Exposure Revisited

Should I just rename this web log “Will Work for Money”?

Here we go again – another ad for “invaluable exposure!” from yet another startup. The owners are like the others before them – they expect us to buy into their dream without any compensation beyond seeing our name in print. And there’s the rub for me. For some reason, people outside the writing world believe that it’s all about ego for us. Some think that all we live for is a byline and a pat on the back.

Uh, no.

In fact, if there are writers out there like that, it’s because: a) they are brand new and ANY exposure sounds good to them, or b) they don’t value their careers enough yet to believe they deserve payment for services rendered. It happens. We’ve all been at the beginning of a career and have been tempted by (or have even succumbed to) the “write for exposure” gigs. (I wrote one freebie in my life, and it was for a charity, which in my opinion doesn’t count.)

But back to our advertiser. What unnerved me about this one was that the poster decided to argue back about why he/she wasn’t paying. “We’re a startup on a limited budget.” And that means exactly what to me? I’m a startup on a limited budget – think my electric company will take that as a reason to forego billing me this month? Did anyone ever expect a doctor or an electrician to forego payment because hey, we just don’t have the budget for it?

Take that excuse for what it is – a bullshit excuse. In fact, I challenge all writers, beginning and seasoned, to respond to these ads and tell the advertisers so. We need to educate those in dire need of educating. We are not in this for ego. We write to survive. We don’t care about your budget constraints any more than you care about ours. We cannot buy in to your dream unless you’re putting cash behind it. Just because you get excited about your new venture doesn’t mean the rest of us should. If you’ve budgeted for IT and you’ve budgeted for web design, you damn well better make sure you budget for good writing. If you intend to draw a salary, then you should intend to pay all involved in helping you get to that point. Otherwise, may I suggest a course in composition?