Why yes, I'll work for nothing

So... since I did the radio interview last week (see previous blog post) I have been inundated....with requests to basically work for nothing. It's one thing to be asked to write for free "for the exposure" which most non-best-selling writers experience, but don't you think it's a bit cheeky of people (who are being paid to approach me) to ask me to write/Tweet and otherwise do promotional work for their products - for nothing at all?

I'm not a blogger who does reviews and gets free stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with that it's just that a) I rarely get offered free stuff and b) I can't be bothered. I like to write at my own pace although if I"m getting paid and there's a deadline, I will make that deadline.

Since I'm a fairly nice person, I usually respond with a few suggestions such as approaching expat or Brit groups on Facebook etc. But really! One person wanted me to Tweet a link and generally say nice things about a book I haven't read nor was I being offered the opportunity to review it. Sorry - I'm not endorsing anything I know nothing about.

And of course everyone wants a name at the BBC. I have one contact at the BBC, - my editor. Occasionally there's something I think he might be interested in, or it might spark an idea for a Mind the Gap post, but I'm not passing every e-mail on to him, nor am I bugging him for a name every time some completely random person asks me to. (Sorry if you were just about to do that. I have my own professional reputation to think about and it doesn't include irritating my editors.)

So there we have it. Just to set the record straight. PR people - I will try to be helpful but I'm not putting hours of work in for your client, I just don't have the time. I don't mind the odd book review, if it's relevant to my platform (hate that word), but if I don't respond, the answer's a polite -