It’s the word for the day and I really like it:
Jamble – verb:- to explore aimlessly. i.e. 1. I jambled through the city streets, stumbling upon a…,2. he was jambling through a record store when he discovered…
Eco-friendly travel website Jamble is looking for a few writers to help further beef up it’s green + travel content.
Based out of Cardiff and Chicago, they are particularly looking for contributors who can give a different angle to their green city guides section. The section focuses on eco-friendly attractions, accommodation, transport and parks/gardens.
There are some blogs you log onto and just like. This is one of them. With our world on the brink of suffering catastrophy thanks to global-warming, it is hard not to appreciate this site.
It’s not in any way an ‘eco-zealot’ cult, nor is it pulling slogans out of Greenpeace or Live Earth, but it does shares interesting and fun insight related to being eco-friendly and traveling.
“We love being green and we love to travel, but that doesn’t mean we want to spend our next holiday in a tipi woven from recycled hemp by a lost Papua New Guinea tribe…,” that’s what it’s intro begins with – put a broad smile on my face and I ended up browsing through a good section of the site.
They don’t pay (big surprise), but I strongly believe that when you are in process of building-up a clip portfolio, writing published on sites like this does count, even if they arn’t the most famous in the world.
I am slaving and writing for magazines that will publish me – and I am lucky if I get the odd dollar from any of them, but atleast I’m getting a byline somewhere other than my blog!
Besides, in the beginning it’s all about networking and getting your name out there, as much as you can! If people are willing for you to write for them, you must be doing something right.
NB: I don’t mean write for absolutely anyone, use your personal judgement and instinct – you want to make your name, not break it.
So anyway, check them out here at Jamble Magazine and drop them a line at editor[at]jamblemag.co.uk if your green-bone feels like a tickle.
–sorry, hit the wrong button. Here is my comment in its entirety:
I disagree so strongly on writing for no pay. It would be one thing if Travel + Leisure offered me an FOB piece for nothing… still would make me squirm, but ok, it’s TRAVEL + LEISURE – I’ll relax my principles for them. (Others would not, and I respect that.)
But what, really, is the point in getting “clips” from obscure little websites that you admit aren’t famous? Can you share where this has helped you in the past? Or maybe someone else will chime in?
Maybe there is an angle I’m missing out on, because I feel it’s terribly unfair that the WRITER – the person who is providing the most important aspect of the site, I mean, you do go there to read the WRITING, no? – has to say, “oh, well, they’re just starting out. No pay for me, but at least I get clips on a website read by less than 500 people.” Do editors at big (paying!) magazines respect these clips?
I doubt the web designer worked for no pay. I suspect the hosting service did not agree to host for “exposure.” I feel certain that the editors of these sites pay their electric bills with actual money – well, so do I, and I won’t write anything for you if you don’t give me some!
To each his own… just thought I’d share my opinion and am curious to hear your side – has writing for free helped you?
I’m the editor of Jamble Magazine and I do fully understand objections to writing for no pay – I’m a freelance writer myself, I am, however, in a catch 22 situation with jamble – I want Jamble to expand so that I can attract decent advertising, (which means I will be able to pay writers), but without extra writers I won’t be able to expand.
Yes, we may be unknown and obscure at the moment, but we also focus on a very niche subject area – which means my writers will actually get valuable clips for their portfolios.
One of the main reasons I set Jamble up (I also designed it myself) was so that I could publish articles on topics that didn’t seem to fit on other publications – but such is the growing interest in green travel in the mainstream media that these articles have already led to paid assignments in other publications due to my ‘green travel expertise’.
I am positive that my contributors will soon find the same – i’ve no doubt that a clipping from Jamble will help my contributors get assignments on green travel or music, but no, its not going to help them get an assignment on luxury spas in Conde Nast magazine.
It was a tough decision to request unpaid writers, I didn’t really want to do it as, of course, I believe writers do deserve to get paid, but Jamble has had such a positive reaction from my readers that I believe it has great potential and I fully intend to pay my writers when Jamble does actually bring in a profit.
No response? Anyone? …Jen?
Beth,
Written Road doesn’t pay me to write this blog. I write here because I not only like to, but it is helping me build a platform for myself.
It has put me in touch with not only awesome people, but editors and other notable travel-writers over the world.
I also used to write for Globorati – an awesome blog with some notable mentions in top newspapers and websites. It didn’t pay me either, but it did give me exposure.
For me, since I’m starting out, my aim is that: exposure and the ability to network. So yes, I think you can, and should write for decent online sites, even if they won’t pay you – it will certainly pay off in some way, at some point.
Also take the example of World Hum – that never paid it’s contributors, but now it has been bought over by the Travel Channel.
Now it’s contributors have an opportunity to be part of something much bigger. So I really believe that these are all investments bound to give you returns.
But, as I said: choose who you write for.
I\’m totally with Beth Ellen on this one. I\’m a professional writer so I won\’t work for free and I don\’t encourage anybody – even writers just starting out to work for free. It totally undermines what we do. How many other fields do people work for free? Unless they\’re volunteers for godsake. If you\’re just starting out and you want to develop a portfolio then donate your time to causes that need it – write articles for newsletters for non-profit organizations, learn to write, learn to pitch, then score a job that pays. Don\’t write for free for websites that are making money through advertising. If the site can\’t afford to pay staff and they can only operate by exploiting people then they shouldn\’t have started the site (haven\’t heard of a business plan?). If it was a collective and you have a vested interest in the web business, and you\’re going to start making money when the site starts making money then that\’s another story. New writers: if your writing is good enough then there are publications out there that will pay for it. It\’s as simple as that.
