Interested in your views on ...

steven · Tennis legend

Interested in your views on ...

JonH · All-time great

My personal view is that if they are a commercial venture, and will make money out of the sales of their magazine or advertising etc, then it is write and proper you should get paid the going rate for your contribution. 700 words might be right up your street but I am sure it will take a few hours to research, write, finesse, hone etc each time and that time is money.

You are already promoting our players at that level in many ways and these folks shouldn't freeload.

Go for it - you won't be letting anyone down, IMO!

steven · Tennis legend

By 'go for it', I assume from the rest of your post that you mean go for saying no

indiana · Tennis legend

Speaking purely personally and selfishly and maybe selfishly for the players it would probably be good if you did do it, err plus basically just about all you already do.

But I don't think you need it and I sense that you don't think you need it. You seem already in a place you are happy with, and much respected by so many for the profile you give to players and the information to all.

And heavens, forget about letting anyone down. So another person may well do it and not as well as you would. How much profile would this have anyway? But whatever you can't cover everything, are already producing such great content appreciated by people within the game and followers. I guess you do have a life to lead too!

I guess that's a "no" from me. But it's clearly your choice. Do a Leon, consider the evidence, the pros and cons, and then go with your gut feeling. That will probably be the right one.

Sim · County player

I agree with the above comments, if it was one article, and then if it is a success, and you get paid for the future ones then possibly OK, but to write 4 a year with no pay, when I assume, someone else is trying to make a profit out of the magazine is not right.The Forum works just fine, and to be honest, if people are interested enough in British tennis they will find it anyway, it is no.3 hit on Google if you search for British tennis.

So, no you are not letting anyone down by not doing it, but if you fancy a possible future career as a tennis journalist, or just trying to make some money from writing about tennis, then it could be useful. As indy says go with your gut feeling and what YOU want to do.

wimdledont · Challenger level

700 words ain't a lot; there's 200-300 in your opening post above. While you are not aiming to monetise either the twitter feed or forum, you do value them, so there is a small quid-pro-quo (without any actual quids) in the offer of an advertorial. Nobody, apart from Google and Facebook, is making any money from magazine publishing these days.

Having said this, I personally would probably be happy to produce one voluntary one-off contributiion, but would expect some sort of remuneration for any regular commitment.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Personally, I would feel narked at being asked to do it for free if other contributors are doing it for money. It's not about the money, as such, (it'll be peanuts for 700 words anyway), nor really the feeling of undercutting the poor 'real' writers and destroying their market. But simply I don't understand why there are two sets of rules.
If you, personally, would get some other benefit, either tangible or intangible (pride, CV boost, leading to more work, whatever) then that's a different question. But just from the bare facts, and the vibes you give off, I'm not sure I would.....

wolf · Tennis legend

They might make you put your surname on your article, can't be knowing that!

SuperT · Futures level

I know I'm a newbie to this forum, so maybe my views hold less sway, but I have followed Steven's tables for several years and find the information he imparts and the ease of access a huge benefit which adds enormously to the enjoyment I get following British tennis. Personally I agree with Sim that a one off article might be ok, but that asking you to make a commitment to do 4 a year without offering any financial recompense seems totally unreasonable, so I don't think you should should feel under any obligation to accept for purely altruistic reasons. I think you should make the decision based on what feels right for you. And can I take this opportunity to say thank you for all you do - the missing tables these past two weeks has brought home once again how much I miss them when they're not there.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

My personal feeling is that they are extracting the proverbial by approaching you in this way. Agreed that there are people who do write articles for nothing, but they normally volunteer their services as opposed to being approached.

With regard to the "disservice to the forum .... or players", this has to be one of your more absurd suggestions LOL. You don't owe anybody anything - indeed with the amount of effort you put in to maintaining the stats etc, it is the other way around, so please don't feel under any obligation on our part.

Perhaps you could go back to them with a counter proposal. We as a forum, yourself included, could put together a quarterly report, to which we can all contribute (or even take it in turns to "guest" write) and in return, they offer to cover the hosting and maintenance costs for the forum itself. I seem to remember once that you said that you pay this yourself, which also isn't right, and perhaps this would allow us to remove that cost burden from your shoulders.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

The forum is a fantastic resource which goes way beyond what could be imparted in a series of articles of 700 words. I agree with previous posts that if you are interested in British Tennis at any level you end up here pretty quickly.

Personally I think you should only do it if you are going to enjoy doing it and not resent the fact that others are making money out of your efforts which I sense would frustrate you. It would me. All for doing things for nothing if the cause is a worthy one and imparts value. Im not so sure this does.

JonH · All-time great

steven wrote:
By 'go for it', I assume from the rest of your post that you mean go for saying no

Sorry, yes...say "no"!

Born2WinTennis · Club Coach

My opinion on this would be that its such an interesting and useful resource that you should monetise it to an extent where it becomes commercially viable to pay for someone to do your job when you are absent. Therefore sustaining the provision. For example I work full time in IT and started doing part time tennis coaching for free. However I realised that I might not always be available therefore charged a small amount to cover the hourly rate of another coach. Now I have actually moved away from that venue but the kids and adults still get the same coaching because they still pay me and it covers me paying a monthly invoice from another coach.

I would also ask them for the going rate for any work you do, its quite a specialised role and you have expert knowledge.

the addict · Tennis legend

I agree with Bob, CD, Indi and pretty much everyone else in this thread. You have fantastic knowledge, write very well and I have no doubt that any article you wrote would be of the highest standard.

Should you do it ? Maybe write an article if you feel really want to try, but more than once should involve money, as others have said. You do more than enough anyway, and it is greatly appreciated (and sorely missed).

Would you gain extra publicity for the forum ? Maybe, but you have a big audience anyway - over 4000 followers on twitter, and over a thousand visitors a day to this forum.

Anyway, it is your decision, and probably gut feeling will be right !

christ · Futures level

Do all forum members get a free copy of the publication?

No, tell them that they should pay.