Nov 20 2008
Dear [Name Redacted]
Dear [Name Redacted],
Who the hell do you think you are? Your job posting on Problogger.net throws mud in the face of every self respecting freelance writer on the face of planet Earth. I thought I was pretty well suited to your job listing and I was eager to apply until I came to this line:
My name is [Name Redacted]. Find my email and email me.
We are writing professionals, [Name Redacted]. Do you really think we have time to scuttle all over the internet to find your stupid e mail address? Is it really such a privilege to write for the illustrious [Name Redacted] that you’ll pay us a whopping $20 per post? You pissed me off enough not to want to look for your e mail address but to find out who you think you are. A quick Google search for “[Name Redacted]” told me all I needed to know–you’re a stuck up, barely 21 year old wannabe internet sensation. You think you’re the bee’s knees because you’re big on StumbleUpon.
Reality check, [Name Redacted], no self respecting freelancer is going to “find your e mail”. We have better paying, more reputable publications to write for than your dumbass website that doesn’t even exist yet. Good luck finding your perfect candidates.
Truly enraged,
Heather Mark
5 Responses to “Dear [Name Redacted]”
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Nice idea — unsent letters. I agree that Gab Goldenberg sounds like a swelled-head, but complaining about $20.00 a post when you’re writing here for $1.00 a post seems a little… mmm, I don’t know… maybe a little lacking in perspective?
Lol, you have a point! Thanks for making me giggle at myself. However, I’m not at Today to make a living. It’s just a fun side project
Heather, I think you took that the wrong way. First, I didn’t want to type out my email address because spam robots would then access it and add me to their mailing lists. Second, and this occurred to me afterwards, it also helped filter applicants on how internet savvy might be, which was nice side-benefit since they’d be writing about a web-related topic.
For the record, plenty of people wrote me, including some brilliant writers, judging by their samples.
I’m not sure what tells you I’m stuck up or suggests I think I’m “the bee’s knees” … I’ve always said I was the cat’s pyjamas, personally.
As to payment, the commenter above noted accurately that I’m being 20x more generous than whatever you’re getting from Today, not to mention that I’ll be providing my writers with training.
Finally, I consider it ironic that you should attack me behind my back rather than have the guts to contact me and say this personally (which you obviously could have done since you’ve found at least one site of mine), given that you filed this under ‘rude people’.
All right, I take back filing you under rude people. You actually sound like a pretty okay guy. I hope your new endeavor will work out swimmingly. And as I said to the last commenter, I’m not here to make a living. I’ve used several other free blog platforms, some I liked, some I loathed, so I thought I’d see what Today is like. Nonetheless, I still disagree with your “come find me” approach to filling your writing slots. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Perhaps in that case you might delete this post, or at least edit it sufficiently to simply make the point that you disagree about my recruiting methods?