Arrogant? Does it not say - 'as no doubt others have'? Assuming that people in this forum have been published too in any guise? Be it newspaper, book, script or theatre play?
It's not meant to be arrogant, it's merely an opinion and nothing more. Just the same as anyone else who writes in this forum. Everyone is entitled to an opinion.
like most people who write, I do it because of a need to write, irrespective of whether it's published or not and I was merely pointing out that at times I do plenty for free as it's good Karma for ME.
I write scripts - some successful, many that don't hit the mark too. In the movie and television industry the famous saying goes...'writers are the life blood of the industry', which is without doubt the truest thing to say of any writer.
Without a writer there are no films, no books, no TV, no news scripts, nothing.
So, it is not arrogance because I do not devalue anyone who writes. In fact, in my opinion anyone can write, regardless of what some consider an exclusive talent and it doesn't have to be published to be the right thing to do. As I've said, many writers 'need' to write, which is of course credible in every sense.
We could go round and round in circles here insulting each other, but it's not the way forward and as I've said, I believe in good Karma, so I am sorry you feel it was an arrogant statement - it really wasn't because for every one script I have ever had interest in, there are ten that are of no interest at all.
So, to re-draft what I said, I am a published writer - yes published and I am happy to offer the odd thing for free, in the spirit of true Karma.
As an unpublished writer, I have also been happy to offer things for nothing, but do agree, that writers should not be exploited for their services.
I do not think that many people do things to offend intentionally -and to this end, while Fiona made a comment, I do not believe it was intended to make people feel unhappy, angry or hateful. Those feelings are for people without minds and intelligent thoughts.
Writers are by nature intelligent with thoughtful minds and valuable for their ideas.
In history, all the great thinkers wrote and to this day, some of our own technology has been written about, long before it was ever a reality by thoughtful writers with bright minds.
Thus, we return to writers being the life blood of the media industry but also to society itself.

If you wish to contribute for free then that is your choice, Sheila. Others are simply of the opinion they should be paid for it if it is being commissioned by a company.

There are plenty of places - ezines - where one can contribute one's work for free so as to showcase it amongst that of one's peers. You can find a selection on Duotrope: http://www.duotrope.com/

Choosing to write for no fee is one thing. Being asked to do it is entirely another, especially when it comes from the PR industry, whose primary business model seems to revolve around getting 'newsworthy' stories published for nothing while charging money to clients for arranging this.

Alex

unhappy, angry or hateful. Those feelings are for people without minds and intelligent thoughts.

What a bizarre statement.

Brilliant and what a coincidence as I am a bespoke writer looking for a PR and social media company to get me noticed.

You must understand how difficult it is for us writing folk, so I thought this would be a good opportunity for a company like yours to work for free. You see I am unable to pay, but I will provide you with links to lots of other writers who might also want you to do some free work for them. It's a case of doing as much as possible for the writer with a thin wallet.

If you fancy taking on my project, then please email me a brief description of your experience and I will get back to you asap.

Ben Yezir

What I did for my UK holiday

Well, I tried to book a flight to Edinburgh with BA, but the cabin crew were on strike and the flight was cancelled. So I went to the station to buy a train ticket. And guess what? The railway workers were on strike, too.

So I hitch-hiked to Dover and swam to France.

The End


(Is that PR enough for the UK?)

Ben

I think your counter-proposal sums up very accurately the worth of the proposition on offer!

Chris

I think there is a rising perception that unpublished writers need to showcase their work at every and any opportunity on the off chance that an passing agent might see it and be impressed, or so that one can include it in a covering letter as part of one's writing CV. Unfortunately, any publication is not necessarily worth the paper/webpage it's printed on, and writers need to be a little media smart so they don't find themselves and their work being exploited or, worse, losing their own money on it.

I don't like this at all. This site is for serious writers. The original poster has put up no work, nor has she joined a group, commented on anyone else's work, or post, or even given interesting, useful or technical information about travel writing or other markets. She has not bothered to develop a relationship with any of us, yet she will have access to any work which we have posted for viewing by WWs.

The majority of us may well, from time to time, write for no payment, Fiona, but that's because we care about the project or the person concerned.

Any one of us could produce articles on various subjects and get them published on the net or elsewhere, be paid something, however small that might be, and be fully acknowledged. It's no big thing.


I am far from happy that this post has been made on this site - not once but in three different places.

You're right, Issy. I haven't come across any of the other postings, but this one, posted in the Newcomers forum, I felt was particularly cynical. Newcomers will include people new to writing, as well as those who are just new to the site, and writing newcomers can be expected to be a little less savvy about giving their work away for nothing. The impression I got was that the poster was taking advantage of this fact.

There isn't much that can be done, though, other than keeping our eyes open and reporting any postings that appear to be from commercial organisations and/or intended for commercial gain.

Alex

If anything, I think the original poster is probably just a little naive. Some of the responses on here are unnecessarily harsh. Does it make you feel better to tear someone else down? A polite "no thanks" and a line of advice on how the industry works would have been more constructive...and fair.

Joolz

Sheila - what a badly written, ridiculous rant. You're not making any friends by ranting like that at the people who've been on this site for longer. Why not take the temp of the site before sounding off like that?

Issy, I understand your concerns... perhaps you could restrict access to your work to the group you're in? That would reduce the potential problem.

Ben... ha ha! Well said!

Deb

Thanks Deb, can't work out why they haven't got back to me

Ben

We're a self-help community of writers, Joolz, which means you'll get a range of personal opinions being expressed on such a thread. Personally I agree with Issy, that it's far better to get to know us first, before asking for favours. Spamming sites with such requests is just going to get people's backs up.

LOL! I'm not sure Fiona has fished in the right waters. Most of the writing she'd get from us would tend towards the cynical, and might not make particularly good PR. I love this website, and the people who contribute to it! We're all so similar, aren't we. Sorry, Fiona - but if you dip your toe into a pool of sharks, you're probably going to get bitten!