Writing is work. And for some lucky writers, it becomes a profession, a way to trade words for dollars to make a living. Freelance writers often work by the mantra Never write for free — it tends to lower the amount that publications and sites are willing to pay for content, and it takes time away from paid writing, so the prevailing wisdom is to steer clear.
Yet for those of us who are less established, writing for free is sometimes a temptation and sometimes even a necessity. I’m not willing to give the blanket advice of “Sure, writing for free is no problem!” but here are two cases where it makes sense and two where it doesn’t.
Personally, I find myself writing for free:
When it’s social media. If I’m putting words into my computer that other people are going to read, to me, that’s writing. So I count Twitter and Facebook as writing I do for free. I was on a panel recently with several other authors, and when the conversation turned to social media, they each said they didn’t find social media worth their time. Which is fine! It’s a choice. I choose to use it to connect with readers and other authors, but I’m always mindful that this is writing time, and I’m using it to further my professional goals (while, of course, having some fun).
When I’m expanding my reach. At this point, I’m primarily a novelist, not an essayist, and no one’s going to mistake me for Meghan Daum or Roxane Gay. Pitching essays to highly competitive magazines or websites is both time-consuming and low-yield — it can take two months to hear a no, and it’s almost always no, if I even hear back at all. (Queriers, sound familiar?) So I’m building a portfolio with outlets that pay less, or even nothing, as long as they reach the audience I’m trying to reach.
Here’s when I pull myself back and say no, either it’s paid writing or it’s no writing:
When unpaid writing time cuts into my paid writing time. At this point, I’m primarily a novelist, and my third book for Sourcebooks is due to my editor in a few months. If I spend too much time pitching and writing listicles and guest posts as well as keeping up a stream of content on social media, no matter what audience those activities get me in the short term, in the long term that audience will go away.
When the same content would yield either more readers or more dollars elsewhere. I love to write guest posts for book bloggers, other authors, writing sites — especially this one! — but there has to be a limit somewhere. If I’m invited to guest blog somewhere, I do usually do a quick survey of the blog in question to see whether it appears to have an active group of engaged users, whether that means a lively comment section, Twitter followers, YouTube subscribers, etc. If my time is constrained (see above about the deadline) I may choose to decline the invitation.
Q: Do you write for free? Under what conditions?
About Greer Macallister
Raised in the Midwest, Greer Macallister earned her MFA in creative writing from American University. Her debut novel THE MAGICIAN'S LIE was a USA Today bestseller, an Indie Next pick, and a Target Book Club selection. Her novels GIRL IN DISGUISE (“a rip-roaring, fast-paced treat to read” - Booklist) and WOMAN 99 (“a nail biter that makes you want to stand up and cheer” - Kate Quinn) were inspired by pioneering 19th-century private detective Kate Warne and fearless journalist Nellie Bly, respectively. Her new book, THE ARCTIC FURY, was named an Indie Next and Library Reads pick, an Amazon Best Book of the Month, and a spotlighted new release at PopSugar, Libro.fm, and Goodreads. A regular contributor to Writer Unboxed and the Chicago Review of Books, she lives with her family in Washington, DC. www.greermacallister.com
What comes first? The writing or the writer? I can’t be a writer without writing, but without writing I am not a writer! I realize the harm we are doing to ourselves when writing for free. I do spend much time writing things (articles and blogs for free) that takes away my time to what I am ultimately am trying to accomplish: novel publication. I don’t do this free writing for the love of it. It is a lot of work and time! But it is necessary to build up a resume. No one wants a debut writer. Period. The industry, whether it be magazines, blogs, journals, publishing houses, etc…they all want to see a resume of publications. Many don’t even consider your work without some kind of past experience. (No one really wants a newbie!) But how do you get past experience if no one will publish you? Yeah…the cycle continues. So, for many of writers they will take any kind of writing gig. It’s a necessary process of becoming legitimized. And other (paid) writers can scream all day long about how that hurts all writers, but I am not sure how you tell a struggling writer to stop trying to advance their career. Thank you for your article. It is very important to have these very truthful conversations about the writing industry.
