Why You Shoud Write for Free...and When You Should Stop
When my agent gave me this information, "Current rank nationwide for FOR I HAVE SINNED A Cate Harlow Private Investigation is #1,377; Not bad for a book whose official launch date is November 1, 2014, Kristen", it was very exciting news. No, not bad at all.
I was thrilled and also humbled and I cried; this author has been writing professionally for over twenty years and my book might just become a breakout.
I started out writing for free. Now writing for free sounds awful to many people and believe me if I hadn't had a "day job" I would not have been able to do it. But my first agent told me the idea was to get my name known in the writing community and to get readers who would not only read my work once but eventually become fans who wanted more of my work to read!
I wrote for any magazine who would accept me. But simply because I wasn't being paid doesn't mean that they didn't care what my writing was like. Quite the contrary; they cared a lot.Quality was as important to them as it was to me.
It became a very well-traveled two-way street. I gave them my articles and stories, they gave me pointers, advice, and a plethora of knowledge about editing, publishing, and what makes a good read. I learned a great deal and that was priceless.
When my first book was published, I was still writing for free for one magazine but being paid by the others. My then-publisher advised me against giving my work away. "You should expect to be paid for your creative output. They will either accept that fact or not but you should ask and negotiate." I did.
I don't write for free anymore. My writing is my livelihood now and being given compensation for what I do is fair. Still, nothing compares to the wealth of help I received as a novice writer from those magazines. I will always remember the experience and be glad that I wrote for free.For I Have Sinned
I was thrilled and also humbled and I cried; this author has been writing professionally for over twenty years and my book might just become a breakout.
I started out writing for free. Now writing for free sounds awful to many people and believe me if I hadn't had a "day job" I would not have been able to do it. But my first agent told me the idea was to get my name known in the writing community and to get readers who would not only read my work once but eventually become fans who wanted more of my work to read!
I wrote for any magazine who would accept me. But simply because I wasn't being paid doesn't mean that they didn't care what my writing was like. Quite the contrary; they cared a lot.Quality was as important to them as it was to me.
It became a very well-traveled two-way street. I gave them my articles and stories, they gave me pointers, advice, and a plethora of knowledge about editing, publishing, and what makes a good read. I learned a great deal and that was priceless.
When my first book was published, I was still writing for free for one magazine but being paid by the others. My then-publisher advised me against giving my work away. "You should expect to be paid for your creative output. They will either accept that fact or not but you should ask and negotiate." I did.
I don't write for free anymore. My writing is my livelihood now and being given compensation for what I do is fair. Still, nothing compares to the wealth of help I received as a novice writer from those magazines. I will always remember the experience and be glad that I wrote for free.For I Have Sinned
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