Savor the Success

Among freelance writers, blogging and guest posting are quite controversial topics. The debate has two sides, or camps.


The Write-Only-for-Money Camp: "It's bad enough that some writers are willing to work for pennies. Now you bloggers are putting your stuff out there for free. Do you realize that if you keep doing that, no one will want to pay any of us anything?! We will all starve. Is that what you want? Is it?"


The Write-What-We-Want-Even-if-We-Don't-Get-Paid Camp: "But blogging is really fun."


Okay, the reasoning for writing for free is actually a bit more complicated. What follows are all of the reasons why I write for free. I do it because:

• I can. I get paid a premium for ghost writing and health writing. Because of that, I do not have to work full time. I have the time available to me to try other types of writing, types of writing that, at the moment, I get paid little or nothing to write (see next point).

• No one will pay me for the material that I'm putting out there for free. Really, I've tried it. I've sent essays to all sorts of paying outlets. They don't want them. Just don't. I'm not right for their readers. That's what they all say. If you'd like to prove me wrong then, by all means, go ahead and submit this very blog to any paying market of you choice and see if someone wants to pay me for it. Pretty please?
  

• It boosts my ego. When people comment on my blog and tell me, "I love this! You are great. I wish I could marry you," it makes me feel really good. Writers are probably about as mentally stable as the permanent residents of your local state psychiatric hospital. Without such positive feedback, I, for one, would probably need a complicated cocktail of prescription medicines just to keep myself from hearing the voices that say, "You suck. You really suck. You suck so bad that no one in their right mind would ever describe you as anything other than a person who sucks." Yeah, those voices. You have them, too? Start a blog. They'll go away.

• It keeps me happy. I'll give you a hypothetical. Let's say I only had 10 spare minutes. During those 10 minutes, I had the choice of doing one of three things:

        1) writing a kick ass blog.


        2) having raucous, mind-blowing sex.


        3) eating the best cannoli ever made.


That would be a very difficult decision. I'm still thinking about it. I'm just not sure. I think it's....the blog?

• I own my blog. Putting free material on my blog is not quite the same thing as giving free material to Glamour or another paying market.

• Some markets won't pay---whether I give them free material or not. Without writers like me, these sites would never launch. If anything, giving a free guest blog to a start up creates a paying market because it allows that start up the chance to grow. Plus, there are non-monetary benefits for guest blogging. They include: exposure building and karma building. You never know when someone will see your free article and call you to offer you a paying job. Case in point: I got a 1K per month freelance job precisely in this way. An editor liked my free writing, so she emailed me and offered me a paying gig.

• It keeps me in charge of my destiny. I could write hundreds of essays, put them in a drawer and have them never see the light of day. Then, some day, I'll die. Someone will find them and publish them and make a lot of money. Is that fair? I just don't think so. The alternative scenario is this: I put it out there. Maybe someday someone will describe me as the next Nora Ephron and the New Yorker will call and suggest I name my price so they can have the pleasure of publishing my writing. Hey, a woman can dream and, if that dream comes true, I will be one incredibly happy writer.

Why I write for free Part 2 will focus on guest blogging, and why all bloggers should do more of it, even if it doesn't pay.


Do you write for free? Do you only write for pay? Why? Leave a comment.

Alisa Bowman writes about the ups and downs of marriage--and life in general--at www.projecthappilyeverafter.com.This week, she's writing a FREE multi-part series entitled "Free Marriage Advice." If you are at all not happy in your marriage, you really ought to check it out. It's free after all. You have nothing to lose. You know what else is free? Her tweets. You can have the pleasure of following her on  twitter for the affordable price of absolutely nothing. Her handle is @alisabow.