To commercial websites which ask for free content, rot in hell
I am slightly upset. No…actually, I am furious. I routinely get emails asking me to contribute free content to a website (not a personal blog, which would be different), in exchange for ‘a link back’, which to me is like asking, ‘Hey, how about you spend your precious time writing quality content for our website which has few followers, so that we can get more readers, make money and then give you f*** all? We will put a link back to your website, but so few will click through (if we ever get to become successful, that is), that writing for us will have been a complete waste of time!’
I’m afraid I found myself venting my anger on the owner of a website, who, for the second time, had sent me the same copy-pasted email asking me to contribute for free to his new website. Let’s say that my answer was not pleasant, and he didn’t reply.
I also need to admit that my anger had come into being because of something which has happened to me recently. When I started travel blogging, I also dreamt of becoming a travel writer of sorts, and since I always read that one needs to initially built up one’s portfolio by working for free for online publications, I did my fair share of free work for an expat-related website. Through the months, I tried to enquire as to whether there were paid opportunities within this website, but while whoever is behind this was very happy to employ co-editors to write up information for expats about places they had never lived in, he was not, alas, able to pay what he called ‘external writers’. I accepted this and moved on, and discovered that just because I was a new writer it didn’t mean that I had to give my work away for free, and that websites like Bootsnall.com and Matador compensate their contributors, even if the sum involved is small.
Fast-forward to about a week ago, when I found myself incredibly bored and reflecting on the fact that my name/surname combination was very rare (last time I checked I was unique on facebook), so I decided, once again because I was bored out of my wits, to run a google search and see if there were any other Denise Pulises out there. My website popped up towards the beginning of the search, followed by links to some contributions I had made to other websites, but it was still me. Then suddenly, I came across a Denise Pulis who had published a book and was selling the kindle version on Amazon. Wow, I thought, there’s someone with my exact same name and surname who is a published author. So I clicked on the link…only to discover that the expat website which I had contributed to had taken all my articles, put them in a kindle book, mixed them with other articles I had not written, and slapped my name on the whole thing without ever asking me for my permission. I couldn’t believe it.
Needless to say, I was furious. I contacted the editor of the website who apologised and quickly removed the book from Amazon. When I asked him for some sort of compensation, he insisted that the book hadn’t been successful (I have only his word for it), and that he could not pay external writers. Whatever he claimed, the point is that this company took articles which I had never said could be sold for profit, and tried to make money out of my free contributions. If you are a new blogger, there’s a moral to this story…
Just because you’re new to the business doesn’t mean you have to give your work away for free. Shortly after stopping my contributions to said website, I contacted bootsnall.com with some well-thought ideas for articles which the editors liked. I have since then published a number of articles for which I have been paid. Other bloggers have had similar experiences with Matador. Plus, writing for little, almost unknown websites will not help you get that gig with Lonely Planet. I know because I’ve tried, and I even have a feature published on the Qatar in-flight magazine. If you’re interested in getting more clicks on your website, you can try feed syndication, which has worked for me with websites like Lonely Planet and Raveable. In this case, it’s simply a question of your feed being published on another website, sometimes as a whole, sometimes only as a snippet, and readers clicking through to view your posts. Through this system you’re only extending the reach of your blog, and not actually writing new, quality content for websites which won’t pay you a penny.
Websites and editors out there need to stop thinking that it’s ok to create a business out of copyright-free content which some writer desperate to break into the travel writing business spends hours writing, and make it sound like they’re doing you a favour. I have learnt the hard way, but new bloggers and writers shouldn’t have to.
-Text by Denise Pulis @ www.theartofslowtravel.com. Photos via Flickr creative commons. Click on each photo for attribution.
18 Comments → “To commercial websites which ask for free content, rot in hell”
Trackbacks For This Post
-
-
5 months ago
[...] Not surprisingly, she was unimpressed. You can read the full post here. [...]
