In any writers' group I've been a part of, and on any online postings for writing gigs, there's always regular discussions of whether or not a writer should ever give it away. Is it immoral to ask a creative person to work "for exposure?" Lots of people think it is, and always post strongly worded replies on those boards, telling the requester exactly what they think about it.
It's not just writers who deal with this, but all creative people. My friend, Bill, in L.A. goes through the same thing with people looking for free graphics work. He's one of those who gets quite upset about people asking him to work for nothing. And who can blame him? That's how he makes his living.
My feelings on the subject aren't quite so clear cut. When it comes to writing for a business or nonprofit organization, I'm just as adamant as Bill that this is how I make my living, and I don't do it for free. On the other hand, I have given up purely creative works just for the sake of sharing, and I have given away more professional works as a means of promoting my other services.
Anyway, I've written a new article, Giving It Away: Free Articles for Fun and Profit, which goes deeper into this subject and have posted it on The 13th Story web site. I've also posted several other new articles on The 13th Story as well.
Meanwhile, I'm finding that keeping up two blogs has not been a problem. In fact, having a second blog to put items related to my consulting practice has helped inspire more postings in both places.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment