Reply #162: It's also the nature of freelance writing.

[themadstork]

I know this is yet again delving into individual freelancer stuff rather than the publishing press, but what you're describing is what writers have done for ages. Until you've written enough that the demand for your work is a seller's market rather than a buyer's, all writers are what you would call "slaves." This is because the value of the product they're making is not yet known, and so they must either work on spec or by selling pitches. If I work in a factory the value of Good X that I'm assembling is a known value and I can be paid by the hour for my work. Probably not nearly enough, but we live in an owners' society, sadly.

It's as if those in this thread have no clue as to the economy behind creative work. You can't think of it in the same way as most wage work. If I've never painted before, you're not going to pay me by the hour to do your portrait. Not unless I've got a significant portfolio of quality work behind me. (And yes, much of the work in the portfolio I probably did for free, or for dirt-cheap.)