Interview With Leon Schwarzbaum
Interviewed by Jenna Glatzer
How did you know you were a writer?
As a corporate executive, I wrote "dynamite" letters. I frequently wrote speeches for the top brass. My letters to the editors of several magazines
and The New York Times were almost always printed, usually without editing. "Maybe," I thought, "I'm a writer."
When I joined a professional association, their monthly magazine was so boring, as I told the editor, I yawned when I saw the wrapper in my mail.
She printed a "tongue-in-cheek" column I submitted, hoping to liven up the issue.. She printed another. I asked for a more intimate relationship -- one
involving money. She agreed to pay me. Hey, I was a writer! We've been "together" for almost 15 years and it's my favorite gig.
Using that publication as a springboard, I began to write on other topics. When I sold these articles, I was sure I was a writer. When my company was
bought and my job was outsourced, I became a part-time consultant and full-time freelance writer.
Of what are you most proud?
My family comes first on the "proud" list. Professionally, I am proud of the relationships I build with my editors.
I'm proud of my talent as a "wordsmith" -- my ability to turn a phrase, to hit the nail on the head, to avoid cliches. <g>
I'm proud of the fact that I never wrote anything I would be ashamed to have my kids read out loud at the breakfast table. I'm proud that I never
compromised on the facts during the five years I was a newspaper correspondent. And I get an ego trip when I see my byline in a prestigious
publication.
Why freelancing as opposed to staff writing?
I travel extensively and don't like to be tied down to a desk. I work very early in the morning, usually in my pajamas or "sweats" and shower and dress
some time around noon. I am home when the United Parcel deliverer comes, so he doesn't try to jam a ten pound box into my mail slot. I can work out in
the gym in the middle of the day with the young housewives, who are more fun than their evening-workout husbands. I can pick and choose my subjects. I
can refuse to work for an editor who chops up my work or edits it to make it "sparkle". To borrow a phrase (more about that later in this interview) I am
the master of my fate and the captain of my soul.
Freelancing is not for anyone who has a low tolerance for uncertainty. It is not for someone who is the breadwinner for a family, unless there is a day
job to back up the freelance income until fame and fortune befall the writer. It is not for anyone who can't handle rejection -- and there is a
LOT of that to cope with. And it certainly isn't for whiners who blame "writers' block" on their inability to sit down and crank out an article to
meet a deadline.
It's Tuesday. You've got 6 assignments due on Friday. How do you
convince yourself to get to work?
I open the refrigerator. I check the balance in my checkbook. I realize the cashier at the supermarket hasn't read my latest article and doesn't know
what great talent is standing in front of him when he rings up my bill; he will therefore insist I pay before taking the bags out to the car.
I look at my calendar. I pour a cup of coffee. I wiggle my fingers. I start to type. I think, from time to time, about the refrigerator, the checkbook
and the cashier. I am a rapid typist. I can turn out 3 or 4 thousand words (GOOD words) a day. I am motivated by all of the things that motivate me to
be a free-lancer.
However, we are working here on an assumption that is patently false. If I have 6 assignments due on Friday, 5 will be done by Tuesday, unless, of
course, I have received them that day. Usually, my assignments result from queries and I will have done my research before querying. One of my
endearing features (closely following my modesty in importance) is my ability to meet deadlines. I think an editor values the comfort of knowing a
writer's work will be in his or her hands in time to go to press, carefully proofread and spellchecked, ready to publish.
You've mentioned that freelance writers are prone to being ripped off.
Is it worth it to go after newspapers/publishers/websites that steal your work for reprint in their publications?
"Worth it" is a relative term. I would certainly write a business-like letter, using words like "attorneys", "litigation" and "copyright", but
avoiding "creep", "crook" and "punch you in the nose". Unfortunately, the cost of a lawsuit will far exceed the amount of recovery you can get on one
article. It helps if what is being ripped off was originally printed in an aggressive publication, where the publisher takes strong action against
plagiarism and you get a chance to go along for the ride in any action your publisher takes.
Once in a while, an editor will be fooled by a writer claiming to submit original work, but the "original work" is yours. This happened twice, so
far, in my career -- one was a non-paying non-profit organization's publication and I reluctantly decided not to pursue the issue. The other
publisher, a person of little integrity, suggested I sue the writer and refused any further communication with me.
Have you ever had trouble getting paid? What do you do if a publisher
ignores your invoices?
I have been "stiffed" only once. The editor of a West Coast weekly newspaper agreed to buy a sidebar column from me, for a very low fee but with good
placement in the newspaper and a commitment for at least 26 articles. I sent him 6, to get started. After the first 4 appeared, I called to ask when I might expect payment.
The editor was no longer with the paper, I was told. I asked to speak with the publisher, who refused my phone call.
I wrote a strong letter and tried to call the publisher again. A woman took the call and said she was the new editor. When I told her I hadn't been
paid, she asked me for a copy of my contract with the paper. I printed a copy of the e-mail giving me the assignment and mailed it to her. She never
replied.
