Agreed. I'm at the point if someone asks for a so-called "free sample," that I tell them they need to pay for that. If they become annoyed, I say something like: "Well, you wouldn't ask your auto mechanic for a free sample if he hadn't worked on your type of car, would you?"

And about interviewing, yes, you're right. My old writing mentor used to tell me: "Writing is generic." What he meant is if you know how to interview people, you can write about anything.

Thanks for your feedback.