Sucker Artists Wanted At The Great Cheap Lady

They're off . . . you lose:


http://jimromenesko.com/2012/02/07/editorial-cartoonists-insulted-by-nyt-solicitation

 

Roughly the same practice at the New Yorker.

 

Yes, but the NY pays appreciably better, and the New Yorker also knows they can't (and won't) cut long-term proven cartoon contributors off at the knees. They spread the largesse around.

 

The NYT has always paid poorly, especially on the OpEd page - where almost everything is written on spec, as well. While I empathize and sympathize with the cartoonists, they're being treated by that section as most writers are.

 

That is insulting.

Not as insulting as folks who want to pay $1 for per story for every 300-500 word SEC-enriched article on the web, but insulting.

 

OK, it's insulting. But as a business decision, is it wrong?

You can see dozens (hundreds) of cartoons a week, and it costs you only $250.

If the average quality of the cartoons is less than the average quality of a $1,500/week "professional", the sheer volume of submissions likely means the best ones will equal the professional's in quality (see Idol, American). And if they don't, the NYT can always drop the idea.

It's much less expensive, and readers likely will still see a good cartoon each week. Once you get past the hurt feelings of the cartoonist . . . why wouldn't they do something like this?

 

Just because something might be a cheaper way to go doesn't make it right.


Would you like to send in a different 1,000-word article to the New York Times every week, hoping that they might print it and send you some cash?

 

Many people do.

 

Isn't that the entire freelance market?

 

Yeah I don't really get the uproar, as Az said, writers go through this all the time with the Times. From their submissions page:

And in this column from 8 years ago, they receive 1,200 unsolicited submissions a week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/01/opinion/01SHIP.html?pagewanted=2

For better or worse, this is the lot of writers, whether it's journalists or novelists. Book agents and editors get thousands of 100,000 word novels every year from people who know there's no guarantee.

 

The vast majority of such individuals making submissions would be better off at the lottery counter.

 

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