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Topic: TrailBlazer magazine....beware!
| Author | Message |
| ConfidentDesigner | Posted – 7/1/2008 2:42:18 PM | show profile I've been doing layouts for a magazine in Prescott Valley, AZ for about 5 months now on a monthly basis. The pay is low ($25/page) but since I love the subject matter (horses), it was a fairly fun project to do each month. Up until 2 months ago, I was paid... late, but I was always paid and the checks cleared the bank. It was a nice little $350-600 extra per month. I am not the only one that hasn't been paid lately. Susan Gibson, the editor and publisher refuses to answer my emails or pay the invoices I've sent her over and over again. I've discovered she has an "unsatisfactory" BBB rating in AZ and a freelance writer I've been in contact with hasn't been paid either. Beware of this woman! She might have the best intentions but...she doesn't pay her freelancers! Never a good thing. |
| joyeuxnoelle | Posted – 7/1/2008 5:25:29 PM | show profile | email poster Thanks for the warning! |
| lele | Posted – 7/1/2008 6:28:21 PM | show profile deadbeats Send a letter threatening to file suit. I worked for a publisher that stopped paying everyone but those who threatened to sue! |
| ConfidentDesigner | Posted – 7/1/2008 7:41:25 PM | show profile Really? Well, yes if I don't hear anything from her by next week, that's exactly what I'll do! |
| joyeuxnoelle | Posted – 7/1/2008 7:54:51 PM | show profile Has anyone had luck with the national writers union? Are publications actually afraid of getting on their bad side? |
| ConfidentDesigner | Posted – 7/1/2008 8:43:26 PM | show profile There is a woman named Angela Hoy who has her own website addressing the matters of writers being paid (or not paid) and her website is angelahoy.com. She makes some good points in her bog. |
| joyeuxnoelle | Posted – 7/5/2008 6:01:18 AM | show profile I know of writer's weekly. I was hoping to find an organization with more of a scare factor - no disrespect to Angela. |
| northcoastlife | Posted – 7/5/2008 8:45:02 PM | show profile Hate to say it, but just based on first-hand similar experience you are not in the best place on earth to be working with ethical publishers. AZ is a real bolt-hole for sleazeball wannabe publishers, you could have had it worse if you'd been in Maricopa Cty believe me. I had an exact same experience with POST magazine, a sports publisher in Phx, sent them the demand letter and went as far as the small claims in phx, of course they totally ignored it. They will brazen it out hoping you will wear down, go away or reckon the time expended is no longer worth it. So glad for me at least the upside is I no longer live in that state and reckon their karma will catch up with them, hopefully they're living in their car by now that the economy is extra sour out there. Good luck with your horse passion, they are wonderful creatures but deserve to be in media other than where you're at. |
| ConfidentDesigner | Posted – 7/7/2008 11:26:40 AM | show profile Yes, this woman has a legacy, apparently. She isn't very well regarded with writers thrat have contacted me and she's got some pot shots against her in the BBB website. I reckon I should have checked her out before doing business with her. This is the second time this has happened to me in my freelance career. Lots of deadbeat bottom-feeders out there, for sure! |
| ConfidentDesigner | Posted – 7/8/2008 12:13:36 PM | show profile UPDATE! This woman is now trying to say I didn't do the work "properly" and she's saying she will "pay me what I deserve and bill me for the work that had to be redone"! My attempts to collect what is rightly owed to me has turned into a mud-slinging from her now. She's coming across to me as mentally unstable on top of being unethical and flagrantly unprofessional. I've given her a deadline and will not communicate with her until that date and then only if she doesn't pay me the $$$ she owes me. Lesson learned: Do your research on a client BEFORE you agree to do work for them! ALWAYS! ALWAYS! ALWAYS! Either that or get all the funds upfront. |
| northcoastlife | Posted – 7/8/2008 2:11:06 PM | show profile CD, definitely learn the lesson each time, but don't beat yourself up too unduly either. Here's the deal in this type of situation based on my own similar experience: they will try to rattle you and bluster - so ignore it. You are on solid ground, they are not - not even in a backwater part of the country where laws are lax regarding that type of business dishonesty. She will "bill you"? I don't think so - not on account of her own expenditure for her own enterprise, freely and individually undertaken by her alone. The other common element I see in this is, the pathology along with the dishonesty of the individual you're dealing with is emerging only after they get called out on their own decision to act less than ethically and professionally with you. You need to keep in mind as part of the lesson here, that such people are very adept at maintaining that outward veneer of professionalism and straight-dealing until the moment of truth arrives and their actual colors emerge. They've probably deceived many another beside you with this type of performance, so don't feel you alone are the only person who's been played by them in business. And remember, being crooked does not mean they can't also be equally crazy. Unfortunately:( On a more positive note, I hope she doesn't so distract you and chew into your time that you can't get on with other markets and projects. Always important to do just as an affirmative act after an encounter with something like this. Measure the hours you've already expended with this grifter, and make a resolution to use at least as much in researching and connecting with more equestrian markets. Meanwhile, phooey to |
| abqwriter | Posted – 7/8/2008 4:15:47 PM | show profile Contact the AG in Arizona and file a complaint. You can even do it online. http://www.azag.gov/consumer/OnlineInstructionsEng.html You may not get immediate remuneration, but if enough people complain, the AG will be able to eventually build a case strong enough to prosecute. |
| ConfidentDesigner | Posted – 7/8/2008 7:07:39 PM | show profile Wow! Good information. Thanks to both of you. Yes, I was def. planning to contact the AG there in her state. She's definitely a crook! |
| ConfidentDesigner | Posted – 7/9/2008 11:13:31 AM | show profile More posts about SG and TB magazine and the issue of non-payment to her freelancers: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66706 Looks like she's a repeat offender, alright! |
| ConfidentDesigner | Posted – 7/15/2008 9:39:37 PM | show profile July 15 The day I was the deadline I set up to receive a check for the $700 S.G. owes me for the work I did for her on two issues of her magazine. Guess what....NOTHING! She's now in complete default of payment to me and several other of the writers she's hired. We've all been in touch with each other and are outraged at such negligence. I gave her every opportunity to work with me and pay it off over time. Instead, she ignored those offers and claims she had to pay $200 to some designer to fix what I did for her last month. She claims she was going to send me a bill for that amount and pay me what I "deserve"(?). Huh? In any event, please be forewarned of this so-called publisher. You cannot trust her as far as you can spit! |
