So…two websites are traveling in opposite directions on train tracks. If one is using a blog and traveling at the speed of Word of Mouth, and the other is traveling at the speed of Big Multi-Million Dollar Established Following, at which point do the two meet?
Answer is:
A) Last week
B) Never, train turns on turbo jets and flies over little blog
C) Today
D) websites don’t travel on train tracks
E) All of the above
Anyway, it’s only 11:30PM VST, and I’m in need of a drinking buddy. That’s why you get my news delivered in some weird math problem that I don’t even know how to write.
Struth: The Rick Steves crew liked the article I wrote on meeting Rick following the NYT Travel Show and asked me to write a piece on travel blogs for their site.
Pay? Nothing. Exposure? My books and my favorite blogs get in a newsletter that goes out to 200,000 travel enthusiasts. Now, all of you people on the side of the fence that refuse to write for free, I ask you to tell me how this was not worth my while. And for all of you math whizzes, I ask you to fix my question. What do they call them again? I think it beings with a “P”….
“Now, all of you people on the side of the fence that refuse to write for free, I ask you to tell me how this was not worth my while.”
Clearly you didn’t write for free – in terms of publicity you scored big time (mind you I’m an Aussie so I’ve never heard of the bloke). The debate isn’t really about writing for free, it’s about making sure you are suitably recompensed for your efforts.
Good point, and one that should be made more often. There are rewards besides monetary ones for doing something and good publicity is often worth far more than the pittance you often get for a “paid” article.
Besides, why should writers be different than actors, musicians, songwriters, or painters? Do they not “work for free” some or most of the time while trying to catch a break or advance their career?
Hey Jen, thanks for the plug! I’ve thanked you more formally on my latest blog entry.
Jen,
That’s great! Congrats. I will always remember our conversation at dinner that one fateful evening. Maybe one day you can introduce me to Steve and my Dad can beam and tell all of his friends!
Oh, and I’ll go with answer D.
Thanks, everybody. And Erik was too humble to link to his website. And I’ve been too busy/lazy to update my list of links on the side. Anyway, here is Erik Trinidad’s connecting blog post on The Global Trip.
https://blogs.bootsnall.com/theglobaltrip/updates/011365.shtml
He recaps how we met, and how he got roped into wearing a pink bra to help promote my first women’s humor book.
Thanks again, ERT.