Boston Globe update

Strange things are afoot on the Internet.

Actually, by Interweb standards, it's not all that weird. Via Kottke via BoingBoing via TGreek, I see that one Richard Koma, of SiliconValleyWatcher.com, has interviewed the CEO of Flickr, Stewart Butterfield, for the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference Web site.

Got all that? Good, because here's the important excerpt:

Koman: It strikes me that Flickr could be viewed as a huge stock photo bank if only you could have a conversation about rights.

Butterfield: We actually just heard a story from a user, the first one I know of, where someone bought a photo through Flickr. A photo editor at the Boston Globe was doing a story on Wal-Mart's warehouse center. A user had just taken a picture of it and put it on Flickr. The photo editor did a search on Flickr, found it, contacted the user and said, "OK, we'll pay you $150." That's a real opportunity, whether that's something we're able to facilitate and take a cut of, or not.

It appears that the story of how the Boston Globe bought that picture from me could "have legs," as folks once loved to say, so I should probably describe what happened in detail, as opposed to that profane and retarded post I wrote the day of.

Okay, this is all from my memory, so here goes...

When: A dreary day just before Christmas

Where: A cubicle in the office of Worth the Wait, an abstinence-only sex education curriculum program based in Temple.

I was sitting there flipping through the middle school curriculum — probably reading about condom failure rates or how to refuse the advances of a 19-year-old boy — when my cell phone started vibrating. My caller ID said "Unknown."

I answered with a somewhat skeptical "Hello." The editor from the Globe asked if I was me.

"Yes," I said.

She identified herself and began explaning the situation while I was still wondering: (1) Why was the Globe calling me? and (2) How did she get my number?

I was able to make out that the paper was working on a story about Wal-Mart distribution centers, she had found my photo and liked it, and she wanted to know if I would be interested in selling it to the paper. It would run in the business section; paid 150 bucks, she said.

I was pretty stunned.

Sure, I replied.

We exchanged contact info and she told me the file format the paper needed.

At that point, she complimented my stuff on Flickr and asked if I'd ever thought about working in photography. I fumbled for a bit before finally getting out, yes, but I don't have any formal training.

She said I could call her sometime after the new year, and she would talk to me a little more about the possibility.

I hung up and called a couple friends to say "Woo!"

I went home, reworked the raw image to match the one online and e-mailed it in to the Globe.

Over the next week or two I received a series of e-mails directing me to the online freelance agreement, which I signed. A few days later, a check from the New York Times company arrived. It's a strange feeling to deposit a check the the Times Co. I should've taken a picture of it.

Anyways, after New Year's I call the editor and she looks at some of my stuff again as we talk on the phone. She recommends some newspapers that are doing good work and also the various professional organizations so I can see what's going on in the industry. Then she offers to help me whittle down my favorites to put together a portfolio, which I still need to do.

In the meantime, some random blog links to my original post about selling the photo. A week or two later a PR guy from Flickr contacts me saying that a reporter from the O'Reilly Conference is interested in talking to me about selling the photo. I say I'd be happy to talk to him, but never hear back from either of them.

A weekend passes and then The Greek calls me to say, Holy shit, you're mentioned at the end of this article. And, it turns out, I was.

I still don't know if or when the photo will actually run. I was going to tell the Flickr people after it ran — I don't know why I was waiting — but then I never got around to it. Finding out I'm the first known user to sell a photo to a meida outlet, I feel pretty silly for never bringing it to their attention and saying thanks sooner.

So, here you go, Flickr — thank you for indirectly buying the kegs at our last party.

Okay that was long, dry, and probably boring, but there it is in case anyone ever comes wondering.

UPDATE: I forgot to add, in the days immediately after I sold the photo, I was still curious about how the editor found it. A quick Google search solved that mystery. Googling "walmart distribution center," my photo was the third or fourth link, which explains how she found it and why it continues to this day to get hits. Looking just now, if you put the phrase in quotes, it appears to be the first link. So there.

As for the other stuff, I gathered about 60 pictures into a working portfolio and e-mailed the Globe editor, but have yet to hear back from her. I also, as you can see in comments, am going to get in touch with the writer from the Silicon Valley Watcher site.

The weirdest thing, though, is that I thought I had linked to this post in the photo's description on Flickr. Was almost certain of it. But when I went to the picture just now and clicked the link, it looped me back to the picture and the URL address in the hyper link read "that could be trouble for you." What in the world? I have no idea how long it's been like that. What's going on?