I received the following quandary from a reader, one that I am personally at a loss to answer as she is not a freelance writer, plus fortunately my personal expenses in freelancing are minimal. However, one of you readers out there may have a tip for her: a way to avoid these problems in the future, an organization she can contact for help, or any other contract or financing advice. Please write in if you can offer advice and I will post your answers later this week.

I am a prop stylist and set designer for advertising, catalog as well as editorial clients. I am often confronted with a confounding issue with my editorial clients: the still photography world operates in a very different manner than commercial or film industry. There are many more rules and standards of practice set in place for film and commercials and of course, such as unions that are able to enforce laws of practice. As a freelancer working in the editorial world, I do not receive advances for expenses put out on behalf of producing the job. I am often expected to front several thousands of dollars of my own money until I submit an invoice and have to wait until an undisclosed time to receive the money, often 60 days. This position creates a lot of financial difficulty in my life, yet it is expected of all stylists working for editorial clients. There is no organization in my business to protect the stylist from having to use their money, interest free, to get a job produced. There are several other aspects on the job that leave the stylist completely unprotected and with no recourse for collecting their money, such as no contract is ever processed before the job begins, so if the client decided not to pay, there is no evidence that they hired you for the job or agreed to allow you to spend money on behalf of the job. I would like to see the business become more standardized so that stylists are protected from these financial burdens and jobs are systematically sealed with a contract from the beginning of the project.

If I say something like, "I need a contract signed." or "If you don't pay me my expense money in 30 days, I have to add a percentage per month onto the bill to cover the loan.", they say, "Well, that is not our policy and we don't have to work with you." I just lost a client of 8 years because I simply asked will you check on the invoice, its 45 days past due, I just paid my Amex bill of $600 and I need to get reimbursement of these expenses. Her response was, I didn't process the bill until a week ago and you have to wait another 60 days. My response was, "You changed your policy and didn't let me know. I was always paid within a 2 to 4 week period by this magazine. Her response was "If that is what you expect, we won't work with you." I have been loyal and hardworking for this client for 8 years. They were one of my first clients. It's upsetting to lose a client under these circumstances. It is impossible to conduct a business let alone a life with these kinds of financial issues. I have, at times, been up to $5000 in dept, my own cash, because of editorial jobs. There is no recourse for a stylist. And, the industry keeps trying to make cut backs, so our fees get cut, our assistant fees get cut and the budgets get cut. These examples do not even touch on the major issues of clients pulling out at the last minute, a client stating that a day rate will be such and such figure and then reneging on their promise, no written contracts, etc.