Some months later at a meeting of freelance journalists, I asked a reporter from the same city as my deadbeat publisher if he knew this man. The
reporter asked me how much money the publisher owed me. "He does this all the time." I was told.
I added the bad debt to the cost of my education in the University of Bitter Experience, from which I received a Doctorate over the years.
There is sometimes a grey area when reslanting an article for
submission to a new market. Are there any clear rules about how different a reslanted
article must be from an original article to avoid treading on the original publisher's rights?
Funny you should ask, to steal another phrase. I recently was accused of "lifting" a news service's article. Being a firm believer in going to the
highest source, I called the news service's editor. "If I take one of your articles and, using the facts, rewrite it in my own words, am I infringing
on your copyright?" I asked. He thought a moment and replied, "If you rewrite it, it wouldn't be our article any more, would it?" This may not fit
your definition of "clear rules" but it's enough to cause me to believe they won't come after me if I do it.
Once an article is published, the information contained in it is available for any use. The phrases and other distinguishing style of the writer are
not. If the re-writer wants to give the facts credibility, it's a good idea to say, "according to a XXX News Bureau article, the sun rises in the East."
(The foregoing example is not scientifically correct, however, because the earth rotates creating the impression that the sun is rising whereas it is really relatively immobile, but that's another subject, isn't it?)
But I am not a lawyer, so any opinion I may have is home-grown.
It must be jarring to write about so many different topics. How do
you, for example, clear your brain of the last humor piece you've written when you
have to start a "serious" article?
You are making the assumption that there is something to clear from my brain when I begin to write, and I thank your for the compliment.
A "serious" article is preceded by serious research. I usually find the subject interesting, and therefore can focus on the structure of my article
by reviewing my notes. I hate to keep coming back to the subject of money, because I do many things for a pittance because I like the editor, the
publication or the subject, but my serious articles usually are the ones that pay the most. I find this an incentive to figuratively roll up my
sleeves, put on my green eyeshade and roll out the serious words.
Anyone who reads my articles will become aware of a consistency in my style. I enjoy playing with words and I enjoy challenging my readers, so there will
be, even in the most serious of my articles, a thread of humor.
To date, my work has appeared (and in many cases, still appears on a regular basis) in a weekly newspaper, three computer magazines, a real estate
magazine, two women's magazines, an on-line literary magazine, a travel agency's website magazine and at least seven other publications. The
transition from one to the other is easy by now.
Some of us have trouble negotiating for better terms (like payment on
acceptance, kill fees, retaining rights, bylines, etc.) Are you comfortable negotiating? If so, any tips for us shmoes?
ALL of us have this trouble. Those of us (unfortunately I am not one) who earn big bucks have agents/business managers who do this for us. I was a
professional negotiator for years but that experience is useless as a freelancer.
In this highly-competitive field, the buyers have the upper hand. We are selling our art, which has value only to the people who can publish it. I
find myself in competition with wannabes and newbies willing to give their work away just to see their names in print. Discriminating, ethical editors
and publishers pay their writers, but not all editors and publishers believe in paying for talent. Once an editor knows and likes your work, you will
find some flexibility.
A basic rule of negotiating is "if you don't ask, you won't get". Reasonable demands are usually met. I try to sell one-time print rights. Once you're on
the Web, you've lost a lot of control, but I obviously sell those rights, too, when that's what is needed. I refuse a "kill fee" arrangement -- which
is really writing on spec. If I agree to write on spec because I am desperate to get into that publication, there is a time limit on deferral of
payment. I demand bylines. Everything else is negotiable.
What are your future writing goals?
Lemme tell ya about my book. Yes, I have written one. No, I haven't been able to sell it. Some days I think it's good, some days I think it stinks. Editor
friends have offered to edit it for me but then they change my style. Several agents have "loved it" but say it's not saleable. I don't know. It's
a fictionalized memoir of New York's Greenwich Village in the post-war years.
I'd like to get an assignment for a regular column in a "two bucks a word" magazine. I'm trying.
Anything else you'd like to add for aspiring freelancers?
Know, all ye of faint heart, that I spend more time looking for assignments than I do writing. I accept rejections without agonizing over them -- and I
get a lot. I do other things beside writing to earn money and can weather a "dry spell".
Writing is the one creative art almost everybody thinks he or she can do. Music, dance, sculpture, painting all require a distinct talent and a lot of
practice. But anyone with an elementary school education can write. It takes style and craftsmanship to be a real writer. I think I am one, but there are
days I'm not sure.
Leon Schwarzbaum, world traveler, bon vivant and nifty Tango dancer hides behind
wordswords@att.net . He is open for assignments, long-term
relationships with editors and casual conversation.
Copyright © 1999 Leon Schwarzbaum, all rights reserved.
