No, Mr. Editor, You May Not Monetize My Content Without Compensating Me!

Boy, some newspaper and magazine editors have some nerve.! This past weekend I received the fourth request this year by a magazine or newspaper editor asking to rerun blog posts or columns I’ve written – for free. The offers all go like this: “I really enjoyed your piece on such and such. It was thought-provoking, and I’d like to get your permission to run it in our publication. You’ll benefit from all the great exposure…yada yada yada.”

Thanks for asking, I’m flattered, really! But listen, my words are mine – mine, mine mine, all mine, I tell you! You can link to me, or lift a few sentences here and there, presuming you credit me properly. But you may not have my permission to lift entire columns or posts so you can support your advertising revenues, while paying me zip. No way, unless you’re an editor from some hotly debated discussion platform, like the NYTimes Op-Ed section. Otherwise, I’m not really seeking your exposure. If you’d like to compensate me fairly, then feel free to send offers my way. I’m not geedy, but I do recognize the value of my my ideas and words. The purpose of AttentionMax is not to make me money, and it’s not to make you money, either.

Published by Max Kalehoff

Father, sailor and marketing executive.

Leave a comment