BellaOnline Forums Career Nonfiction Writing Should Writers Write for FREE?

BTW: one of my columns (Cyberstalking -- which is NO fun) was picked up( they asked) and put into an Oprah affiliate ezine...that was nice..

I'm a published author, but I don't get published enough to make my living at writing-that is my goal though. For my church or the local Boy Scout troop, yes, I will write articles for free. That is using my gift for public service. But writing for free does not always mean your work will be seen and recognized by a paying market. An editor discounts work done for free because work done for pay means you can produce work worth paying for. I don't want to say that people who write for free are not good writers, some of them are. It's just that a lot of people who just want to see their work in print, good or bad, can get published in the free markets. I've never been asked for clips, I don't think editors ask for them that much anymore. The bottom line here is what you want for yourself. If you want to be published and paid for the hard work you put into your writing, then working for free will take you away from the time and effort needed to make it in the publishing business. I wish all you writers much success, wherever you find it.

I had no idea this was so controversial an issue! I do marketing consulting and I often tell many business people to do some work free to get experience, samples and references. For many small businesses, whether it be web design, decorating, event planning, -- almost any service and lots of products, this is like an apprenticeship and works very well. (I usually suggest doing the free work for a favorite charity or civic group if possible).

Anyway, I think writing is a "learn by doing" thing and some of us need more feedback than our friends & family, full-up notebooks (or document files) can provide. The web gives us an easy to access audience and plenty of opportunity to practice.

To me, it's economics--if someone is offering to pay, then I won't turn down money! And, I don't think I would ever turn over copyright for free. But, I do share content for credit frequently and as a result, I have "clips" galore after only a few months. And, quite a bit more confidence!

Deb,
I had no idea either. I often get asked why I write here at BellaOnline without getting any monetary compensation. I am working on a novel with the Codes and Cyphers editor, Alynne, and I don't think we will do it for free *smiles* I think I don't belly ache about not getting paid here on Bella because the sections I write for are a passion of mine and I feel I have a lot to offer to someone and there is already so much free information out there. I see working here at BellaOnline as theraputic for me and a way to give back to everyone after getting so much free help myself over the past few years. I love writing and I love talking to people here in the forums and in e-mail.

I think you have to ask yourself whether or not you are getting something back from the "free" writing. I write for a quarterly magazine "free" in exchange for a $480 half-page advertisement of my unique gifts. My articles rarely, if ever, discuss these items but it's important to me to get them advertised and, frankly, I couldn't afford this fee. But, writers for the mag get only $50 an article and I'd have to come up with $430! The mag is a quarterly and my name is also in the "stable" of writers on the second page!

I don't submit clips with queries but have plenty of work. I tell them my web site was totally created by me and has all my writing voices and include the URL. They can download what they want or bookmark the site. I think writers, today, can no longer choose to not have a web site. It's a very compelling marketing tool. Don't tell me it's too hard. I'm an old dog and I learned how to do it.

I'm also in training as the Bella Online Career Training Host. Of course, it's free BUT the publicity and potential viewership on a highly-regarded site is outstanding, not to mention complete ownership of product. I firmly believe that, if you choose your "free" writing well, there really is some form of compensation and each writer has to decide what is acceptable to them.

I think it depends on the individual writer. Some do it for a career, in which case, I can't see any advantage to them writing for free. Some do it as a hobby because they enjoy it. I fit into the latter category. I have received payment for my writing, but it's pretty much a pittance. Should I ever feel motivated enough to try and make writing a full-time career, then I would definitely give up writing for free. But I do it mostly because I love it.

Yes and no. Mostly yes they could write for free because its great website promoting if they have one.

As a professional writer, I freely share information about my area of expertise, and I also get paid...sometimes. Someone once said that today's newspaper is tomorrow's bird cage liner. With that idea in mind, I am always happy to "recycle" some of my magazine articles and newspaper clips onto my website so that they can be enjoyed by an even broader (worldwide) audience.

I love to write, and would continue to do so, even if I were not paid. To me, writing is an extension of teaching, and being a teacher and a researcher, at heart, I just love to impart newly discovered facts, and my own opinions and observations.

Patricia Cummings
www.quiltersmuse.com

I pretty much agree with this - donating your work is a useful investment. It can present a learning opportunity and is a good way to get name recognition. Also, if you believe in a publication, you should be willing to support it.

If you can get paid, fine. If the market you submit to has other elements that make it worth donating to, it makes sense to do so.

As in, should they ALWAYS write for free, like writers should never be paid? IMO, no.

I write for free, but much of that is because nothing I write is good enough that someone would want to pay to read it. Writing, however, takes up a good chunk of time, time someone could be using to have another paying job, so why shouldn't they be paid for this time, and for their talent as musicians, actors, and others who share their talent are?