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Topic: how many emails about payment before ...
| Author | Message |
| nandy | Posted – 2/11/2008 5:32:57 PM | show profile Some publishers have gone the route of third party A/P companies. There may be a person in the corporate office that oversees them, but essentially there is no in-house A/P. The company I work for has gone that way, and I have to tell you, they are very frustrating to deal with AND WE'RE THEIR CLIENT! Like not returning calls or email queries for weeks. I hated to have to tell my freelancers that I was still waiting for info, but it was the truth. We had gotten a good reputation--paid within 30 days--so when a check didn't come in 6 weeks a few of my freelancers got antsy. Just an end-of-the year thing, I guess. |
| cynthiarupe | Posted – 2/11/2008 7:41:18 PM | show profile A brief vent... Several of you mentioned editors accusing writers of being "desperate" for wanting to get their (pay)check in a timely fashion. That's ludicrous! I'm happy I haven't encountered that situation (yet?), but thanks for heads up. I'd like to know calm those editors would be if they didn't get their direct deposit every other Friday as scheduled. Am I right? Good grief... |
| foodlit | Posted – 2/12/2008 10:46:07 AM | show profile What is the norm? What is the standard timeframe that you are normally paid in? Is it within 30 days after you submit your article? Or much longer? |
| Enigma418 | Posted – 2/12/2008 11:15:40 AM | show profile there are pros and cons to both working for a bimonthly paycheck and being a freelancer. isn't the spaced out paychecks just par for the course of being a freelancer? those editors aren't out to get you or prevent you from making your rent. at least at the magazine house i work there is a cycle of payments when the ad money comes in. bottom of the food chain is freelancers and the print house. not saying it's right but neither is knocking a full-time employee just because they get a regular paycheck. i'm expected to work 40 hours plus often without extra compensation for the hours of overtime. my dw, who is a freelancer, charges for each and every minute she works and there's no one standing over her shoulder, interrupting her train of thought, no phone calls from pr agencies, no employees with all their drama and it goes on. my dw never understands why i can't refuse an assignment or take off the week of our anniversary when it falls during deadline or burn a bridge if an editor is difficult to work with. |
| daffodilsinsunshine | Posted – 2/21/2008 12:53:58 AM | show profile | email poster How many emails is enough? Hey there...Just my two cents and a question... I am waiting to get paid for work, a lot of work, that was done over 60 days ago. I've invoiced, twice, I've talked to my very nice editors, and I've called the accountant AND even the publisher, who holds the purse strings. What do you do when a publisher tells you: "I'm so sorry but I'm having money problems and I promise to pay you eventually." Do you just sit around praying that you get paid? Do you email/call four times a day (just kidding..) ? Do you send a request for payment via certified mail? How long is too long to wait? I don't want to go to court. I don't want to even hint about a possible lawsuit, yet. I wouldn't mind yelling at someone but even that seems unhelpful to my cause. The editor who hired me has been fantastic but there isn't anything he/she can do except keep pleading with the publisher on my (and I'm guessing a lot of other folks') behalf. I've heard through the grapevine (too late, naturally) that this publisher takes his/her sweet time to pay freelancers. I am unsure how to proceed and my savings are running out. Thanks in advance for any suggestions... |
| jcpatterson | Posted – 2/21/2008 12:23:35 PM | show profile Hard to say without being in your shoes, daffodils, but I was in a similar non-payment situation several years ago, and I could not even get the publisher to admit there were cash flow problems. At least you have that. I would gather as much information as I could (perhaps even another talk with the publisher) and see if you feel like the company is going out of business, or if this is just a circumstance where some of their own invoices are unpaid, creating a bottleneck higher up. If you think they are worth the risk and have every intention of paying up, I would offer them some sort of payment plan. I would only do this for a long-standing reliable customer who had always paid on time, but certainly if a regular had strung me past net 60, I would rather get a small weekly check and then the balance at net 90 rather than nothing for three months. Your call, and definitely don't let yourself be taken advantage of, but you can make some intermediate decisions about loyal customers that are not just "do nothing" or "take 'em to court." |
| reporterwriter | Posted – 2/21/2008 3:58:46 PM | show profile >>Do I call at this point? Don't want to ruin future opps, but this is a nice-sized check I could use.<< You call *before* this point. There's no substitute for picking up the goddamn phone. |
