Damn you writers, yes, you should get paid!
November 24th, 2007 by Bill
I actually think I am not nearly as proud of what I’ve written as I am in the fact that I’ve always insisted on being paid and being paid well. What I like most about this wonderfully articulate argument by Harlan Ellison is how he nails on the head one of the biggest problems writers deal with: idiots who give their work away for nothing. Listen to Harlan. And for the love of God, insist on being paid. Don’t make them show you the money, make them give it to you!
Like Harlan, nothing pisses me off more than people giving away their work for nothing. That is not the way to get your foot in the door unless the door you’re trying to enter is marked, “Poverty.”
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I should point out that when I say “paid well” you have to keep in mind the terms of reference. I’m thinking about writers as opposed to, say, professional baseball players. In other words, “paid well” is in the context of what I was making when I first started, which was next to nothing … when I finally found something that paid at all.
Bill, as a writer, I fully agree with you! Editors seem to have this misconception that we live on words and fresh air