THE LAND OF THE SPINELESS
For better or worse (mostly worse, these days), I work as a freelancer -- journalism, TV, copywriting, whatever. I'm also trying to sell a book and stress about keeping the blog fresh. Here's how my hustle usually works: Story pitches go out, I wait interminable amounts of time, and finally get an answer. Or not. Here's a recent non-decision (this took six weeks to arrive, by the way) from a sizable publication (certain elements will remain concealed in order to keep my bridge from going up in flames):
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you about _____________ ."...It certainly sounds like you could extract a good ... piece ..., but it's hard to say whether it will work or not until you write it. If you do, I'd love to take a look. Format calls for about 700 words ... Hope that helps.
Basically, I'm welcome to write the piece for free and they'll "take a look." Is this bullshit, or am I just a whiny little diva who can't get with the program? I write on this blog for free, and that's about as far as I'm taking it at this point. I'm not just out of college. It's just so depressing; I'm sure countless writers would jump at the chance to write an on-spec piece for this particular publication. To me, though, it's pure exploitation. And what about the editors? Have they all been castrated and/or lobotomized? It seems as if no one will take responsibility for the possibility of failure anymore. Guess the bottom line and the constant dark cloud of layoffs seeps deeply into the editorial culture. Guess there's no point in going out on a limb trying to be great -- better just to play it just safe, hold onto the job and suck the blood of writers gullible or desperate enough to labor for free.
Pathetic.
For better or worse (mostly worse, these days), I work as a freelancer -- journalism, TV, copywriting, whatever. I'm also trying to sell a book and stress about keeping the blog fresh. Here's how my hustle usually works: Story pitches go out, I wait interminable amounts of time, and finally get an answer. Or not. Here's a recent non-decision (this took six weeks to arrive, by the way) from a sizable publication (certain elements will remain concealed in order to keep my bridge from going up in flames):
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you about _____________ ."...It certainly sounds like you could extract a good ... piece ..., but it's hard to say whether it will work or not until you write it. If you do, I'd love to take a look. Format calls for about 700 words ... Hope that helps.
Basically, I'm welcome to write the piece for free and they'll "take a look." Is this bullshit, or am I just a whiny little diva who can't get with the program? I write on this blog for free, and that's about as far as I'm taking it at this point. I'm not just out of college. It's just so depressing; I'm sure countless writers would jump at the chance to write an on-spec piece for this particular publication. To me, though, it's pure exploitation. And what about the editors? Have they all been castrated and/or lobotomized? It seems as if no one will take responsibility for the possibility of failure anymore. Guess the bottom line and the constant dark cloud of layoffs seeps deeply into the editorial culture. Guess there's no point in going out on a limb trying to be great -- better just to play it just safe, hold onto the job and suck the blood of writers gullible or desperate enough to labor for free.
Pathetic.
posted by Erik Himmelsbach at 5:56 PM
2 Comments:
F_ _ _ them! What is this world coming to? We’re living in a country run by an idiot dictator and publications running on empty and not even supporting the artists. What’s up with that? I’m scared for our children...
it's bullshit, dude. in all the years i've worked as a writer/editor, i have NEVER done anything on spec or for no pay. i even got paid by raygun, man.
you say you don't wanna burn the bridge -- understandable. but i don't think there's anything wrong with just writing back and stating, "sorry, i am a professional. i don't work like that. and, as you are a professional too, you should know better than to ask me." ok, maybe leave out that last part. but i think there is a reasonable way to call them on it. b/c it really is unacceptable.
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