Published on October 22, 2008
Angela,
A. Antaonow’s article, We Have Seen the Enemy and She is…a Writer, comes as no surprise to me. As a just budding-never been published-dreaming of becoming-writer who is also a doting and diligent wife who has sought out contract software engineer jobs for smart as a whip hubby, I can attest to this type of unethical practice occurring in many occupations.
I was always appalled by these placement companies that wanted to hire my husband for his expertise and aggressively pursued him for their open positions, praising his talents and experience on the one hand, yet demanding to be paid AT LEAST 50% of his contracted salary with zero benefits. Oftentimes they would request 60-75% of his contracted rate! Whenever my husband would negotiate salary rate with them they could never give him a plausible enough reason for the high price of their “services” that explained well enough why they deserved to be paid the exact amount of money he was paid for actually doing the difficult and demanding daily work. One company representative told him it was “the nature of the beast”, meaning, if you bill it, they will pay it.
I am not surprised that writers are being treated in the same manner. Though I am sure most writers (myself included) would be thrilled just to be published and have someone read their thoughts, ideas, and hard work, the reality is that many businesses will always try to get that work as cheaply as possible. The most unethical part about this is that the writer seeking the cheap labor KNOWS the amount of work involved in preparing a piece for publication….or at least they should. They should know that when a writer writes, they have poured a small piece of their soul into that article. It contains thoughts formulated inside their minds that were melded together into a prose that conveys information, expresses emotion, describes scenery, tells a story, gives perspective, or takes the reader on a journey. It is inexcusable that a true writer could forget that for a buck.
Thanks for being a truly valuable resource for writers and wannabe writers such as myself.
Sincerely,
Regina Tyyska
Published on October 22, 2008
Travel articles can be written without leaving your backyard. In July, my oldest son informed me that a business acquaintance was leading trail riders and a wagon on a two-week trek starting from our hometown.
Published on October 22, 2008
I found an article I wrote online, published without my permission. They claim they got permission from another company (the company I first sold the article to – and it was *not* a work-for-hire job!). I sent them an invoice. However, they didn’t agree to pay my invoice, only to remove my article. What should I do?
Tell him that’s not good enough. You can’t take away somebody’s copyrights and then restore them just like that (snap!). It’s like spending someone’s rare coin at the store and then trying to pay them back with a quarter. And, the fact that they got caught using stolen goods isn’t your concern. They shouldn’t be publishing articles without speaking to the writer directly. Obviously, you can’t always trust companies that claim they have permission to resell/share articles with others.
Published on October 22, 2008
Since I try to get most of my work done during the school day, I tend to feel pressure to stay at my desk the entire time. Last spring I hit a dry spell. I kept sending out queries and checking in with my contacts, but nothing materialized. Anxious to make some sales before school let out for the summer, I remained fixed at my computer each day. By day’s end I’d be drained and irritable, but nothing was turning into cash.
Published on October 15, 2008
We had our last big RV hurrah of the year last weekend, taking Max and Mason to a campground on the Maine coast.
Published on October 15, 2008
Think you’re safe from the Amazon/BookSurge ultimatum because you’re in the United Kingdom? Think again. You might be next!
Amazon has launched a POD service in the U.K. While they say “We are offering titles that are being produced by other print on demand providers” – they don’t say they’ll continue to do so.
Read more HERE.
Published on October 15, 2008
Angela,
A. Antaonow’s article was fantastic! What a great — and fresh — topic for a feature article. The subject is something that I’ve noticed too, and that bothers me to no end. In fact, I wrote a blog post on the subject myself last year:
https://www.katharineswan.com/2007/12/when-writers-screw-other-writers.html
Thanks to you for running the article — and to the author for writing it! It’s good to raise awareness that our fellow writers can sometimes also be our worst enemies!
Sincerely,
Katharine S. Leppert
https://www.katharineswan.com
Published on October 15, 2008
I’m a lot of fun on a school field trip (embarrassing is the word my children would choose). It’s not enough for me to visit Philadelphia and listen to the standard speech by the National Park Service employee. I ask weird questions. Who named the Liberty Bell? What did the men who wrote the Constitution eat for lunch? Did they order takeout or did they brown bag it? Did somebody from Philadelphia really invent the Philly cheesesteak? For decades I’ve waited but no one created a magazine “niche-y” enough for the tiny shards of knowledge I’ve gathered.
Published on October 15, 2008
If you are a writer, you know it’s hard work. It takes patience, persistence, lots of time, an appreciation of the process, it’s harder than it appears…and that’s the easy part. What does a writer do after you’ve written something?
Published on October 8, 2008
Max got sick on Saturday so he spent the day curled up next to me, watching TV, while I worked on my laptop in bed (my favorite spot). He had a severe sore throat and his temperature got up to 102 in the afternoon. He felt much better on Sunday so we went leaf watching.
