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We first wrote about the irascible scribbler known as the Craigslist Curmudgeon in March. The Curmudgeon is a sort of online vigilante, exposing those who advertise for writers in the writing/editing section of Craigslist but offer no pay, piddling in-kind compensation, or a dubious remuneration plan. These attempts at luring desperate writers into such unrewarding exchanges he dubs "assery," a term yet to find its way into the dictionary, though the century is still young... Anyway, we asked the Curmudgeon, with some trepidation, a few questions over email:

So you're a professional writer, we assume?

Yes I am. I recently made the switch to freelancing full time.

What prompted you to start the page?

Because Craigslist is free and doesn't seem to have too many rules and regulations, it's an assery magnet. Anyone can post a job, even if no job exists... Plus they allow job ads for people who don't want to pay their workers. I've seen it getting worse over the years and I know I can't do anything to stop it. But I can educate people and show some of the newer writers how silly some of these requests are. Hopefully by doing it in a way that makes people laugh it shows how ridiculous many of these ads and requests are.

All right. Where'd you get the term "assery" from?

Assery: The practice of being an ass. I made it up in honor of a past employer.

What's the most ridiculous attempt at exploiting writers you've seen thus far?

It's the cheap web content/SEO (search engine optimization) people. They ask for 1,000 words and pay something like $2.50. The article has to be researched and run through Copyscape and there's always this long list of requirements for this $2.00 article. Assery at its finest.

Any hate mail? Praise from grateful writers?

Lots of great mail from writers who appreciate the laugh, and that means the world to me. The only hate mail I've received was from people whose ads I featured.

But what do you say to the small publication/labor of love that genuinely wants to publish good writing but just can't afford to pay anything? Is there any place for that type of request?

They have to pay something, right? They have to pay the printer, right? The distributor? The webmaster? In these cases, it's always the writer who gets the shaft. Why? Hey if you have a labor of love, by all means, labor away. Just don't expect someone else to do all the work while you rake in the ad dollars.

What's the least amount of money you'd write for?

It depends on the gig, the hours, the research. Anything that's not insulting.

Despite all the assery, do you consider the Web more of a boon or a bust for writers?

I think it's the best thing that ever happened to us. There's work for all of us, and there will continue to be work for all of us.

Okay, then. That wasn't so curmudgeonly, after all. Thanks Curmudgeon, and as writers ourselves, we say: "Keep up the good work."

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