The day I wanted to hug the internet
Posted by elena | Posted in General | Posted on 09-02-2010
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A couple of weeks ago John Birmingham rekindled the fiery debate surrounding the unpaid book blogging positions advertised by ABC & Express Media’s joint venture, The Book Show Blog.
Among the torrential yet obligatory Gen Y bashing, and other comments about ageism (it’s common knowledge by now that they’re after under-30’s writers), I piped up with my own question, asking JB how we ‘baby writers’ should do it properly, given that he is no advocate for it.
Because of some usability issues I have with Brisbane Times website’s commenting system, (I hope JB doesn’t mind), I thought I’d share his advice:
ME: JB, what would you suggest for us baby writers, if writing for free is such an outrage? We’re pretty much brought up being told that we have to slug it out with gigs such as these, before even thinking of charging someone for our hard work.
JB: Elena, what can I say? It’s a tough gig. Your first couple of years as a writer you will starve, I promise you. You will not be able to pay your bills. A whole world of choice open to your friends who have real jobs, real paying jobs, is closed to you because of the path you have chosen.
Am I saying you should never write for free? No, of course not. There are times when it’s appropriate. For instance I have no issues at all with writers publishing their own blog, or contributing to group projects for which there is no possibility of payment. Some amazing creative work can come out of that sort of thing.
But when you step up and start writing in the big leagues – and as sad as it is, The Book Show is a very big league, at least in the context of the Australian publishing industry – then you get your professional game on.
No, you cannot expect to be paid as much as a senior correspondent who spent years building up her own readership and polishing her talents. You’re just not bringing that much to the table. But what you are bringing is energy and freedom – the freedom to do things that older, established writers with mortgages and families and 1000 other bindings and commitments simply cannot.
The Book Show wants to exploit that freedom and energy. It’s not some skanky little zine, or street mag. It’s a publicly funded television show. Sure, their funding is not generous. But is the executive director working for free? Are the camera operators? The editors? The producers? No. And neither should you.
Where does that leave you? Not in a good place. Not nowadays with the industry being cannibalized by the Internet. Not in the long run with reading itself under siege from audio visual electronic entertainment.
Do I have advice? Yes. Grab yourself a copy of one of the media guides floating around. The Queensland Writers Center does a great one every year called the A-Z. Writers Guide or something. Find out who’s paying, even if it’s only a token amount, and start submitting your work to them. Enter competitions. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of these things every year. Some of them quite obscure, but paying thousands of dollars in prizes. As a judge of those competitions on many occasions, let me tell you, the standard of entries for the most part is crap. The nuggets of gold really shine through.
If you are going to take a shot at something like The Book Show gig then make sure you give it the priority it deserves. It should be the last thing you get to after your abysmally low paid work is done. Yes, there are some minor benefits to be had from the sort of work they are offering. But to really exploit that opportunity you would need to invest the equivalent of full time hours in the position. It’s just not worth it.
Whenever I feel like throwing it all in for a job at a call centre, I’m going to come back and reread this.
Thanks for reposting this in a form that’s a bit easier to refer to, Elena. And additional thanks to both yourself for asking the question and John for answering it to comprehensively.
Phill: You are very welcome. I was telling everyone “go to this link and then scroll through the pages of comments”. It got annoying.
Aha! Excellent idea. (As in re-posting, but also reading JB’s advice after an uneventful day on Seek. I think we’ll both benefit from this!)
Some very wise words there. Just imagine yourself in a decade’s time (a looooong time in the eyes of gen-Y) when you’re happily writing away at home while your other friends are slogging it out in the corporate world.
JB’s words kinda makes skanky zines and street mags all the more sexy…
Kayleigh: Seek has been a bit depressing lately…
Mae: Yes, can’t wait till I’m a professional
internet bludgerwriter.huh. wonder how he feels about the huffington post then?
Bah. Reeks of “old school” elitism; the journos vs. bloggers argument, where you’re only allowed to write if you’ve suffered as much as they have (meaning a 3 year communications or journalism degree, and a few years of not being able to find a job).
One day they’ll wake up and realise that the way the world works has changed.
Sorry to throw a bucket of cold water here, but before we get too dramatic about starving for the craft, let’s remember that writing is not mutually exclusive with other paid employment. Let’s face it, you still have to pay the bills. So while you’re slogging your guts out in a call centre or some other ’soul-destroying’ job (previously simply known as ‘a job’), you can keep writing until you can make something of it.
Many now-famous writers wrote their first books during lunch breaks, between nappy changes, and snatches of time in the early mornings and late nights. Being single-minded and starving doesn’t make you a better writer than the one who holds down a day job until their passion pays the bills.
Thanks for posting this here… I’ve been moping about on Seek as well today, so it’s good timing.
The final paragraph kind of sums it up for me:
“If you are going to take a shot at something like The Book Show gig then make sure you give it the priority it deserves. It should be the last thing you get to after your abysmally low paid work is done. Yes, there are some minor benefits to be had from the sort of work they are offering. But to really exploit that opportunity you would need to invest the equivalent of full time hours in the position. It’s just not worth it.”
Back to Seek and eating a steady diet of dahl…
Caesar: The impression I got from this was that you should work really hard at what you want, in order to achieve it. It’s not an industry that welcomes newbies with open arms and a basket of goodies.
Lea: That’s what I plan on doing. Except that I kind of want a full-time job that will help me develop as a person…
I dont’ think anybody actually chooses to begin their writing career by quitting their dayjobs. But I do think that Bimingham’s opening paragraph touches on that sense of martyrdom that so many writers seem bestow upon themselves, you know, a slave to their pen and all that. (Well, laptop these days). Ahh I had more to say but I’m going to miss my bus >.<
Seek’s generally depressing, I find :)