I Don’t Care About Your “Free Exposure” For My Writing!

Sometimes good things come down from the sky and land in my inbox.

She worked as an editor for a well-known publication. She stated that she would like to syndicate my article (repost it) to their platform.

I said, "Awesome. Good sound. An additional brand to add to my resume.

I was okay with them reposting even though it wasn't paid for. On my resume, the brand would look good. She sent me a draft of my article two days later, which included comments and feedback. She required a complete rewrite from me.

By no means was my ego harmed. I get feedback on a regular basis. Additionally, I am aware that major publications have a style, length, and tone in mind.

However, I do not accept free work.

I was duped into a phone call with a man who wanted to "talk shop" three years ago.

Talk shop meant that I wasted an hour responding to his writing questions.

I felt cheated when I got off that phone call, and I promised never to give freebies to random people again. I try to be generous with friends and family, but being everything to everyone is absurd.

People need to understand that we are writers with the same abilities as other professions and should not be given gifts.

Respectfully, I wrote back to the editor.

"I regret. I had no idea that this would necessitate more effort on my part. I hope you understand that I do not accept unpaid projects.

She was gracious and asked, "How about if I offer you $150?" which is commendable.

She probably had this offer in her back pocket since her email got back to her quickly.

It wasn't a great commission, but it was enough to complete the rewrite.

I revise the text. Everything goes well.

I try to use this to my advantage in other situations. I inquire whether additional paid opportunities exist. I offer to reuse the content that gets the most views.

It seems like everyone benefits. They'd get the very tip of the spear out of the thousands of pieces of writing I've published across a variety of platforms.

At first, she seemed excited about it.

"Send me a list of your most popular articles, tell you what."

I do; we never spoke again.

She will definitely be looking for more free content, I can assure you.

She is not alone: Editors at Business Insider, CNBC, HuffPost, and other major publications are looking for free content from bloggers like us.

They talk about the millions of views they get each month or the "free exposure" they offer.

It devalues the work of many writers who fall for it. They enter and spend hours on a draft, but not a single dime is returned.

There is no value in the exposure.

I'll give you a better illustration.

An epic fight Nate Thayer, a well-known journalist, had a fight with the Atlantic, and he spilled all the dirty laundry.

His experience was remarkably comparable to mine. The Atlantic sends him an email:

Hello! I'm the Atlantic's global editor and I'm trying to get in touch with Nate Thayer to see if he would be interested in republishing his basketball diplomacy piece on our site.

Could someone please connect me with him?

They communicate. They need to call quickly. Then, via email, this conversation begins.

To the editor, Nate:

What were your expectations regarding the basketball diplomacy piece's length, plot, due date, and costs?

or any other particulars. I believe we can come up with a solution, but I want to make sure I have enough time to finish it right in time to meet your deadline.

Editor's response:

I appreciate your response.

Perhaps by the week's end? 1,200 words? Despite the fact that we reach 13 million readers each month, we are unable to compensate you for it. I just wanted to see if you were interested. I understand if that isn't feasible for you.

Again, many thanks for your time. Wonderful piece!

Nate was engulfed by this.

which I partially comprehend. Her response made me angry. This tactic is extremely prevalent.

Nate's response:

I'm a professional journalist who has been writing for 25 years. I don't usually give my services away to for-profit media outlets so that they can use my work and effort to make money and take away my ability to pay my bills and feed my kids.

Several people I know who write for the Atlantic get paid, of course.

While I respect the Atlantic and have a number of friends who write for it, I cannot expect to pay my bills by providing my work to a for-profit company for free so that they can profit from it, despite your interest.

I can assure you that it would be well received if you submitted 1200 words by the end of the week, but not for free.

To be honest, I won't say anything insulting, but I'm baffled by how one can expect to try to retain high-quality professional services without paying for them. Please inform me if you have spoken.

The conversation ended peacefully.

Until Nate ignites the situation by posting the exchange online and receiving overwhelming reader response. He went one step further and added the editor's name and contact information, which was a little out of place.

I sympathize with content platforms' efforts to maintain profitability.

Journalism has been under attack for years, and there are numerous opposing forces.

But this practice of offering writers "free exposure" is a problem and has spread to blogging.

I've even seen it with "free stuff" requests from book publishers, who want you to rewrite huge book proposals incessantly with no guarantee of getting a deal.

The main point of this is to safeguard your craft. Do your best. If you can make it enjoyable for readers, it will automatically become marketable.

If you give your products away for free, you are not helping anyone's market.

I've always held the belief that high-quality content will eventually be seen, regardless of whether it is published in a large publication or not.