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As a writer – and a Harlan Ellison fan for decades – I tend to agree with most of what he said. However, I suspect that young writers who are new to the game are more willing to trade freebie stuff to get their name out there. Every situation is different. The unknown writer who’s asked to submit a piece that may get him some notoriety may choose to do it for free or at a reduced rate because it can open doors. Harlan is at the stage in his career that he doesn’t need doors opened. In fact, he’s into slamming them shut if he doesn’t need them.

Bottom line: if you can show the market that you have the goods and can create the content, you should eventually be able to demand and get your price. Of course that depends on what the marketplace is willing to pay.

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Mario: Thank you for a having a great blog and so openly sharing your ideas and thoughts. I can really relate to what Harlan says, but it takes awhile to get to the point where you can just say “no.” And I am very glad Harlan did just that… and he should!

I think there are plenty of creative opportunities for all of us in the world if we are passionate and know our niche. I think it all works itself out. As an independent graphic designer I try to differentiate my work through excellent service and always delivering my best high quality work. I have raised my prices incrementally over the last 4 years and have a nice referral base now. I am grateful to be able to say “no” now to contests and requests for lower prices. And I do, emphatically!

Let’s face it, those who work for free or low fees in exchange for exposure are going to continue to do so. (Who knows, I might find one of them with talent to work with me : )

Yes, a little bit. I wish amateurs would have more of a backbone and charge fees according to their talent/experience. But it takes good business sense and a bit of luck to make a living with your artistry these days. And if you don’t have that business sense, people and corporations will just take advantage. (corporate spec work – that is nasty!!)

In another light, aren’t we in a time when right brain thinking is down right crucial? (ie: the book “A Whole New Mind”). We ought to start seeing a clear shift in the value of “coming up with something from nothing” which is how I define creativity…

Harlan is absolutely right. Having been in a situation where a client attempted to get out of paying for things and have things done at “favor” pricing, I can say, first hand, that in business, there are no favors.

I don’t even discount family members for design projects I do; at least, after paying, they’ll retain the right to complain.

I know this is an old thread, but Steven Pressfield posted it on his blog today and I do have to agree with Harlan Ellison (who I’ve never heard of before). In the past it was easy to distinguish between professionals and amateurs (I used to call them hobbyists). It was simple–professionals got paid, and all the rest did it (fill in the blank on any creative art) for some other kind of payoff. Period. It was that simple. But now because of social media and the digital age anybody can get “published” simply by “putting it out there.” Most of it is crap. For me, if you call yourself a writer and have never been paid for what you write, I probably won’t read what you’ve written unless you’re a close friend or family member. Call me a snob, but I just don’t have the time to invest reading a bunch of crap. And if you want to “use” something I’ve written (I do get paid to write), then pay for it, okay?

Ok. So with technology allowing anybody to be creative in certain fields it does not follow that people who have studied or payed their dues to reach the level of making a living from their efforts should be undercut by others who invariably have already got employment in another field. I wonder if the advocates of working for free expect the business’s that supply their daily needs, to give them away for nothing? I do not think so. It seems to be the thinking that if you are a creative you do not need money to survive no matter how long it has taken you to invest in time and study and practice to perfect your art. The plumber, electrician, the mechanic, I could go on, are not expected to work for nothing. Creatives are, in the minds of the majority of people, willing to work for nothing because they so love what they do that they would do it anyway. Yes we all have to deal with changing times but the old adage of ‘The labourer is worthy of his hire’ still stands.

I have a slightly different perspective on this. I am a graphic designer and work in politics for the “progressive” side (which usually doesn’t have much money). When I started doing this political work, the idea was that a “good” environmentalist (fill in the blank with core belief) would work for free, and if they didn’t they weren’t “good.” The result, of course, was that people worked for free, for the good cause, until they burned out and/or needed to actually feed/house/clothe themselves and then they disappeared. Understandably. Constant turn over meant that there never was any continuity to fight the good fight, at great cost to the causes we all believed in. I’ve spent the last 15 years working to change this mind frame. It’s good to charge money for professional services. Fine to charge less for the good cause if you want. But essential to support our friends and allies by hiring them to do the jobs they do professionally.

I was an amateur at one point. I am now an amateur at some of the new things I try. I will do work for free on occasion (never for a corporation). But, ultimately I absolutely support the idea that people should be paid for their work. Period.