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Topic: Asking writers to work for free.......
| Author | Message |
| sofisays | Posted – 4/8/2008 10:25:38 AM | show profile | email poster Thanks, arewrites. Spellcheck, is my new best friend! I have been researching writing for years and fit some articles in here and there, so I finally took the plunge. I have made the blunder of sending a query letter out with the aforementioned typo. When I re-read the letter to prep it for another editor-bam- I was red in the face- it IS hard. Thanks, again for the advice. |
| Decorama | Posted – 4/8/2008 11:13:09 AM | show profile I feel bad for the editor, too It must be tough. The pay for articles was pretty low, as is, and now . . . nothing. (Maybe they should cut pay for the advertising salesmen until they produce!! Now that's a thought.) Would love to know the magazine "genre". |
| JudySL | Posted – 4/8/2008 12:05:59 PM | show profile | email poster I was an editor with this problem My publication just couldn't afford to pay its writers what they were worth and we relied on summer interns to do a lot of the editorial work. The only way you can make this work is by using PR people to create bylined pieces for their clients. You have to ensure that the pieces are not self-serving. And you have to pray that ad-sales will eventually support your publication so quality writers can one day return! |
| WordyBird | Posted – 4/8/2008 2:22:23 PM | show profile "It's obscene to have some people producing a publication, i.e. the ones sitting in an office, taking home regular pay while stiffing invisible, inaudible dispensable writers. I've been an editor at three magazines so I've seen tight budgets and cheap employers." Yes, it is obscene. Very. Thing is, when they can't pay their writers, they usually can't pay their staff, either, and layoffs ensue. The choices for the staffer are to get out ASAP on your own terms *cough, cough* or wait for the axe to fall and trust the employer to have the integrity to code you for unemployment. I'm sure plenty of potential employers will understand when you tell them, "They had financial issues/budget cuts and cut staff positions." But personally, I think smart is the cookie who sees the trouble coming and doesn't stick around long enough to get laid off. This way you don't end up competing with all the other staff who get laid off and you're not associated with a ship that everyone else in the industry knows to be sinking. At some point, you also have to think of your professional reputation. Despite losing unemployment benefits, it might be to your advantage to disassociate with a company that would stiff its writers so that when you do end up working somewhere else, you can call those very same writers and offer them work without having to scrape egg off your face. This is a small, small industry. Word gets around. I don't think writers are invisible or inaudible--they can and do get pissed off and they can and do blacklist companies as "late payors" on listservs and BBS services. Heck, I've seen it done here on MB. Blessed is the editor who understands the plight of the writer, for he or she shall always have a deep pool of talent from which to draw. And as for those who are inquiring about writing for free, if you're established, I'm going to be really nervy and wonder why you don't just start a blog to showcase your talent, because all you're doing as you get your name in print is fostering the impression that writers as a group are desperate for work and that drives rates down across the board. That's just one reason why the pay in this industry is so crappy to begin with. Just my opinion after 20 years inside. |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 4/8/2008 3:05:33 PM | show profile WB, I'm going to stick my neck out here and say this....the writers (and they are lining up on this thread) who are willing and eager to write without pay are not the same writers who are earning $2-3/wd+ writing for publications who have their *&^% together. So, yes, the editor here, msf000, is worried she'll lose good professional writers. She will. Those with other choices will work elsewhere. My mortgage company and Verizon are not the least bit interested in *why* print journalism is in free fall. They just want their dough on time. When mfs000 resurfaces at a magazine that pays a decent wage, I'm sure her writers will be happy to hear from her once more. But you can't fish in the same pool for experienced veterans who really don't need any more clips as you can for desperate newbies. When I want to donate my time or money (and they're the same thing), I'll write a check to charity, not toss my free labor at a publisher unable to earn sufficient profits to buy my skills. Deadbeat or cheapo pub's are nothing new, says this 30-year veteran. