Re: The "Cost" of the matter

**L* J* <l*@tds.net>**

Ellen wrote:
>We work and study for years, accumulating expertise; that's
>worth something.

That's SO true, and that is exactly why the prior statement in your 
email makes no sense to me:
>when one of us charges too little, we all  suffer.

I would love to think I could charge what you do, and get gigs...but 
the reality is that you have "worked and studied for year, 
accumulating expertise."  I have not, so why shouldn't I fill in the 
blanks at the garden clubs that can't afford you and  your 
experienced co-horts?  You should consider people like me who are 
willing to do local presentations for under $100 as a godsend to keep 
those "annoying women of the garden clubs" off your backs ;-) .  I 
don't mind picking up a quick $75 and lunch at the Country club.

This same discussion appears every so often on GWL by disgruntled 
photographers who can't believe someone would sell their photos 
"cheap."  Do none of you who are so well-known not remember what it 
was like starting out when you didn't have "a name"?  While I think 
everyone should be encouraged to get what they are worth from their 
gigs, I also don't see any point in denigrating those of us who are 
willing to take the chaff that the others don't want! Why not?

Along those lines, I publish a magazine and now have a new respect 
for anyone in the publishing business...there are many writers who 
can tell the same story, and do you know just how many photos of any 
particular subject are available? In the magazine business, every 
penny counts (I'd use my "cent" sign, but I still can't make it work 
:-\ ), so a wise publisher/editor looks for quality AND price, and a 
happy writer/photographer accepts. I think they call that 
capitalism...it's the American way.

Lynn,
trying to live green in rural Indiana

Lynn Jenkins
Indiana Living Green, Inc.
a Hoosier's guide to a sustainable lifestyle
www.IndianaLivingGreen.com
Lynn@IndianaLivingGreen.com
317.769.3456
317-769-5756 Fax

At 03:04 PM 12/30/2007, you wrote:
>Graham rightly notes than when one of us charges too little, we all
>suffer.  On a related note, I recently had inquiry from one of my
>instructors at the NYBG.  He had seen my article in Horticulture and
>wondered if I'd share my contact info so he could offer the magazine
>free articles to publicize an organization he belongs to.
>
>That set me off (of course) and I answered with a long explanation of
>how offering free articles hurts those of us who try to make a living
>writing.  I'm not sure he appreciated my p.o.v., but I feel strongly
>about this.  His point was that the PR he'd receive via the article
>would be more valuable to him than payment, and after listening to
>some of you who speak at least partly to publicize nurseries or other
>enterprises, I wonder how widespread this is.
>
>I never wrote for free, even when I was starting out.  I firmly
>believe that part of being a professional is being treated
>professionally, i.e. being adequately compensated.  This is not a
>hobby.  We work and study for years, accumulating expertise; that's
>worth something.  Ask anyone who's been to law school.
>
>Ellen Z.
>
>
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