Support Writers Worth Day

I'll take a break from Switzerland for a moment to let any writers and bloggers out there know about what's coming up on Friday. May 15 is Writers Worth Day. Spread the word. If you post about it on your blog, you can even win an amazon gift certificate by linking back to Words on the Page, which is a blog about the writing life by Lori Widmer, a veteran writer and editor.

Widmer, founder of Writers Worth Day, says, “Writers Worth Day was established in response to the increasing amount of job postings that offer little, if any, compensation for the amount of work expected.”

While I don't answer postings like this, I'm always amazed at the number of requests I get that ask if I can share my blog posts on another site or write a piece for free in exchange for "exposure." Please. It's one thing if I had something to sell. But it's another when what I'm selling is my writing. These publications and editors claim to have no budget and expect me to feel sorry for them. I don't.

As a writer, I don't work for free. And neither should you. Because it only ends up hurting all of us in the end. Writers make little enough as it is. We need to stand up for ourselves and "just say no." It worked for drugs. It can work for us too.

If you've got a great blog post or a great idea or a great essay, it will sell. You just have to be patient and keep trying. Giving things away for free is not the answer. If someone wants to use your blog material on another site, do what the professionals do and ask for a reasonable syndication fee. Or don't do it. It's not worth it to let dreams of Google Ad money (which will amount to probably 2 cents) get in the way of the future of the writing profession.

I can see it now, the procession of writers becoming IT professionals just so no one will ever ask them to work for free again. All the content we'll see on the Internet will be written by those with a terrible command of grammar but a great appetite for exposure. But the writing will be so bad, everyone will stop reading. And then where will that leave us?

To read more about Writers Worth Day and more about why writing for free is detrimental, visit the official press release.

Switzerland—a great place to be a writer

Switzerland tends to be a decade or two behind many trends that happen in the United States. And sometimes this is a great thing.

Take rights for writers. Until the mid-80s, most magazine publishers in the U.S. asked for only “first North American serial rights (FNASR)” to a piece they wanted to publish. This meant they had the one-time right to publish the article first in the North American market and the writer retained all other rights.

While writers for Swiss publishers still enjoy this “one-time right to publish” as the norm (not to mention get paid much better despite it), things are terrible for writers in the United States. Even very reputable publications try to grab all or almost all rights from writers through all-rights contracts, work-for-hire contracts, or through the back door via “non-exclusive rights” contracts, which sound much better, but really just mean the publisher can do whatever the heck they want with a writer’s work and never pay the writer another cent even though the writer still retains the copyright. And the worst part is, North American publishers still pay like they were only buying one-time rights.

It’s time to fight, writers. We have to ban together and not accept such terrible terms. If you are offered all-rights, work-for-hire contracts, or non-exclusive contracts, offer FNASR contract terms instead. If they say no, negotiate additional payment for additional uses and put a time limit on rights. Or demand higher payment. I’m doing my best to not be taken advantage of and I ask you to join me. It’s not easy, but every little piece of your rights that you can retain is a victory for all of us.

If you’re a writer and want more information about contracts relevant to publishers in North America, the American Society of Journalists and Authors is a great source. I refer to this page often when I receive a contract.

For writers in Switzerland, you can find information about publishing in Switzerland here (in German). And for any of you in Switzerland tired of writing for U.S. markets and looking for better terms, Swiss News is currently looking for journalists.