Is the Check In the Mail?
Monday, April 4, 2011 Question of the day: I am about to have my first freelance article published -the article will be published in the May issue so it's not out yet. My concern is that I have not heard anything about what I will be paid for this article. I never discussed it with the editor before and I have not heard from anyone else at the magazine about it. Am I being too impatient or does it look like I will not be receiving compensation?
Oh my gosh, this is not good. Writers, please, never find yourself in this situation! Money is an uncomfortable subject to raise, but please, please, please, raise it as soon as you're offered an assignment, if not before.
In this case, I would email or call your editor asap. You should have received a contract for your article, and in this contract, it should state the terms of what you'll be paid. So I would call her/email her and say that you haven't yet received the contract, and can she please send it out asap. THIS IS STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE for any reputable magazine, and you should get one stat. I would also ask - clearly - what the per word rate is, and I would make it clear that you have the expectation that there is indeed a per word rate. Though you could perhaps word this a bit more subtly - i.e, "I realized that we didn't discuss payment. I'm was so excited to receive the assignment that I let this important aspect slip by! Can you please tell me what your standard rate per word is and when I can expect a check?"
But in order for them to pay you, they need information from you - social security, address, etc - and I'm a little alarmed that this wasn't asked for and the contract wasn't provided.
Writers CANNOT forget that this is a job, and editors EXPECT to have the money discussion with you! Please, please, please (and I'm saying this so kindly - you can't read my tone here, but I really am) do not let yourself be taken advantage of. Contact your editor NOW and find out what's going on. And in the future, always know that asking about money/payment is simply part of the negotiation process, and you should never feel awkward raising it.
Readers, any advice for this reader?
Money
Reader Comments (5)
That's exactly what I would do in this situation. And next time don't forget to discuss this upfront. It would be a nasty surprise to find out there's no payment at all when you were expecting one.
Yes, compensation should be discussed before you start working on a project. Remember, your writing is work. You MUST be paid for work.
A couple years ago I contacted an editor of a small but national magazine with an article idea. He called within days of receiving my query and I was given the assignment. I signed a contract that clearly stated the parameters of the article, the payment amount and the payment terms - payment would be made once the article was published.
That was great in theory but in reality it was not, as the article was pushed back several times. Once it was published I did receive payment promptly.
If a contract states "payment upon publication", should the scheduled publication date be included as well as a clause about payment being made at that particular issue's publication even if article is pushed back, or is a bouncing publication date the norm? Also, should the contract have stated that payment will be made even if article isn't published by a certain time, say 1 year from original publication date?
Allison's advice is spot on. You definitely need something in writing that discusses payment terms (how much AND when you're going to get paid). The 'when you're going to get paid' part is as important as how much you're going to get paid because you could wait forever if it's not in writing. I'm sure once you email the editor in a nice but business manner, she/he will tell you how it works, but make sure you know WHEN you'll get paid. Once I had an article planned, payment info set, the issue it would be in, draft sent in, then guess what - my editor left the magazine! Ugh. The new editor said she didn't know if/when she would publish the article. I was upset, to say the least. But I was very nice and in a professional manner said the author/illustrator I had interviewed for the article would be very disappointed if it didn't run. Thankfully, the new editor ran it in the issue as planned. I guess my point is: yes, you need to be nice and professional, but you're running a business as well and sometimes you have to stand your ground and be persistent - but in a way that doesn't mess up your relationships with clients. By the way, the same payment issue goes for other freelance-type writing. I'm also a copywriter and I always make sure the pay rate and when I'll get paid is discussed and agreed upon.
@ Judy S: I'm sure Allison can give you better info on this, but here's my two cents anyway...
Some magazines pay upon publication while other mags pay upon acceptance (when they receive your completed article.) This is information that can usually be found in the magazine's writer guidelines. While not always, it does happen that a magazine can push back the publication date of your article, or sometimes even decide not to run it after all. These are reasons why it is preferable to write for magazines that pay upon acceptance. If they do decide not to run the article after all, you might be entitled to a "kill fee," which is a fraction of the amount that you would be paid if they actually ran the article. However, most of this information will be discussed before you sign the contract for the assignment. Hope that helps! :)