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 4/8/2008 3:27:04 PM | show profile This argument always falls a little flat, though. You can't ask a carpenter or plumber to work for free because they won't. By and large, the only reason they work is for the money. If they won the lottery tomorrow, they would stop doing the work. Many writers do their work for reasons other than money, so sometimes you can get them to work for free. There is always a lot of mixing of apples and oranges in these threads. Like saying, "If you can't pay writers you don't have a good business model." That may not be the case at all. There are some magazines that turn a profit with free copy, and they wouldn't make any more money by paying a token amount and getting slightly better copy. Personally, I don't get worked up by this. It's a free country. If someone is willing to write for free, he will find a magazine willing to let him. I worked for free when I was starting out. True, I got a college internship credit, but really that was meaningless -- all I really for was the experience and the clips. --I cannot ask my carpenter or plumber or electrician or orthopedic surgeon to give me their skills free -- because *I* can't figure out how to run my business. They'd laugh, as they should.-- |
| Decorama | Posted – 4/8/2008 5:36:56 PM | show profile Hmmmm . . . Not exactly "lining up" here, but I have received $1 a word, not the $2-3 that some people have. I have never worked for free before, not even as a newbie. Still, am curious as much as anything else what this magazine is all about . . . One major magazine within my area of specialization has recently folded to the shock of many; another, not so established, but part of a very established family of mags, has recently become an online presence. I am wondering what genre MFS000's mag might be . . . and how much we will see such things in the future. Perhaps MFS000 will find herself doing as much writing as editing! |
| HyancinthGirl | Posted – 4/8/2008 5:41:55 PM | show profile MFS000, What kind of publication is it? If it's industry trade, it's not unusual to ask an expert to contribute for free. It accomplishes two things: they publish and they gain a notoriety within the field. If it's general interest, I'm surprised that a pub is going down that slippery slope. I agree with the idea of going to local j-schools for a crop of writers, maybe for credit or something, but won't that reduce the quality of your coverage? Seasoned, paid writers are skilled and have honed the craft over years and years. That's what would worry me more. |
| louise | Posted – 4/8/2008 5:54:22 PM | show profile attn HisGirlFriday... are you an MSU grad? Capital News Service? As in Michigan State? Me too! What year did you take it? |
| HisGirlFriday | Posted – 4/8/2008 6:41:03 PM | show profile louise; Yep! Hm. I think it was 93 or 94? I just googled it; check it out - they have a web site now!!! http://cns.jrn.msu.edu/index.html What about you - when did you do it? (sorry in advance for hijacking the thread ....) |
| scribechick | Posted – 4/8/2008 6:56:44 PM | show profile | email poster Hmmm. I still occasionally write for "free." Why? It gives my books exposure. It gives my work (i.e., predicting earthquakes, etc.) exposure. It give me exposure. And I'm building a solid platform. I've been a professional journalist-author for 20 years. Write for free? It has its perks. For instance, years back I wrote a humor column for free. Months later: the column ended up in a book assignment. The bottom line: Sometimes, it's worth writing for free if it's a way to help you reach your long-term goal. Read: can you see the big picture? But, if you need money to survive -- no, it's not practical to write for free. But it can be a means to and end -- and the beginning of something good. |
| WordyBird | Posted – 4/8/2008 10:43:28 PM | show profile Right on, Caitlin! |
| InsomniacNOT | Posted – 4/9/2008 8:24:27 AM | show profile I know carpenters who've given their labour for free because they thought it would lead to more work. The clients did, however, pay for materials. |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 4/9/2008 11:09:05 AM | show profile So...I can bill out for my shiny new Mac? :-) |
| mfs000 | Posted – 4/9/2008 10:15:23 PM | show profile It's a family lifestyle magazine (if you can believe). Helping families was part of what drew me here. It's definitely time to get out. I agree with the posts on this thread, and I appreciate the people who said they empathize with my situation. If I didn't have to stay for financial reasons, I would have already left. |
