I missed the beginning of this thread. However:
Is _Inspiration_ the commercial smocking/embroidery magazine?
In the world of academia--which that magazine isn't--contributors seldom
get paid much for journal contributions because journal articles advance
their careers in other important ways, such as helping them to get
tenure. (However, academics do get paid for writing books, and textbooks
[though less often scholarly books] can be very lucrative.)
In the world of journalism, where I've spent quite some time as a
writer, and as an in-house editor--payment has nothing to do with
gender. Every magazine has its own pay scale for articles, and there are
books for writers that tell you what the pay scales of various magazines
are. Also, sometimes the magazine tells writers what the scale is in
their standard guidelines--most magazines have a standard set of
writer's guidelines that writers should ask for and read before
submitting anything.
The pay scale set by a magazine is based on what that particular
magazine can pay for articles. The more prestigious the magazine, the
better its pay scale. Magazines with larger circulations and that sell
more ads pay more. Magazines that make less money from ad sales
(advertisers pay more to be in a magazine with larger circulation) pay
their contributors less. Publications that pay very little or nothing,
often rely heavily on contributors who want to publish articles for
reasons other than money--for advertising a business they own, services
they sell, or a book they have published--in short the way they are
making their real money. Or by people who are not professional writers,
who would just like an article or two published for personal reasons.
Low-pay magazines also used to rely on reprints from other magazines,
though I suspect the widespread purchase of e-rights is impacting the
reprint market heavily. A once-common journalistic strategy that I
followed, was to sell first serial rights to an article to the magazine
that paid best, and then sell second rights to every other magazine
possible, starting with the ones that paid best for second rights and
working my way down, till the article had finally been exposed to
everyone who might want to publish it. Before magazines wanted to retain
rights to publish on the Internet for no more pay, it used to be
possible to sell second rights to the same article a dozen or more
times. (In US copyright law, there is no such thing as third, fourth,
etc. serial rights. Everything sold after first serial rights is second
rights, so publications all know that when they buy second rights they
are not getting anything exclusive.)
Professional journalists view career success according to the level of
magazine they publish in. They may start out with low-pay or even no-pay
publications, but they quit "selling" to those as fast as
possible--after one or two articles--because obviously, such "sales"
don't pay the rent. It's not quite like getting entries on your resume
for applying for a job. Sure, having more published articles on your
resume, and saying you have published with more prestigious
publications, does help. But, if you write freelance articles, you can
show the publication the goods before sale. That is, you can write "on
spec" and just send in the article. That is what beginning journalists
usually do. Then, as soon as possible, you start selling articles on the
basis of an outline and the "clips" of your previous work--photocopies
of other articles that have been published. You get a kind of down
payment at the beginning, or at least a contract saying the magazine
want the articles and will pay for it when it is submitted or
published--and specifying a "kill fee" and the return of copyright if
they accept the article but later decide not to publish it.
The other thing journalists often do, is to also make money by editing,
by photography, and by other related pursuits, for which the same
experience and professional contacts are valuable. Also, some magazines
and newspapers have some articles written by staff, so you can apply for
full-time staff jobs as a writer + editor, or just as a writer or as
an editor.
There are many books for journalists that explain how to do all this.
It's hard to get paid fairly for your work--at least, without all those
second rights sales to repay you for your initial time. But, it has
nothing to do with being female.
Fran
Lavolta Press
http://www.lavoltapress.com
Abel, Cynthia wrote:
Bjarne:
Many contributors to journals don't get paid unless they are on the
journal's staff or on contract.
<snip>
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of Bjarne og Leif Drews
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 7:57 AM
To: Historical Costume
Subject: Re: [h-cost] Bjarne's upcoming Inspiration article.
The previous issue is number 54 and they told me i would be in number 55
wich comes in august.
It seems to be that i only wil have the interwiev with pictures, they
were interrested in gettning the embroidery pattern for my embroidered
bird stomacher, but i dont think it wil come because i should have heard
from them but have not.
Also i told them i thoaght it was very rude that they dont pay their
contributors who gives away embroidery designs for the magazine,
actually we are in the year 2007, not 1880.
But isnt this typically, because its most ladies who gives away their
work for free, i think its about time, they get paid!!!
<snip>
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