Right on (or maybe write on), 😉 Dava.

I’ve been asked for both, Paula. Once again, lazy marketing comes to the forefront. My first reaction when someone asks for my contacts is to think, “Seriously?” Like you, if it’s someone I know and trust (like Lori), I am happy to share. I’ve shared Lori’s name with contacts for the commercial side of insurance as my strength is the employee benefits side.

Dava, your last sentence is everything. The ones who put the least amount of effort into this are the ones who complain loudest. I’ve seen it on forums I will no longer frequent (too negative, and they’re addicted to that negativity). It tells me that these are writers who are doing a few things wrong — not trying beyond job boards, not being consistent with what they try, chasing every next money-making approach ….

What they’re not doing: putting the hard work into it. You nailed it!

People are so weird. That guy will probably end up being one of the folks who moan and wail about how impossible it is to make money as a freelancer.

I remember that person, Paula. She’s been “enhancing” her resume for a while now. Writers unwilling to investigate will be taken in, but it’s not that hard to figure out when someone is fudging the experience.

I will share contacts with a writer friend who has a good reputation. I probably sent things your way as they appear, and I know a number of writers I’ve passed along opportunities to. However, I draw the line at “Hi! My name is …. Please give me the contact info for your client.” Hey, if it’s a magazine editor and I know you, I’d share that. But these asks to handle work for my clients or hey, just tell me who your client is and I’ll ask if they need more writers — not happening.

I don’t mind sharing contacts with someone I know well and who I know will pitch an idea to an editor, very professionally, and who’s already covering the entertainment industry. But I won’t share contact info with people who just think it would be cool to write about entertainment or interview celebrities. To them, the most I’ll do is tell them how I broke in by contacting the editors with good ideas and a big stack of clips to show I could do the work.

One person tried to covertly get me to share my contacts at Variety. She pretended she had written there too, and wanted to see if we had worked with the same people. I searched her name in Variety’s massive database and her very distinctive name didn’t show up once. Big surprise. She now spends most of her time coming up with creative ways to separate beginning freelancers from their money.