Are you willing to sell your soul?

Would you sell your soul for personal gain?

I can't do it!

Recently I found a market for inspirational stories.
I sent a few stories to them. The editors (Husband and Wife team) contacted me.

The wife called first. She said she liked my stories,
but for them to fit what they wanted, I should tweek them a bit.

It was good advice from a nice editor.

I thought about others in the writing world I
know. Many of them have great stories for this
collection of stories.

I wrote her back and told her about this.
In closing, I jokingly said, "If I keep this
up, you might have to hire me."

She emailed back and asked for a time for her
husband to call.

I gave it to her. She also sent me a copy of their
contract. They offer $300 for a story that fits
their theme, but they wanted all rights.

Her husband called. It was like an interview from
hell. I learned they wanted me to assist them in
finding writers for their project.

I questioned their contract - all rights.

He got tough.

I held my ground.

I cannot, in good faith, approach my fellow
writers and friends with such a contract.

He said, if I came on board, I could get a percentage
of sales from the book. I pushed back.

I haven't heard from them since.
Maybe I will and maybe I won't.
I may have blpown off a great chance to make money.
Perhaps I could have made a lot of money,
but I am not ready to sell my soul and believes
for profit.

Was I right?

In my mind, it was their loss. I know 8 or more writers who have stories that would make their
book a success.

As the contract stands, those writers would
recieve $100 or $300 for the story, but would never be
able to reuse it again.

I can't do that. I need the money, but my conscience and soul are worth a lot more to me

Mike

Story ID:	3941
Written by:	Michael Timothy Smith (bio, link, contact, other stories)
Story type:	OurEcho Community
Location:	Fort Lee NJ USA
Year:	2008
Person:	Me and all of you