After a few months of no return on things like trades, or whatnot, I generally call it a lost cause. They're obviously never going to pay up, in one way or another. :p

Is there a way to do that without being jaded on other trades? Because I've noticed a real trend and I'm tired of trying.

Eh, I suppose its entirely up to personal opinion. I've started to become rather jaded to some trades as well. Almost to the point of letting the other guy finish first just in case. :p

Nik to be perfectly honest, I can't answer any of those except the last one. Does your work have value? I can sum up my answer for this in two words.

HELL YES!

If I had half your talent, I'd probably be writing professionally. I would like to apologize for the fandom, it's disrespectful what happens to writers, seeming to get shafted more times then a few (yes I've been on that end too.) But that is not a reason to degrade the talent you have. There are some people out there that don't give a rat's backside and that's fine by me, I'll let them be retarded.

There are people out there with talent, some of which even being recognized for said writing, (Alps Sarsis comes to mind immediately.) We writers just got a much tougher fight to the top, and a much smaller top once we get there. Don't give up, everything comes back around and I pity those idiots when karma decides to give them a swift kick between the legs.

Just my two cents.

I guess it's a matter between actual value and perceived value. The only thing I can base my perception on is the perception of others. If I write a story for a trade and the tradee forgets that I even wrote anything, the perceived value of my goods in infinitesimal .

Thou shalt not be a lender nor a borrower, why? BECAUSE PEOPLE SUCK! Slap them like you would a bitch-faced 4 year old!

People do suck but I can't trade with robots.

No, no you can't