Mmm...meager gruel. The above title is actually a comment I left on a writer friend's post after she declined an opportunity because the organizers would not pay an honorarium for her contribution to their event. The implication being that exposure is compensation enough.
As writers, we'd love to be paid for our work, but ultimately we want our stuff out there. Too often this means giving our words away. For some it's a matter of wanting to build up a CV, for others it's frustration over fierce competition within the shrinking pool of semi-pro and pro paying markets. It's all perfectly understandable, but let's be honest. Exposure is not payment, my friends.
I have a giggle-snort when markets list EXPOSURE!!! as their dazzling form of compensation. As if exposure will fill your bowl with Kraft Dinner. The last time I went to the supermarket and tried to pay for my groceries with exposure they asked me very nicely to put my tits back in my shirt. So trust me guys, the only thing you can buy with exposure is your name on a list.
Teachers, plumbers, and helicopter pilots are not expected to work for free. The work of creatives is no less valuable. Don't give yourself away. If they are words worth writing, if it's art worth creating, then anyone who wants to publish it owes you more than EXPOSURE!!! and a pdf contributor's copy.
S.
As writers, we'd love to be paid for our work, but ultimately we want our stuff out there. Too often this means giving our words away. For some it's a matter of wanting to build up a CV, for others it's frustration over fierce competition within the shrinking pool of semi-pro and pro paying markets. It's all perfectly understandable, but let's be honest. Exposure is not payment, my friends.
I have a giggle-snort when markets list EXPOSURE!!! as their dazzling form of compensation. As if exposure will fill your bowl with Kraft Dinner. The last time I went to the supermarket and tried to pay for my groceries with exposure they asked me very nicely to put my tits back in my shirt. So trust me guys, the only thing you can buy with exposure is your name on a list.
Teachers, plumbers, and helicopter pilots are not expected to work for free. The work of creatives is no less valuable. Don't give yourself away. If they are words worth writing, if it's art worth creating, then anyone who wants to publish it owes you more than EXPOSURE!!! and a pdf contributor's copy.
S.
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