I don't think of this as negotiating so much as asking for a little candor. Again, I wish the Boost program didn't put authors in this situation, and there are many wonderful things about the way that this program works, but one of the most unfortunate ones is just what a gap in pay there is between pieces that are selected and pieces that aren't. So I don't believe it's totally unreasonable to ask whether there's a chance that I'll be getting paid for the time that went into this piece. I don't mind when writers ask the same of me. I'm happy to tell them when I do or don't think it lives up to that standard. I would nominate it myself if I didn't use both of my self-nominations on political articles that I believed were more important.

If you're able to offer any more clarity, I'd appreciate it.