Lately I’ve read a number of blog posts that discourage writers from giving any of their work away without payment—in other words, writing for free. These other writers feel that if a writer writes something without being paid for it, they diminish the value of the work for all other writers. And while I agree that every type of artist is wise to honor and value their gifts and contributions, that doesn’t mean that the only means of payment comes in the form of money. In fact, looking back over my own experiences, many of the payments I’ve received for my work came in a variety of forms and fashion. As creative artists of any type, let’s never forget that value means something different to each of us, and compensation doesn’t have to look like money. [Read more…]