Mercenary? Afraid so. But Ann Crispin drummed into me that writers should get paid; money flows to the author. I totally agree with her. I put a lot of my soul and heart into my writing. It feels very wrong to just give it away.
I am flattered to be asked, either which way. It's nice to have people who think highly of my writing ability, so highly that they come to me asking for it rather than the usual state of affairs where I go begging editors to please consider my humble, unworthy offering.
It'll be interesting to see if this project takes off.