I came across a great article by Jan Fields in a recent Institute for Children's Literature enewsletter. Jan's article, entitled Can You Profit From Writing for Free? made some great points about writing for free markets. Most of us, of course, prefer to get paid to write. Jan agrees, but she offers a few good reasons why writing for free can be a plus.
We all may have favorite places where we write for free - for a ministry or charity, or a low budget or friend's publication, among others. And of course, these and others are the places where we sometimes write to gain clips and get our name out there. Some places swap advertising for articles, not actual money perhaps, but not a terrible deal, either.
Pardon me while I step up onto the soapbox for just a second or two...
I agree with Jan, and am happy to gain more writing credits, but I still have to work to overcome my attitude about those markets that could, but just don't, pay. My thought is this: if it weren't for the writers, they would have no publication. I know, we make the choice to submit to these markets, but the injustice to writers still gets to me a bit. My husband, who is a self-employed finish carpenter, puts it this way, "What if I decided not to pay my subcontractors?"
Well, it's food for thought, but there's no use getting worked up about it. Either I trust the Lord to prosper me in my writing or I do not. How about you?
(Note that I've stepped down off of the soapbox:)
If you'd like to take a peek at Jan's article, here is the link.
http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/ws06/writ4free.shtml
As always, my friends, have a wonderful and blessed day.
Happy writing!
