A woman who writes a free weekly column for the Sunday business section of a large daily newspaper emailed me last week and detailed the great success she has been having with that column and with her paid syndicated content that’s distributed through an online service.
“Additionally, in return for the publicity and traffic, I’m carried in about 10 other online ezines, some of which use me exclusively, and some of which use me as a regular contributing columnist,” she writes. “I’m OK with those terms, but they give me added clout and credibility.”
So she asks: “As I am about to purse the daily newspaper where I live, at this point because of my other gigs, can I request remuneration?”
She also wanted to know if it’s time to start asking the daily newspaper for a check.
Here’s what I told her:
“You can ask for whatever you want. But if I were you, I wouldn’t ask for anything. Just consider the space they’re giving you as a free ad. This is a grim time financially for newspapers everywhere. They’re cutting their newsrooms as well as the size of the paper. The last thing they want to hear about is a columnist who wants to be paid. Besides, it’s a lot cheaper for them to just buy a syndicated column from somebody with a big name for less than $50 a week than to have to pay you.”
Graciously accept all that free ad space, thank them, then ask “What else can I do to help you?” It’s all about creating good relationships with journalists.
If you’re still not convinced, tally up all the column inches you get each week, contact the newspaper’s advertising department, and ask how much it would cost to buy an add that size.
Ditto for anyone whose column appears in a magazine.
Hi Joan,
I have a question. Is it okay to submit the same article to newspapers in different states at the same time?
Thank you kindly,
Carolyn
Amen Joan! That space can reap lots of rewards. While writing for free does have its controversy, I like to give my expertise to allow others to get to know my writing style and induce them to know more about how I do business. Same goes for giving 1 or 2 hour presentations.
My blog has also found clients for me. Recently, I was asked to start a column in a local newspaper with some big plans, and to do an interview-type bio on a famous corporation owner here in Turkey.
Carol, you can indeed send the same material to different newspapers, but make sure the newspapers are in non-competing markets. For example, you wouldn’t send the same column to both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times.
Be sure to offer “one-time rights.”
It is not clear in this case whether this columnist plans to make a living as a writer or if writing is just a PR adjunct to something else. Professional writers being published deserve to be paid. Do you think the newspaper’s electricity company would trade power for an ad? People who are willing to write for nothing make it very difficult for those who want to be successful writers.
In almost 20 years, I have only written for free for magazines of organizations of which I am a member, and those few articles resulted in measurable book sales.
I don’t expect to be paid for news releases printed in papers and magazines, nor do I expect a byline. For anything else, I expect payment. When the editor works for free, I might consider it.
Walt, the woman who queried me does not intend to make a living writing.
Most professional freelance writers have a strict policy against writing for free, and I understand that. The woman who wrote to me is not in that category.