Working for Free
- This topic has 12 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated Jan 14, 2011 at 10:41 pm by
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I know that this topic has come up here quite a bit, and I just found this helpful graphic:
http://www.aphotoeditor.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/workforfree.jpg
Yea I’ve had the Tennessean news paper ask to use some stuff last year but when I mention pay, any pay, they immediately lost interest. Sad.
~Amen~
Quote from an e-zine editor:
“do you know we are a gallery style magazine? That is a fancy word for no budget for contributors. We just have not got enough advertiser yet. But, we are hearing some good things out there. Of course we will link your website to help promote you.”
____ Magazine.
Similar type of stuff Kurt, check my FB profile page about half way down. I have been doing my best to be as cordial and professional as possible with people. That is the response I have been giving. I hope it helps anyone when putting together a reply. It is sad, there really is some beautiful and amazing work being shared in a lot of the online rags. It is a catch 22 because I have enjoyed contributing to many of them in the past, however when it comes time to submit or have a photo request from an editor such as Phil, the first question asked is… “has this image been published anywhere else?”. I think there can be a healthy balance, but that balance is different for every photog. What I learned was the more I gave, more people took, and that became the expectation, not to mention the lack of a simple “Thank You”.
Very well done, and thanks for sharing Phil.
In just this week alone, I’ve said NO to three different inquiries promising exposure or asking for images in trade for gear.
But, this morning I received an actual check from a company that I said NO to back in October. They came back around after realizing that the free schlock images they had turned up weren’t what they needed to promote their company.
Celebrate your small victories, and keep saying NO!
There’s plenty of room for new e-zines that pay don’t we think? Imagine an online magazine that pays – what a novelty.
I tell you another thing that I can’t remember being mentioned; magazine and annuals that charge for entries to contests – charge to the point of being profitable, and the entire focus of their existence. Communication Arts, for one, comes to mind.Haha .. That is awesome Phil.
Im used to mags and ezines etc wanting stuff and offering “free protion” in return. They want to make money, grow circulation etc but not pay contributors. It is what it is.
I had a photo essay run in in the December issue of The Contemporary Sportsman. They do pay their contributors, which is pretty damn cool IMO. They are the first online fly fishing magazine, that I know of, that pays. Hopefully, this will help to change the way other online mags do things. 🙂
That is awesome Cor. As mentioned previously to you, I think the layout looks good. It is great to hear.
JB, your comments are spot on. I think some people are ignorant or may not understand the items you mentioned in your post.
Unlike any other art medium, photography gets a type of stigma that all it takes is the push of a button. A great painting or illustration cost hundreds if not thousands, and yet a photograph is looked upon differently. I just have to shake my head sometimes.
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