and send to me at this e-mail address when it's done. We'll review it and proceed from there." Good luck with the story, Mike" |
| writesonwater | Posted – 8/17/2007 2:29:39 AM | show profile I'm guessing: Mike perceives you are desperate and inexperienced. He expects he will have to edit your stuff, perhaps a lot, and he may be concerned that you're inexperienced enough not to understand that you may need to be edited, perhaps a lot. He may think you have no other outlet for your idea. He may think you have to pay your dues, so you will write for free (he thinks of it as a sort of internship) and learn from the process of being edited. Only you can say if Mike is right. I will tell you there are those who think Mike is a rank opportunist who is taking advantage of free labor. I don't know if you've done any good journalism and if you have learned at the feet of a great editor, or if all your stuff was left alone and full of editorialization. If you want to build a relationship with this editor and prove your merits, I'd do this one job. Just this one. Knock his socks off, respond fabulously to being edited and learn everything offered. If all that happens, next time ask for money. |
| mrpelican56 | Posted – 8/17/2007 12:30:15 PM | show profile thank you i was thinking of saying, "I will do this story but i will have to ask a 20 dollar fee because Washington City paper is also considering" |
| bergdorfblonde | Posted – 8/17/2007 1:53:18 PM | show profile | email poster You are approaching it the wrong way If you act like you deserve nothing for your work, people perceive it as worthless. I wouldn't work for free ever. Ask a cleaning lady to clean your toilet free of charge, or that maybe if you like the way she does it you might give her $25. She would laugh in your face. If bricklayers and people who make lattes at Starbucks work for money, writers should certainly get paid as well. Don't pitch your work like it is worthless. You writing, education and experience all have value. If you are good, your work has very high value. The next pitch you do, don't do it with the attitude that your work has no value. Your work is valuable and you need to get that to come across to your clients. |
| writesonwater | Posted – 8/17/2007 2:39:46 PM | show profile Of course Blonde is right and everyone needs to get to that point, the sooner the better. And your approach of a courteous but firm negotiation is a good idea. Let's see -- putting myself back in time 20 years and thinking out loud -- maybe I'd try: "We haven't worked together yet, but I think you'll find that my work is well-done and meets your need for strong articles. How about if I do the piece on spec and if you like it and want to use it, you buy it for $20? I know that may be less than you pay your other freelancers, but I'm willing to take a chance because I know you're going to like my work." To me, the keys to negotiating are to appear to be friendly and open -- act like you're assuming you both want the same thing, good articles for his paper -- and that you have his needs in mind. Once he sees you can do a piece well, you can find out what he pays other freelancers doing similar work and agree to that. But courtesy and professionalism must rein at every step of the negotiation process. Don't get huffy if he tries to lowball you -- just keep an even keel, which could convince him you have the professionalism to be good to work with. Make no mistake -- if you can do this well, eventually you will want to work for a bigger publication and for decent money, not chicken feed. This is a clip and a start. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 8/18/2007 9:26:01 PM | show profile Well, it sounds like Mike is being clear. If you write the article, he'll be happy to look at it, and if they decide to use it, he won't pay you. First, you have a decision to make. Are you willing to spend your time writing this article on the hope it will get published because you want the clip, even if you aren't paid. That's a decision that no one else can make for you. You are free to give him a counter offer: I'll do it for $25. But then you have to decide what you are going to do if he says no. The fact that he pays other writers may not be relevant. Some small weeklys pay for certain types of pieces and not for others. It may be that your piece is the type of thing he would like if he can get for free, but not if he has to pay for. |
