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Post A Note > The Lounge > Life, The Universe, and Everything > Allowing your fiction to be published for free: is it ever worth it?
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Author Topic: Allowing your fiction to be published for free: is it ever worth it?  (Read 1013 times)
oceanscribe
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« on: July 29, 2009, 01:38:04 PM »
Is it ever worthwhile to allow your fiction to be published for free?

My opinion is that it is not worthwhile, except in a very few instances, such as if:

- It is your own Web site or publication.

- You are bartering for something that you consider to be of equivalent value, like Web site creation or guitar lessons.

Web sites or publications that don’t offer pay usually offer excuses like these:

“We can’t afford to pay yet, but we will provide your bio and a link to your Web site.”

Who exactly will be reading my bio and linking to my site? Are publishers and agents saying, “I think I’ll pop over to the ‘Fresh Writing Blood’ Web site so I can discover the next great novelist or short story writer because I don’t come across enough good talent from the 10,000 submissions I receive every year.”

A variation of the bio-Web site link benefit is:

“You will get great exposure.”

Who will I be exposed to besides the other poor writers that were duped into publishing for free, spammers?

“We will offer revenue-sharing when we start receiving revenue?”

Good, when you start receiving revenue then you can put out a call for writers.

My thoughts are: if somebody wants to publish your fiction, he or she ought to pay something. Surely, that person can afford to allocate $5 per piece.

If you are helping out a friend who is trying to get a literary publication started, your friend can treat you to breakfast or lunch.

Nobody ever says, “Hmmm, I spent so much money buying my house that I can’t afford to fix it up. I think I’ll see if I can get somebody to paint it for free; I’ll give them great exposure by letting them put up a company sign while they paint.”

(I do think there are situations where you might allow publication of nonfiction articles without pay:

You are trying to compile clips and you don’t have any published ones yet.
You are using the articles to build your professional reputation in a certain field.
You are contributing to a nonprofit organization that is staffed by volunteers.)

So again, my question is:
Why squander first fictional story rights for no payment?


oceanscribe

 
« Last Edit: July 29, 2009, 02:00:14 PM by oceanscribe » Logged
lizbeth
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« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2009, 05:28:02 PM »
To me it was well worth it.  I have only been paid twice out of the 11 times I have been published. Okay, I'm not in any of the big name literary magazines, but I am published in respectable venues, paid or not.
I will be paid royalties when my fiction romance piece comes out in Wild Horse Press in Jan. 2010, so I am building a good foundation. As my husband says, you have to play in the minor leagues before you get to the majors (most of the time...)   Smiley

And I love seeing my work in print and knowing I'm being read. To me it's not only about money, it's about writing, and having someone like my work enough to accept it.
 Smiley
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oceanscribe
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« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2009, 05:32:23 PM »
Thanks lizbeth.

So, you are building a fan base with some free publications--that is a benefit that I hadn't thought about.

oceanscribe
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lizbeth
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« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2009, 07:31:19 PM »
Well, Oceanscribe - I don't know about a fan base...I haven't had any crowds begging for my autograph!!  But, my goal is to finish the novel I am writing and when I search for an agent I figure it can't hurt to have a few things on my resume!   But your points are well taken!   Smiley
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Speck
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« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2009, 11:33:30 PM »
Another possible benefit...

I've been published for "free" in a nice ezine several times.  The editor likes my work...he's a nice guy and fairly well known in the genre.  So...when I get my novel ready...I'll see if he'd be willing to write a blurb for me.  Or do a review in his ezine... 

Editors are nice people to be connected with.:-)

And...like someone else said...it does help build a fan base.  I can send people the link, they can read my work and if they like it...maybe they'll buy novel.

Yes, it's great to be paid money for a piece but sometimes money doesn't mean much.  For example...say a website or ezine does pay a small bit...$5 or so...but only has 100 readers each month.    But website "b" doesn't pay but has 1,000 readers each month.  I'd take the more readers over the money.

You have to remember too, most ezines and websites are paid for out of the owner/editor's pocket.  They have no income from the ezine to pay with.







Speck
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oceanscribe
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« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2009, 03:05:01 AM »
Speck,
Thanks. So, more reasons are to make contacts with publishers and reach potentially bigger audiences.
- Well, I guess there are some reasons to allow fiction to be published for free.

oceanscribe
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MaryR
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« Reply #6 on: August 01, 2009, 01:12:26 AM »
Ocean, there is one  good reason to be published for free...you will at least introduce yourself to a few people. But only do it if that story is headed to the file cabinet for the duration, because you've exhausted every paying market and got a no thanks from all.  No point in wasting a story!

Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor
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oceanscribe
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« Reply #7 on: August 01, 2009, 10:24:36 AM »
Quote from: MaryR on August 01, 2009, 01:12:26 AM
But only do it if that story is headed to the file cabinet for the duration, because you've exhausted every paying market and got a no thanks from all.  No point in wasting a story!

Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor

Thanks Mary. Yes, exhausting rights is why I don't think it is worthwhile.

oceanscribe
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MaryR
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« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2009, 10:45:11 PM »
Ocean, you're only exhausting your First Rights.  You have lots of rights to sell, if you become well established as a writer and people want your reprinted work.  I have made more from some of my stories as reprints (in anthologies or magazines) than I made with the original sale. 

If you can't SELL those first rights, but you can exchange them for readers who enjoy your work and will blog/talk about it, isn't it better than holding it on your hard drive for ever?  Who reads it then?

Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor
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oceanscribe
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« Reply #9 on: August 07, 2009, 01:56:18 PM »
lizbeth, Speck & Mary,

You have all given me respectable reasons why somebody would allow his or her fiction to be published for free.

For me though, I don't think that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. I'm not talking about getting rich from fiction, or that the only reason to write fiction is to get paid for it--just that I think if someone wants to publish another author's fiction, it is appropriate to pay something for it. Conversely, I took the Long Ridge course so I could get the basics of writing marketable fiction. if I write a fictional piece that nobody is willing to pay for then I'm not writing marketable fiction, so I need to practice, revise and rewrite more--not make it available for free.
« Last Edit: August 07, 2009, 03:54:18 PM by oceanscribe » Logged
jackm
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« Reply #10 on: August 07, 2009, 02:52:23 PM »
Here is an interesting take on the topic of this post. It's an MSN article about free e-books and how it can help sales.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32329220/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/
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"The way you define yourself as a writer is that you write every time you have a free minute. If you didn't behave that way you would never do anything." - John Irving

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Speck
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« Reply #11 on: August 07, 2009, 07:42:47 PM »
Jack...

I read several major published authors who have free downloads of their work too.  They all say it's helped build a reader/fan base.

I do agree that writers should be paid for their work...especially if the publisher is making money from it.  And, I definitely start at the paying markets when I send things out.  However, for me...sometimes the benefits letting an editor publish the piece outweigh the three or four bucks I might get from it.  It's all a personal preference thing.  I'm not sure there is a right or wrong answer, except do what ever feels right to you.:-)


Speck
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jackm
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« Reply #12 on: August 07, 2009, 08:50:49 PM »
I agree, Speck. That's one of the joys of writing. You do what feels right for you. You write the stories you like to write, you send them to the places you like and so on. Granted you may not get paid what you feel is right for you, but that is also one of the "joys" of writing.

I agree with Mary too. Keep sending a piece out until you've exhausted markets for it. If it's ready for the file cabinet why not get it out there for free? It may help in the long run.

I think Anne McCaffrey put out a book of shorts called "Get Off The Unicorn". I think other authors have done the same. Maybe they were the file cabinet stories that got a second life when they became famous. Hmmm.. where was I going with this... Oh... Starting out you need to grow a base (platform) if you can build that base with some free stuff that has already been to every market you can think of, why not? Then when you are looking for agents or talking to editors you can say "Hey I have real people, that aren't family or relatives, that like what I write and they really want to see a book." kind of thing. It can really help if they know there is a market already out there for your work.

I know I don't have any problem putting shorts out there for people to read for free. It gives me feedback on how I'm doing - good and bad. It tells me what works and what doesn't. I might think something is brilliant but feedback tells me the opposite. So I adjust and keep going.

Just some thoughts.

Jackm
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"The way you define yourself as a writer is that you write every time you have a free minute. If you didn't behave that way you would never do anything." - John Irving

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MaryR
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« Reply #13 on: August 10, 2009, 12:58:51 AM »
There's a real shift in publishing as we go more and more to the 'free' internet  -- the expectation that authors will provide work for free. While I feel that this is a double edged sword -- I'd hate to see ALL work donated for free, hard to pay the mortgage that way -- it is more and more almost an expected offering.  But I would not put your top, saleable work out on the internet before you offer it to a paying market.  The marketplace is narrow enough that surely you'll have work that simply won't suit editors you've tried, but is good.   Use that.

Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor
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DeeDee
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« Reply #14 on: September 03, 2009, 07:21:54 AM »
There is only one thing worse than publishing for free, and that is paying someone to read your stuff. 
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