The only exception would be for a guest blog. Otherwise, pro-rate only.
I used to do the non-paying and low paying publications. Everyone passes that around as a stepping stone to hitting the big leagues.
It’s not.
By submitting to non-paying and low paying markets, I was subconsciously telling myself I wasn’t good enough to be paid well for my writing.
And that showed up in my writing. I also didn’t have to push myself to be better because there was always a non-paying magazine that would take my work.
I started submitting only to pro rate and my writing dramatically improved. I’ve gotten personal rejections on every story (and form rejections still, too). No acceptances yet.
Then I was invited to write for a magazine that had a call for women veterans. Non-paying.
There’s not many women vets writing, so I was on the fence about submitting. And unhappy because all of the publications to “help” veterans do not pay the veterans for their writing.
So I looked at the magazine online. It was literary. They had a couple of sample stories up. I only had to read a few paragraphs to see that, even though I haven’t gotten into a pro market yet, I was writing well above the level of what the magazine was publishing.
A non-paying publication is generally not going to draw the good writers. Aspire for better.
Yes to all of this. Thank you!
Thanks for this perspective. A lot to think about.
Hi, Greer:
I agree about expanding one’s reach. I think of unpaid writing as marketing, getting the old name out there.
One of the caveats you raise is relevant here at WU, for as a contributing editor for Writer’s Digest I have to make sure I don’t undermine content I hope to use for an article by having it appear here first.
I’m fascinated by the Kate Warne project. I worked for 13 years as a private investigator for Palladino & Sutherland, and Sandra Sutherland was not just my boss but a brilliant investigator. I also worked with Melody Ermachild on the People’s Temple case, and I know Nancy Pemberton, who is something of an icon in criminal defense circles as a devoted anti-death penalty advocate. I admire all these women, and when people ask me if women can be PIs, I answer not only can they be, they are often among the best.
Thanks for the thought-provoking post.
David, you said it best, “I think of unpaid writing as marketing, getting the old name out there.” This is many writers view writing for free, me included. Thank you for the perspective.
A Guest Post at least has the possibility of reaching more readers – or readers you don’t already know who might like your work.
But they are a lot of work – and I haven’t had a good ROI on them yet. I’m diligent, and chat with commenters (many guest bloggers don’t), but people are commenting less and less.
I blame mobiles with tiny keyboards, but the reason doesn’t matter: the behavior does.
The question of “writing for free” made me think of whether we should SELL our work for free sometimes. When it comes to Indie authors, many of us are debating this question. For example, if you offer the first book of your fiction series for free (as an unknown author), it can lead to sales of book 2, book 3, etc. This DOES work for certain authors.
Apart from being a published author (books and short stories as well as poetry), I recently became a developmental editor for fiction. I decided to provide a sample edit to see if I was offering the kind of help the author wanted and if we were a good match. Doing this for FREE has gotten me as much work as I want to handle.
I would say “write with purpose,” no matter what you are doing. Know WHY you are spending your time and energy writing something – what you are offering your readers and what doing this gives you. The clearer we are about our motives and aspirations, the more satisfied we will be.
I have done a Forward to a book for free and some other “free writing” for a friend in his book.
Generally speaking, this quotation applies:
“Write without pay until somebody offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon this circumstance with the most implicit confidence as the sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for.”
— Mark Twain
Brilliant post, thank you for sharing. Your ideas about what to write and for whom are very insightful. I have been using your yardstick for a while now. Time is precious and we have to weigh the cost benefit. I have primarily been writing essays as a guest blogger about domestic violence and relationship abuse. It is what my novel is about and some of that washes over into my current WIP. I also hope that I can be of some help to readers who find themselves in an abusive relationship.