The Copywriter Underground

Done any free work lately? Or seen that work used in multiple places — without ever receiving a dime for the additional uses?

The never-demur Harlan Ellison — a successful, outspoken and abrasive writer — tells it like it is in this short interview. Great stuff — I would have laughed more if so much of it hadn’t been painfully on target.

Ellison still writes on a manual typewriter, and successfully sued movie producer James Cameron after noticing the original Terminator script bore a striking resemblance to two of his own short stories.

He’s fought (viciously) for writer’s rights since the early 1960s, and serves as an excellent counterpoint in the current times, where intellectual property and creator’s rights seem to be going to the way of the Dodo bird.

Bookmark this video, and when you feel yourself edging towards a giveaway — when you’re about to apply a value of “zero” to your work — give it another viewing.

And then read Michel Fortin’s latest “Olympic” pricing post. I wouldn’t apply his approach on all my jobs, but it’s a good example of thinking through the pricing process — namely, what are you really getting paid for, and what does your client know about the process?

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.