I recently got an assignment from a small, but reputable, "hip-and-cool" arts magazine to write a 500-word piece about a "hip-and-cool" director. I emailed the editor to ask what the editorial rate would be, which means, how much are you going to pay me.
He responded, "$50"
So I wrote back, "Fifty dollars, how about a hundred?"
He replied, almost immediately, "No!!"
There really were two exclamation points.
