My Boss Doesn't Pay Me Anything, But She's Awesome.
Now, I know most of my readers are not comedians, so let me fill you in on something. There have been a number of comedians over the past couple of years who would send out mass emails to other comedians, and, I guess, their fans (and by fans I mean people who's email addresses they found and put in their contacts list for mass mailing occasions.) bragging about how they have an article or essay on the Huffington Post. My response whoopidy doo!
These mailings and facebook updates confused me. Was I supposed to be impressed that these people were able to give their writings away for free? I do that everyweek and at one point every week day. The big difference is that I'm not working for Arrianna Huffinton (who I'm sure would make me spell her name correctly). I'm working for me. And yes, I don't pay myself. But I know me, and I'm a pretty cool person. Yes, I do have a temper, but I'm always there for me and I know that if I sell my blog for $100 million (it could happen...maybe...shut-up) I know that I'll pay myself a good percentage of the proceeds for all the hard work I've done on my blog. That's just the type of girl I am. In fact I'd make sure to pay at least something to everyone who has ever contributed to this blog. And if you are a person who has edited things on occassion (clearly not often. This thing is pretty typo laden and grammatically unsound) or...well...that's it I guess I'll totally pay you. Of course if you're a person who isn't good at returning emails and phone calls you won't get to cash in. (these last two sentences were kind of an inside joke between me and my boss. She's had some unattentive friends in the past, oh just never mind I'm sure to get a bonus for writing it.)
In the end just because more people may read your work doesn't mean you're getting paid any better than those in complete obscurity. And, you sure are not getting treated any better by management.
These mailings and facebook updates confused me. Was I supposed to be impressed that these people were able to give their writings away for free? I do that everyweek and at one point every week day. The big difference is that I'm not working for Arrianna Huffinton (who I'm sure would make me spell her name correctly). I'm working for me. And yes, I don't pay myself. But I know me, and I'm a pretty cool person. Yes, I do have a temper, but I'm always there for me and I know that if I sell my blog for $100 million (it could happen...maybe...shut-up) I know that I'll pay myself a good percentage of the proceeds for all the hard work I've done on my blog. That's just the type of girl I am. In fact I'd make sure to pay at least something to everyone who has ever contributed to this blog. And if you are a person who has edited things on occassion (clearly not often. This thing is pretty typo laden and grammatically unsound) or...well...that's it I guess I'll totally pay you. Of course if you're a person who isn't good at returning emails and phone calls you won't get to cash in. (these last two sentences were kind of an inside joke between me and my boss. She's had some unattentive friends in the past, oh just never mind I'm sure to get a bonus for writing it.)
In the end just because more people may read your work doesn't mean you're getting paid any better than those in complete obscurity. And, you sure are not getting treated any better by management.
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