Writers, Should You Work For Free?
May 5, 2008 by Anne Wayman
Filed under Jobs
You know, if you’ve followed this blog at all, that I’m a great believer in writers getting paid, and paid well. John Kremer, author of the excellent 1001 Ways to Market Your Books and an excellent blog on the same topic has posted a YouTube video by author Harlan Ellison called Writers Should Be Paid!
Please, go watch it and listen to it, carefully! Then come back here and tell us what you think.
I think it’s wonderful and true.
Write well and often,
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I’m sitting here in an empty house, and I’ve just given the man a standing ovation and more than a few “Damn right!” shouts. I think every writer should watch that and commit it to memory. I’ve posted the link to my blog, too.
I’m tired of preaching to the world about valuing one’s worth. Either do it or get the hell out of writing. I’ve long believed the ones who take the work for free are killing the industry for those of us who bother to treat it like a career instead of a hobby.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
I’m tempted to post that all over craigslist… for the “employers”… sigh
I totally agree…almost. I have an uncompensated article in the current issue of Autism Digest. Why did I write it? Because it is a valuable publication for educators, therapists and families and I have a child with autism so it is a topic close to my heart. I see it as volunteer work to help that community. Also, I did it because the assignment got me a press pass into an event that I wanted to attend and from which I am hoping to sell other articles.
But normally, no, I won’t write for free unless there is something very specific in it for me such as marketing my reputation to a very specifically targeted audience.
Nancy, I suspect even Ellison made some exceptions… particularly like yours where you got something valuable (the press pass) and the topic is super close to your heard… good on you.
Nancy, I also believe in working pro bono for a project I believe in.
What I don’t do is work on spec. On the speculation that I’ll get paid or receive compensation of some sort.
Pro bono = for the public good
Spec = on the speculation of a return
And that is the line I draw in my sandbox
Thank you for posting this, I’ve been struggling with worth and when I write for free or close to free it doesn’t help. I had been thinking about posting about this very subject on my blog, now I can use this as a jumping off point!