Thursday, June 6, 2013
Writer's Digest 82nd Annual Writing Competition
Submission deadline for the contest is June 14th - it's not too late! I submitted my personal essay through the website this afternoon. What writer wouldn't love the chance to meet with editors in New York and get some national exposure for their writing?
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Disappointment in Majority Rule
Recently, my writer's group was given an opportunity to write for a company who owned a travel website for our city.
The offer was this:
The website generated 30,000 hits per month from travelers interested in what to do, where to eat, and what to see. The company was hoping to get some local writers to give the website an edge over the competition. How much more interesting would it be to visit a website and get personal travel tips and ideas from locals?
On the downside, no monetary compensation could be offered at this beginning stage of the site development.
Sadly, my group voted to turn down the offer. They didn't believe that "writing for free" was a benefit to them. I don't know most of the group members well, but I didn't imagine most of them were getting 30,000 monthly hits on their personal websites or blogs - I don't yet - but even if they are, they were unable to see the value of 30,000 ADDITIONAL readers.
I understand not wanting to give your work away, but I'm not sure how 30,000 guaranteed readers can be a bad thing. The company was willing to give us our own spot to promote our blogs and websites for free. Seemed to be a fair trade to me. We weren't being asked to write novels for nothing...just short pieces to give tourists an insider's view.
It seemed so easy to me. Put 250-500 words on the page, draw new readership to your blog, and increase your visibility. A half hour to an hour you've got it written and proofread. As a local, there shouldn't be much time taken up with research - we already know what we like. I recommend things to newcomers all the time.
I still don't understand the argument made against writing for this website, but I've gained a new insight into what writing should be. Let us not, as writers, ever become too big for our britches or too important to write just for the love of it. Once in a while, it's OK to give back.
The offer was this:
The website generated 30,000 hits per month from travelers interested in what to do, where to eat, and what to see. The company was hoping to get some local writers to give the website an edge over the competition. How much more interesting would it be to visit a website and get personal travel tips and ideas from locals?
On the downside, no monetary compensation could be offered at this beginning stage of the site development.
Sadly, my group voted to turn down the offer. They didn't believe that "writing for free" was a benefit to them. I don't know most of the group members well, but I didn't imagine most of them were getting 30,000 monthly hits on their personal websites or blogs - I don't yet - but even if they are, they were unable to see the value of 30,000 ADDITIONAL readers.
I understand not wanting to give your work away, but I'm not sure how 30,000 guaranteed readers can be a bad thing. The company was willing to give us our own spot to promote our blogs and websites for free. Seemed to be a fair trade to me. We weren't being asked to write novels for nothing...just short pieces to give tourists an insider's view.
It seemed so easy to me. Put 250-500 words on the page, draw new readership to your blog, and increase your visibility. A half hour to an hour you've got it written and proofread. As a local, there shouldn't be much time taken up with research - we already know what we like. I recommend things to newcomers all the time.
I still don't understand the argument made against writing for this website, but I've gained a new insight into what writing should be. Let us not, as writers, ever become too big for our britches or too important to write just for the love of it. Once in a while, it's OK to give back.
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