Get Paid

Get Paid As more and more people dip their toe into writing, more and more publications and editors think they can pay less. Supply and demand is a tried and true concept, and with way more writers clamoring to write, the cost of those writers diminishes sometimes to nothing. That does not give you permission to accept less. That does not give you permission to write for nothing. Instead, that means that you become pickier. I write for free in a few places: Blogs. Few of those pay. However, if I have something to promote, like my latest novel, I will piggy-back on someone elses readership to make a splash. Im making money, just in a sideways manner. A magazine that also advertises me. I periodically write articles for a certain magazine for free. They like my work, and in return, theyve promoted me well outside the parameters of that article, often providing the graphics for the advertising both in the magazine and for me to use elsewhere. An annual tourist guide recently asked me to write a piece, using an excerpt from my novel. This publication comes out once a year and goes in every rental in that coastal town, and sits on the counter of every restaurant. The bottom line is that writing for free has to pay somehow. Not in the ambiguous manner like I need some exposure that I am a writer. Thats a slippery slope. You enjoy seeing your hard-earned Write for free . . . on occasion. But be sure that when you do, theres a defined purpose that WILL result in tangible income. You want to be able to look at yourself in the mirror in the morning.