Would You/Should You/Could You Work For Free?

Well Allena,

I am currently writing a grant proposal on behalf of a non-profit. For FREE!

I am doing this because I so badly want a career as a virtual writer/editor of some sort, and I wanted to get a feel for this kind of work in my particular setting.

Still, I can’t help grinding my teeth sometimes. I am literally working to help people raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, while I am paid nothing. What’s worse is that I’ve had the experience of “clients” acting like they are doing me a major favor! I guess they are, in a way, but I can’t help but feel taken advantage of.

I have several years of in-house communications skills under my belt; I wish they accounted for more. And I certainly wish I knew someone who would be willing to give me a chance at some paying work. But for now, I guess I just have to keep plugging away with no payment in sight.

I think there are 2 parts to this.

Firstly, you have a skill that’s valuable, you have a talent that’s marketable and you (hopefully) love what you do. A lack of confidence in those things can get you thinking you have to write for free – and you need to be brutally honest about whether you really need to write for free or if you need to be more confident in your ability as a writer.

If you write for free because you feel like you have to do so to get where you want, that you somehow have to pay your dues to succeed or because you feel you’re not ready or good enough to be paid yet, then you need to take a step back and look at things differently (and more confidently).

Secondly, writing for free is just fine if it will give you valuable experience, make a valuable connection with someone or if it’s something that’s important and relevant to you.

If any of those things are true then go for it – it’s a worthwhile thing to do. Just know when enough’s enough, because there’s always someone out there who’s willing to take advantage of someone who’s generous.

I, too, have written for free. In the beginning of my career, I wrote for a local online arts mag that is rather well-known around the city, but it didn’t last long. What the editor expected while giving nothing in return was waaaay out of proportion. He still is the most difficult editor I’ve ever worked.

I also did an internship for a publishing house which paid an honourarium, but it was completely worth it. I regularly get on spec assignments from the editors there, and the pay is by professional standards.

I’m still writing for free actually, but it’s for a nonprofit that jives with my own values. I always like to be involved in a volunteer project, so combining my passions and skills makes sense to me.

That said, I never work for cheap. EVER!

I have. I plan on going into arts and entertainment writing, specifically as a theatre critic, and I recently had an opportunity to do some somewhat high profile writing for a very specialized theatrical event. I did it for free, but the experience and the clips are worth their weight in gold.

I’ve written for free in the form of some copywriting/blogging for my mother-in-law who owns a travel company. I’m also working for very cheap on a copywriting project right now.

Since I’m new to the whole freelance game, I’m happy to write for free/cheap for a bit to build my portfolio, reputation, and contact list. I’m also fortunate that my freelancing is not currently our main source of income. Pretty soon, though, it will be, so I’ll have to step it up, and I’ll be much less reluctant to work for free/cheap.

Nope, I don’t write for free. The utility companies won’t accept exposure, etc. as payment for their services so I can’t either.

This clip (rated R for language) is “must viewing” for everytone who needs to answer that question.

Yes, I have and still do write for free on occasion. Like the first post, I’ve written grants for a non-profit (our local volunteer fire department). I do this in part because I feel I have a duty to give back to my community and also because my husband is a volunteer for that department and I want him in the best gear and equipment possible. I’m currently working on another volunteer project. Yes, I’d rather be paid for writing, but I get huge satisfaction when what I’ve done has great results.

Yes, I have written for free, twenty years ago. I needed the clips, so I did it. I am doing it again now, for the internet; again, to gain clips. I have found it worth it due to all the contacts you make, and the exposure you get. Also, you hear about jobs that pay, from people and on websites, that take free work.

…that said, I just saw the link to the video Rebecca posted. Never looked at it from that angle. Food for thought…

Lawyers do pro bono work. Doctors and other medical professionals volunteer in clinics around the world. Restaurants give food to food banks. People in every profession donate their expertise and their products.

When I first started writing, it was recreational and therapeutic. I posted on public forums and boards. From there, I branched out, never dreaming that I’d actually get accepted in print. In my eyes, I was a rank amateur.

