Words on a page

Like many other professional freelance writers, I'm tired of and offended by online ads that offer to publish someone's work without paying them. I could type endlessly about how "exposure" and other lame excuses for a lack of payment are offensive but others (for example, this site) have already done that.

Maybe a lot of these people offering exposure (or a t-shirt or a cup of coffee or whatever) think that the word free in freelance writer means that someone is willing to write for no pay. Sorry to disappoint those people, but being a professional freelancer means that you do it for a living. Profession is a key part of professional ...

Then I got to thinking that in some cases maybe freelance isn't the best word to describe our independent state. So, what would be a better choice? How about paylance? I can't take credit for coining the word. A few days ago, I heard someone riding on a streetcar say it and the word stuck in my memory. And seeing a couple of online those offensive online ads brought the word to the front of my brain.

I think, perhaps partly in jest, that paylance is a great word. It gets across the idea that money must change hands in order for a client or publication to use our words.

What do you think?