I mentioned screenwriter Curt Siodmak yesterday..<\/p>\n
(in the email where I said all freelance copywriters are suckers)<\/p>\n
And, specifically, I showed this quote from him from the book Backstory 2:<\/p>\n
\u201cIrving Thalberg once said: \u201cThe most important man in the motion picture business is the writer. Don\u2019t ever give him any power!\u201d Even today the writers are oppressed. Even today a writer gets little appreciation. That\u2019s why good writers become writer-directors, or writer-producers, to get more standing, and of course to make more money. I haven\u2019t met a writer yet who owns a yacht like producers or directors. But don\u2019t let them kid you. Where would they be without writers?\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Below is another quote from him from the same interview.<\/p>\n
And, if you translate it to the freelance copywriting world, it further proves what suckers freelance copywriters are.<\/p>\n
Here goes:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe film [The Wolf Man] was written like a Greek tragedy, without my intent at the time, but it fell into place and that\u2019s why it has run for forty-eight years. I made $3,000 on the job. They have made, so far, $30 million on the picture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Context:<\/p>\n
He got paid $3,000 in 1941 money, which is over $62,000 in today’s money.<\/p>\n
Not a bad payday for writing at all.<\/p>\n
That is, until you look at the $30 million it made. That comes out to $621 million in today\u2019s money. Well over half a billion. Yet he got peanuts while a bunch of executives got rich. This is the sort of realization that made Walter White decide to Break Bad…<\/p>\n
But, that\u2019s just how work for hire goes.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s nothing right or wrong about it.<\/p>\n
It just is.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re a freelance copywriter and the above viscerally bothers you?<\/p>\n
Do your own projects, be your own client, keep all the money.<\/p>\n
The paid Email Players newsletter can help with the email part of that:<\/p>\n