That changed. If it’s an assigned article or accepted query, I get paid (and NOT $2/500wds). I still blog and post for nothing though, because that is when I’m exercising my brain and writing is once again therapeutic, not employment. If I’m having fun with a piece or it’s a personal project, I don’t worry about the money. When there’s a deadline, word count, tone, etc. that I have to meet, it’s a job and I expect to be paid.

My advice to anyone who thinks they need exposure? If you’re going to write for free, build a website or newsletter (any topic)and write for yourself instead of greasing someone else’s wallet with your efforts. Link your site to any others that are appropriate. Google will pick up your name and give you all the ‘exposure’ you’re looking for.

Ask yourself before accepting a ‘for the love’ writing assignment…Isn’t my time worth more than nothing?

Cheers,
~Arlie

P.S.
Joey, I just read your comments. I too was a volunteer firefighter and while I was on the roster, I did a lot of pro bono work on behalf of FDs everywhere. THAT truly is a labour of love. As a bonus, the legitimate credentials that you gain from an organization like your local FD can lead to much larger arenas.

The freebies that irritate me are the ones that are expected, like in that video. (“Seeking articles for new ezine, must have a Master’s in English, new start up…can’t pay anything except our undying gratitude.”) These are the ads that should go unanswered, and then these would-be publishers will either vaporize or be forced to pay for our services.

~A

Free! Free!!!! P.l.e.a.s.e. I don’t know of any professional freelancer who can make a living from freebies. Unless you dont have a clip yet forget it.

Sure most of us lob off a freebie to a charity now and again, but unless we value ourselves highly no-one else will. Forget the poor struggling creative – you can make stacks of money from freelancing. The secret is one word INVOICES with very long numbers on them:-)

Hello fellow writers

For most wannabe writers there is only free work. Most adverts for writers are asking for professional top class work, but they don’t want to pay. It is the same with a lot of artist and creative work.

I say only work for free if it is helping you and try not to do it for too long. As Arlie says having your own blog of website is the best thing if you are writing for free. Build yourself up, not over people who want your work for nothing.

Good luck to all you us writers! :0)

Twice I’ve written for free. One was the Alzheimer’s Association at the very beginning of my career. Never regretted it. Last time was a pseudo-client who claimed to have a nonprofit when in fact he was a scam artist looking for cash in the worst possible way. In that case, I worked for free and regretted it.

The ONLY time you should work for free, in my opinion, is when your mother is the client or it’s a cause you believe strongly in. Beyond that, you’re a professional and should feel no shame in charging.

I do publicity for a history-related group I belong to, including writing and laying out the newsletter, and claim my hours on my income tax as an in-kind contribution. The group also claims all volunteer time on their records, which benefit grant applications.

I write for free all the time because I just love writing. http://mels-cafe.blogspot.com/

Yup. I’ve done the free thing and the paid thing. Usually, my poetic works are the freebies while articles, web work, and other forms like help files get the invoice. I’m on route to try to put an end to the freebies though.

RK

Yes, I write free things for our church all the time. For example, I wrote and put together an entire Web site. It’s part of my service to the church and giving back in the way of my gifts from God.
I did, however, say “no” to a non-profit lady’s club which I belong. I do a lot of volunteer work within the community. I was asked to write up people profiles for a calendar. I declined and explained that writing is the way I make a living. However, I would be happy to give back in other ways. The group does things like Meals on Wheels and work with seniors, so I was sure to put my time in those areas as I had promised.

I think writing for free is a (bad word), but sometimes a have to case if you want to get in the door of some place. I spent years writing rinky dink stuff for free with my local newspaper before they started paying me. That’s where the cheap comes in – they don’t really pay anything for what you do. I’ve also written poetry for those dang scam anthologies thinking that it might give me a publishing credit and found out later it didn’t really count in the scheme of things. Sixty bucks to see a poem I’d written in a nicely bound hardback book. I also published my first novel through a POD publisher for aset price and then only made thirty dollars in sales because the publisher didn’t pay their authors and were busted by the government for tax evasion. Yeah, I’ve had a pretty crappy life dancing in this publishing world and hate the idea of giving up my talent for free anymore. Yeah, I had to in the beginning – like most of us folks in this arena, but not anymore. I figure if they don’t want to pay me for my work and still want it, someone else out there will be willing to pay for it. If no one does, I just hold my guns and think that it’s because I’m too good for them (even if I’m not. I think and have positive relationship with my work and believe in it and myself. My advice is to never sell yourself short. Anything written deserves the right to be published somewhere and by God sticking to your guns is how you eventually get there.
Thank you for this moment to speak and vent on the subject. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or just wanna chat.
Yours in the struggle to be,
(Ryc) Richart Drake Lewis – news correspondent for the Tipton County Tribune (Elwoodpublishing.com)

