Writing Pros

The freelance writer is a person who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.                                                      —Robert Benchley

When I was seventeen and a high school junior, I submitted a poem for possible publication in the journal of the Georgia Council of Teachers of English (GCTE). It was accepted, and I received a double bonus: (1) My poem was published in the journal for all of Georgia to see, and (2) I was sent a check for $25.

I don’t remember much about that poem—I think it was a sonnet. But it turned out to be pretty important for me.  It was the first time I was ever paid for my writing. I was officially a professional writer—in a very small way.

Interestingly enough, when I started my first job as an editor for Scholastic, the schoolbook company, I also submitted a poem for inclusion in a new workbook. It was accepted, and I received a check for—you guessed it—$25. My rate had clearly not improved during the intervening years since high school. [This reminds me of an anecdote that Calvin Trillin, a true writing pro, told about his years submitting columns to The Nation magazine, for which he was paid “in the high double figures.”)  

I have done a lot of writing over the next nearly 50 years and have received checks for three figures or more almost every time, but I have never felt that I was writing “for the money.” It’s nice to be paid, heaven knows, but very few writers, even professional ones, are really highly paid. We work at other jobs, as teachers or editors or accountants, for example, to afford our writing habit.

Here’s a personal anecdote that shows what I mean. Most of my writing projects are what are known as “works for hire.” I am paid a flat fee, a one-time payment with no royalties to collect over time. Many years ago, I did score a few royalty projects. One was a book called Baseball’s Best, part of the Golden Books “Look-Look” series for young readers. By the way, it is still remaindered on Amazon and Thrift Books, though it is way out of date and not worth buying any more. 

My first "big" royalty project

After a few years, sales of the book slowed to a trickle, and my royalty checks withered. Golden Books sent me a semi-annual royalty statement showing a balance of $2.25. No check. Instead a note was attached that read, “Please be aware that we do not mail out checks for less than $5. If your royalties exceed $5 in the future, we will send you a check (which they actually did do six months later). Then six months after that, I got a new statement showing a balance somehow below zero (did I owe them money?) and a more ominous note attached. This note warned that unless I had a positive balance, I would not receive any future statements. Sadly, that turned out to be the case.

Every author's dream; not always a reality

But I am not complaining. At least, not about that.

Instead I am writing this blog as a small protest to the actions of another writing pro. Recently I heard an author interviewed concerning a book she had written as part of a series of biographies of important individuals from the distant past to the near present. When the author was asked why she had chosen her particular subject, she replied, “Because it was assigned to me. I could have chosen someone else, but this [subject] seemed best.” That’s not a bad answer. In fact, I could make the same reply about several of my own books. But as the interview continued, it was clear that the author still looked on the book mostly as an assignment. She had not developed a real interest in her subject even after doing the research for her book and putting that research to paper. She had not internalized the subject’s life or personality .And that seemed sad to me.

I like to think that I really care about whatever subject I take on, even if the monetary reward is small or fleeting. For me, the joy of writing is the ability to look back over what you have produced and to feel a sense of accomplishment. Of course, getting a check and cashing it also feels good.