Don't pay to write

...and a note on vanity presses

Hello, everyone! Hope this finds you well. As some of you know, I wrote about things I care about for LitReactor for a few years. Now that LR is no more, I’ve been occasionally revisiting some of the topics I wrote about when I was working with them. Strange that you can learn a lot in half a decade but also think exactly the same way after all that learning. In any case, today I want to talk about all these assholes out here asking writers to pay to be in anthologies, trying to get stories for free, and the worst predators out there: vanity presses. If you support any of those things, stop reading now. I don’t have time for your comments on social media. Just get angry without reading and go on with your life, yeah? Let’s get to it!

If you've been doing the writing thing for more than three days, chances are someone has already told not to give your work away for free. Whoever told you that is absolutely right. Exposure isn’t that great, it’s something you die from. The day you go to the grocery store and the cashier tells you they're accepting exposure as payment, then go ahead and expose yourself like a tourist at a nudist beach. Until that day comes, make sure you get paid. Writing is work, and you should get something for your work, especially from people who are going to make money with it.

I get a lot of questions from new writers, so here are some pointers. I hope they help.

1. Always read submission guidelines carefully. Seriously. Read every single word in there. Take notes if you need to. Ask questions if something isn't clear. Three typos in there? Screw that anthology or publication. If they don't care about the words they put out, they won't care about yours. No payment? Move on. Also, ignore submission calls that say things like "All 30 chosen authors will receive payment in the form of split royalties (10%)...after editing, printing, and cover costs have been covered." You'll make more money checking under the sofa cushions for spare change.

2. Do your research. If you haven't heard of a publisher, maybe there's a reason for it. Look up their titles on Amazon. Google their name. Look them up on social media. No one will protect your work if you don't, so make sure you do. AI covers? Fuck them. No payment? Fuck them. They work with garbage people? Fuck them.

3. This one is simple and I've said it many times: NEVER pay to get published. A non-paying submission call? Walk away. They ask you to pay to play? That’s even worse. Tell them to go milk a bull with their shoelaces untied. Anyway, that brings us to a little note about vanity presses.

4. Vanity presses are predators. Full stop. “But—” No. “Sometimes they—” Don’t care. Want to put out your own stuff and have the money to spend doing it? Fantastic! Spend that money on an editor, someone to do your layout, and a great cover from a real artist. Still have money to spend? Use it for marketing. Don’t pay someone to publish you. Ever. “Oh, but they offered me a hybrid contract.” A hybrid contract is a thing that makes it sound like they’re not a vanity press, but they’re still a vanity press. Run away from them and tell everyone you know to do the same.

Okay, now that the usual stuff is out of the way, let's get to the rare instances in which working for free might be acceptable:

1. Charity

I have written for free for anthologies that put money in the pockets of fine people who lost a loved one to cancer, for an anthology to help authors without health insurance, etc. Charity is a good thing. Sometimes you have money to give away and sometimes you don’t, but you can always help with your writing. Sometimes you have to remember that maybe you're lucky enough to be able to think about writing another story tomorrow. Some folks don't have that chance, and helping them is the right thing to do. Also, charity anthologies don’t make money for editors, so no one is taking advantage of you. It’s all good. Helping any way you can is always awesome.

2. Loyalty

Oh, this is a tricky one. Well, tricky and very personal. I once sent a flash piece to a non-paying venue because they published me when no one else would. Also, I occasionally review for places that don’t pay for the same reason. Some people put out all their content out there for free, and sending them something is cool if you feel like doing so. This business isn't that big and the folks who treat you well deserve to be treated well in return. 

3. Making a statement

There are strange pieces of fiction and nonfiction that make a statement, that contribute to the construction or expansion of a discourse you care profoundly about, or that are somehow very political and/or an important part of your code of ethics or something you strongly believe in. An anthology that wants to make a statement about POC in publishing is something I'd be a part of even if there was no payment involved because adding my voice to that matters to me. If someone is writing about something I care about for their newsletter and they need some words, I’m there. I think speaking out about things online matters, and sometimes we do that by writing. I tweet for free and write this newsletter for a bunch of people who don’t pay, and that’s fine.

That’s about it. We could talk about some other weird cases here, but it will all ultimately come down to you doing whatever works for you. By that, I mean that’s always the case, so save me your angry rants about why you never get paid. Anyway, here are some things I strongly believe, and they are things I really want anyone starting out to understand:

1. When you get your car fixed, the mechanic doesn’t pay you. You know why? Because they are the ones with the knowledge and the ones putting in the time and work to fix your car. When you write, you’re doing work. No one should get that work for free just because they don’t want to pay you.

2. I’m tired of hearing that whole “not every press has the money to pay authors when they put out anthologies” excuse. If they can’t pay authors, they shouldn’t be publishing in the first place.

3. You never pay to get published. Money flows to the author, not the other way around. Let’s work on the SEO for this one: Never pay to get published. Don’t pay to get into anthologies. Don’t write for free. Fuck vanity presses. “Hybrid contracts” that as you for money are bullshit. Never pay to get published. NEVER PAY TO GET PUBLISHED.

4. Vanity presses are not real publishers, they are predatory assholes taking advantage of new writers who are desperate to see their name in print.

Hope those last two are clear enough. Anyway, still working on that piece about indie publishers who abuse writers. That will be up soon. Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading! Stay well, my friends.