I’ve been a consultant more years than I’ve been a writer, which is how I learned the pitfalls of working for free. So many people don’t want to pay for honest work!

That being said, I sometimes write for free, but only for very specific causes that I also support in other ways. Since my primary expertise is computer-related, I decided never to take an unpaid writing gig if it involves computers. It’s the same principle as the one that warns against underpricing your rates – if your work’s that good, you should charge what it’s worth.

I might consider a writing job if it didn’t pay but had worthwhile bennies, like a workshop or good networking opportunities. I don’t consider that “free,” just not monetary in payment. It has to be worthwhile, though, not just a token offering.

Great question!

Triona Guidry
author of Triona’s Tech Tips, your online computer help resource
http://www.guidryconsulting.com/techtips

Well, folks, we all know about Harlan Ellison, but he’s absolutely right in that brilliant little clip. He makes a point we should all think about: If we agree to provide our services for free, what harm are we doing to the prospects of other writers who come after us? Upton Sinclair, I think, makes a similar point in one of his books: The reason garment workers can’t make a living wage and have to turn to prostitution to feed their kids is that the middle-class girls who also take those jobs are just doing it to earn a little extra pin-money, so they agree to work for that and no more. Think about it from the point of view of the tightwad employer: If you can get a service for $5.00 an hour, why would you pay $10.00? You wouldn’t.

Work for free? We’ve all done it, but what have we wrought upon the earth?? If skinflint tightwad employers want us to work for free, perhaps it’s our own fault for letting them think they can ask us to. And if other writers can’t get paying work, perhaps some of the responsibility for that is ours as well.

Unless we’re actually making a charitable donation of our services to a needy cause (and a successful ad agency is not a needy cause, nota bene), perhaps we should consider that we’re being asked to sabotage the careers of other writers if we’re asked to work for free.

Sorry. I’m a writer, not an assassin.

Great article and comments. My husband is a Director of Photography and has the same problems you guys do and unfortunately works for free or just about free much too often. It drives me crazy because I believe he is only shooting himself, and his colleagues, in the foot by doing this. He is way too nice and trusting of people (in the entertainment industry?? Ha!) and honestly I don’t feel he is confident enough in his abilities to stand up for himself and not accept these no/low wages from people who claim they have no budget for him or that it’ll be great for his reel. I also think it strokes his ego that someone actually wants to hire him, even for nothing. Plus he loves what he does so he’d rather be doing something for nothing than just sitting around waiting for a job. And he somehow thinks these people who hire him for nothing will pay him more on their next job, out of the kindness of their hearts. I just think why would they pay you more when they know they can get you for nothing or almost nothing? Granted he has done some stuff for free that has really paid off for him and has led to paying jobs but if you can’t use the material for yourself or if their is no exposure for you then I say don’t do it! If they really like your work they’ll “manage” to come up with the money. Now if I can just convince my husband of this!

Oops, I meant there not their. Sorry, writers!!!

I believe that initially working for free is fine but at this point I find I’m still falling into that trap of working for free and it’s not very gratifying. I feel used and taken advantage of.

I have a graduate degree in journalism and spent loads of money on education and have garnered quite a few clips.

It’s offensive to have worked so hard to get where I am and most potential employers want to pay me nil. I believe at some point I will have to write for fun and write only things I’m interested in, parlay my skills into grant, technical or business writing (none of which I’m particularly fond of) or continue working for internship “experience” stipends.

Why do so few companies pay freelancers??