I’ll triple that Lara. Writers writing for free is what is driving the entire market down. If someone wants to build a website they just have to invest. People are making money off of the internet and their site is being built for free. In the ‘real world’ no one can start a business and expect anyone to work there for free. A clip might help if it is your first, but chances are if you didn’t get paid for it, an editor or publisher probably isn’t going to care.
That said, Abha and I do write on this site for free. It’s not exactly the kind of site that makes money (although if anyone wants to invest in a thick glossy it might work), but there are other benefits involved such as exposure, promotion of my own books, etc.
After reading the criticism I have received for requesting an unpaid writer (on this and another site) I have to admit that I have been swayed. I do think writing for free has its benefits, but I also get frustrated with the lack of online paying markets myself – so rather than be a hypocrite i’m going to work out a way to pay my new writer, as in fact I beleive a new writer is a far better investment than advertising – which was something I had also considered. I’ll chalk this up as ‘part of the learning experience’.
Exploitation? I think you guys are being a bit hard on these sites. For one thing, tons of editors do create them for free, because they’re passionate about something, and they work on them in their spare time in between writing for a paycheque.
I wouldn’t write for free for a large daily newspaper that can obviously afford to pay me, but when I respect a site and its writing, and particularly if it isn’t completely covered in advertising, then I see no problem with it. Of course it’s easy for me to say since I’m just getting started and haven’t gotten paid for much yet!
Abha mentioned World Hum and it is a really good example – any travel editor who’s paying attention certainly should be impressed by someone who’s been published there, even if they didn’t get paid. The editors of the Best American Travel Writing series certainly have taken note over the years…
I don’t have a wealth of experience to back this up, but I’ve always figured that it depends on the site that you’re writing for. If it’s a good site that shows some sign of a real selection process in who/what they publish, and it it’s getting a bit of a name or a good reputation, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t help you get paying work down the road.
I think it is safe to say that World Hum was and still is a unique case. Also, World Hum just started paying contributors and I even heard they are sending small checks to everyone that has ever written for them in gratitude, which is absolutely incredible for a publisher of any sort.
World Hum is like your cousin’s neighbor’s sister’s mother-in-law who smoked three packs of Marlboro Reds a day for sixty years and is in perfect health.
I like World Hum. I read World Hum. But they are not a typical case. The fact that they are respected really has very little to do with the scores of obscure little non-paying websites out there.
And blogging is totally different from writing articles without pay. It’s quick, casual, steady, and you can play fast and loose with apostrophes.
Okay so World Hum is an exception and blogging doesn’t count… I’m scratching my head for another example. How about this one – I write movie reviews about obscure older films for a website that the editor maintains in his spare time. There is no advertising, he pays the site costs out of pocket. By day he writes reviews professionally, for publications like The Village Voice. Now if someday I want to apply to write movie reviews for my local alternative weekly paper, do you really think that reviews written for a website won’t be of greater interest to them than me saying, “I really like movies… and my mom says my observations about them are clever.” Plus, having a friendly contact at The Village Voice can’t hurt, can it?
I’m guessing from your comments that you guys are a fair ways further on in your careers, so maybe the need to write for these small sites is long past. But if you honestly think that new writers are hurting the rest of you by writing for free, what do you suggest we do instead? Writing for non-profits was one suggestion, but in my experience these places already have people who’ve been putting in time for years who want to do the writing, and besides is an editor really going to be impressed by the SPCA newsletter? Someone said if my writing is good enough I’ll get paid to do it sooner or later, which is true. But it seems logical to want to keep writing on the side while I wait for that magic acceptance to roll in one morning alongside all the rejections…
One other question – what is your view on writing for small-time print magazines for free? I don’t know about the States but here in Canada there are a few that are award-winning but consistently on the point of collapse. And then a fair number of literary journals pay their contributors in subscriptions… Both these categories generally get by on grants from government arts councils, so the editors aren’t making money either.
Yea, Literary Journals are even harder to make a living off of than travel writing. Maybe I was a bit harsh, but I think there is a point where if you want to make a career of this you have to expect pay or some kind of benefit other than just a nice clip. Even if it is minimal. I think the point I’m always trying to make is that new writers can break into the paying market. You just have to start small and build. You don’t even need clips most of the time. Maybe not National Geographic, but try Transitions Abroad or something. That time you spend writing for free could be a story that you send to them.
Also, I think few people realize how easy it is to start your own website, with whatever focus you want, and make yourself an expert. Eva, why not start your own obscure movie website (although with a slightly different angle)? Sounds cool at least. What is the website? Now I’m interested.
Great discussion we have going here, isn’t it?
You’re right, Nicholas, I should try to brush up on my HTML. I used to do that kind of thing all the time when I was in high school. (Building websites for my fantasy hockey league team… awkward over-share??)
The site is called Not Coming to a Theater Near You, http://www.notcoming.com. It’s pretty cool. Some of the reviewers have a pretty academic/intellectual (read: spoilers) take on things which isn’t entirely my style, but I’m enjoying it so far.