Indecent Exposure: Should You Write For Free (Part #1)

A Literal Literary Loser Loses Literary Lotto

In September, a fellow literary friend advised me that a publisher was looking for a writer well-versed in media criticism and romance for an upcoming book project.

I’ve written romance novels, soap-opera-tie ins, and media criticism on topics such as why “Shrek’s” and “The Incredibles” morals are actually the exact opposite of what those movies think they are.

I reached out to the acquiring editor who explained that they were doing a book on rom-coms, and asked me to submit a proposal. They made it clear I wouldn’t be the only writer in consideration for this assignment, and that there was no guarantee of acceptance. The proposal should feature an explanation of how I would break the book up into chapters, the movies to be featured, categories to break them up into, sidebars, and one complete entry as an example.

It had been a while since I’d written a non-fiction proposal, and I’d never done one like this to someone else’s specifications. You know me - always up for a new experience! So I went ahead and put together a proposal. It took me about a month of work, and hours of research.

Last week, I was advised that the publisher was “going in another direction.” We all know what that means. (My husband asked if that means they were now free to steal my work. I told him I never worry about that with publishing submissions. There are just so many ideas out there, there are bound to be overlaps. I highly doubt that the movies and categories I suggested were utterly original.)

I’m not even particularly upset. Rom-coms aren’t my genre. I’m sure the writer they ultimately picked was much more passionate and knowledgeable on the subject.

What bugs me is the wasted time. And since time is money, by extension, the wasted money.

In next week’s post, I am going to tackle writing for free when it comes to guest blogs and other promotions for your published books.

This week, I want to talk about the proposals that amount to nothing. I have written more proposals that haven’t gone anywhere than I have books that were actually published. But those were all books I wanted to write.

This one was someone else’s idea.

Was it a waste of time? Who knows.

Were the proposals that I dreamed up on my own which never saw the light of day a waste of time? Who knows.

The one thing I do know is that we never have any idea of where anything might lead.

Here’s an example. Back in my romance writing days, I pitched a figure skating romance. The editor wasn’t interested.

Almost a decade later, however, another editor was looking for someone to write a book on up and coming figure skater Sarah Hughes. The first editor remembered that I’d worked in skating, and recommended me.

I did get that assignment, which led to “Sarah Hughes: Skating to the Stars” and, even more importantly, to my Figure Skating Mystery series.

So even though that initial, figure skating romance didn’t go anywhere, it did lead to six books down the road.

This, once again, proves my maxim that when it comes to publishing NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING (including me).

Did I just waste a month of my time when I could have been writing something else, or have I set in motion a chain of events the consequences of which I might not see for yet another decade?

Why not both? Why not neither? I’ll keep you posted!

More next week and, in the meantime, happy holidays!