Leave a Reply
Browse by Continent/Theme
Portfolio
Navigate
Hi Denise,
I can understand your anger, and hopefully others will take a lesson from this unfortunate incident. Sadly, being able to hide behind an Internet wall brings out a lot of dishonest people. I do not write for free, and when I get those smarmy emails I ignore them. Although, the last one I got I sent a message back telling them it was their lucky day; special price 25% off just for them….never heard back (haha).
Have you read The Bloggess’s solution to being receiving moronic requests? If not, do a quick search for “Wil Wheaton collating.” The awesomeness cannot be overstated.
I just researched. OMG, ahahahahahahahaha
Holy moly, that is OUTRAGEOUS!! You have every right to be furious. I can’t believe you didn’t name and shame the website. I would have.
Hi Barbara,
I would have loved to name and shame, but the truth is that this is not a popular website, and the last thing I want is for it to get page views because of this!
Oh my god, some people are unbelievable! Don’t you feel like getting some revenge? If it’s an American site, maybe you can sue someone
Hi Kjersti,
I think there is really nothing I can do.
I would looooooooveeee to get some revenge, but have no idea what I can do. Actually all I wanted was some kind of compensation, which the editor refused to give. Adding the name of the site on this blog will only result in a few more views for this website, which I certainly don’t want. And no, the site is not American
Holy crap- I can’t believe this happened. Well, yes I can. People are horrible and will do anything to make a dime. I guess I’m surprised that they keep your name on it- why not just change the name if you are stealing anyway. Ugh, I’m glad you got it taken down at least.
Denise,
Thank you so much for writing this. I have been struggling how to come to terms working for “exposure” versus cash for the last few months. Its a really hard situation to put yourself in. I’ve always heard “don’t work for free – ever”, but its such a frustrating situation if you’re trying make a name for yourself.
I don’t know any other sector that works like this. I mean, can you imagine telling your hairdresser, plumber, lawyer, that you’re not going to pay them, but you’ll be sure to tell all of your friends about there fantastic service as “payment”?
total crap!
Hi Nicole,
Exactly! From my experience, unless the site is super popular (like Lonely Planet), it’s just not worth it, and I’d probably not write for LP for free either, I just syndicate my feed there. Try to get some articles written for Bootsnall or Matador. They are both popular websites and they pay a little, which is great!
Hi,
Thanks for the advice. I’m in contact with both sites that you mentioned, but it still very new. I’m waiting to hear back from them. Also, how do you syndicate your feed there?
-Nicole
Hi Nicole,
With lonely planet it’s not possible at the moment (applications have closed for their blogsherpa program).
OMG I can’t believe anyone would be that awful stealing your stuff – that’s way worse than the inbox full of people offering me the ‘opportunity’ to write for their new website with no readers!
I will learn from you and keep checking google regularly. So glad you found it.
hahahaha yes…I always laugh at the word ‘opportunity’. I also laugh when I get emails saying that I’d be provided with a quality post at no cost for myself which will include a link back to a particular company…hahaha
The publisher “who shall not be named” has at least 6 expat guides up on Amazon – so it’s likely he’s pulling the same scam with other writers. Scumbag.
Hi Shim,
The guides the publisher has on Amazon are on the editor’s and sub-editor’s name. Most of those guides were written by them, and simply researched rather than a result of personal experience (so you can imagine how accurate they are). I have no idea if they have included work by unsuspecting contributors, but frankly, there haven’t been many people willing to contribute so I’m guessing most of it is written by them.
I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had this bad experience, Denise. Thank you for relating it to us, as it will serve as a warning.
It’s very tempting at the beginning to consider giving content away free in return for being published by another party. Apart from the resulting personal loss, I can see that at least in some cases, if they don’t have to pay for it, they don’t appreciate it.
As an example, I was only recently contacted by a very well known airline, with a request to use some of my photos for an article in their in-flight magazine. There was no mention of compensation in the email.
I wrote back politely asking if they were intending to pay a fee in this case, and they didn’t even bother answering me…