InkyBlots

No, this isn’t a pet peeve about discussion. I’m opening the floor to what may or may not be a pet peeve for you.

Recently, my friend Richard and I got into a recent discussion. The main subject was that of blogging for money.

While I believe that sometimes you just have to do what’s necessary to pay the rent, I also agree with a comment Richard made:

“Part of me thinks that the old way is better, that writers who are published through traditional means are more respectable.”

I believe traditionally (in regards to submission process, not format for the e-authors out there) published authors have a more respectable position in the writing world than the average blogger who signed up with one of the many advertising sites. Younger writers and bloggers may cry no fair on that one, but no one should be an instant hit. You have to work at honing your craft, which might not be such a necessary thing to put on your resume when posting reviews and advertisements for these companies.

I mean no insult to writers who do this, but I have no doubt that with some companies, a lower quality writer with higher traffic (though ideally that shouldn’t happen) would be chosen over a higher quality writer with lower traffic.

What happens, though, is both low and high quality writers are hired so there’s little to have as far as respectability goes with this sort of writing.

I read a post called Should I Blog for Money? over at ProBlogger which I found interesting. There are a lot of pitfalls when it comes to blog advertising – including ruining your reputation – but would you take the chance? Or do you hold to the ideal of being traditionally published?

Where do you draw the line? Is working for PayPerPost or the like wrong while working for an advertising company offline acceptable? Is it the same thing or different?

Does it come down to a matter of necessity or a matter of honor?

Let me know what you think. Where do you draw the line with your writing? Do bloggers advertising hold a place on your writing related pet peeve list?