Payment date pushed back three months
October 16, 2018 9:45 PM   Subscribe

I am a freelance writer. I've just learned that an issue I'll be in has been pushed back a few months, which means my payment has been pushed back as well. This poses a significant hardship to me, and I'm not sure if there's anything I can do (aside from politely mention it to my editor, which I did).

For a few years I've contributed to a print journal who has a policy that contributors only get paid when the issue goes to print. The previous EIC tried to get the policy changed but wasn't able to (maybe the publisher's policy? Bookkeeper's? Not sure). I don't know if the new EIC has tried that or not. This is my first time working with her and I don't want to start off on the wrong foot, but I'm really concerned about this delay.

There has never been a contract, just the agreement in writing that we are paid when the issue goes to print. So they haven't violated that at all.

While it may not be the EIC's choice when contributors get paid, it probably was her choice to push back the issue. Nobody was notified; I just found out after I emailed her to ask if she needed any revisions. I had expected payment late this month, and it would have covered vital things. The payment wasn't huge, but is an amount that makes a big difference to me. I'll still be getting paid; I'm not worried about that, but January is a long time to wait for money you expected in October.

I responded to the EIC being very polite and friendly, just saying that I'm sure other writers share my concern, and when would we receive payment. She was nice and said she understood but didn't offer to try to do anything to move up the date.

So, is there anything else that I can try, or this is this just a matter of putting my energies elsewhere and trying to come up with the money some other way? I realize that it'd be helpful in the future to have agreements in place for things like this, but I am just trying to figure out what to do now that it's happened.


You may email me at soakedtotheskin@hotmail.com if you like, or leave a comment and I can MeMail you.
posted by anonymous to Work & Money (4 answers total)
 
I'd just put the effort into getting the money some other way. The freelance writers and illustrators I know have often groused about the lack of reliable payment from clients; even large and notable publications can be deadbeats. If this publication's policy is to pay at the time of publication, I can't imagine they'll flex for you and you also have to consider whether pushing this further will damage your relationship with them. It sucks and it's not fair, but this is the state of large swathes of the industry now. In a case like this where you have a signed agreement, I don't think you have options yet as you've agreed to their policy, but gettting a basic boilerplate contract to use going forward in cases where there is no signed agreement wouldn't be the worst idea in case you ever have to try legal action to get paid (I know people who have invoices that have aged months to years.)
posted by quince at 10:11 PM on October 16, 2018 [4 favorites]


We use similar language in contracts with our freelancers and abide by it 100% because it's in print and agreed to. We only make exceptions if they are negotiated up front, but since you agreed to payment-upon-publication I doubt there's recourse.
posted by ahundredjarsofsky at 11:33 PM on October 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


This is, unfortunately, bog-standard practice in the industry. From the publisher’s point of view, the magazine doesn’t have revenue against your story until there are advertising pages next to it, or subscription/newsstand fees. I’ve seen stories cut at the last minute or banked for months. If you have a kill fee in your contract/email/agreement be aware that can be used too.

Reading between the lines...if the entire issue was delayed and not just your story, you need to broaden your net right away anyway. Healthy publications generally publish on time, because they have commitments to whoever is paying for them. If they’re not meeting those it probably means a lack of revenue.

All that said, it sucks. Hang in there, keep pitching.
posted by warriorqueen at 5:52 AM on October 17, 2018 [2 favorites]


Echoing others - this is bog standard and it's unlikely you'll see a lot of flexibility here.

I've been on both sides of the fence - editor/EIC and contributor. The EIC is in a tough spot because they need to keep contributors happy (among other things) but they usually don't control the checkbook. If the old EIC failed to move the policy, I doubt the new one will be able to either.

You said, " it probably was her choice to push back the issue." That seems unlikely unless this journal is a secondary function of a business or organization that puts out the publication as a sideline to its primary business. In which case it may not be operating under normal print publication financial concerns and limitations.

If that's the case maybe it's worth pushing for payment since the piece of work is in their hands, accepted, and slotted for publication. Still hard to move for many organizations - small ones may not have the cash to spend until publication, large ones may be inflexible in their payment policies. I've jousted with finance more times than I care to think about, and I'll usually only suit up for it if I really feel that the company is in the wrong if it doesn't pay earlier.

If it isn't under the auspices of another entity, @warriorqueen is spot on that an entire issue being delayed is typically not a good sign. Most print pubs have a place in the queue with a printer and it can cost them money to move out of the queue, depending on the agreement and so forth.

Publications usually won't reschedule on a whim. And, since printing is a large expense, may have to delay printing if they're in arrears with the printer. So, yeah, moving pub dates is a not a great sign if this is primarily a print publication business.

This doesn't help you now, but my rule of thumb when I was freelancing was that if you're depending on money as a freelancer, then you should have a six month cushion - minimum.

I knew too many other folks who were in serious financial panic mode every few months because a publisher or business slow-walked a payment, or somebody "forgot" to submit their invoice to finance, or it got lost in the shuffle, or a publication/business simply folded or refused to pay.

I am just trying to figure out what to do now that it's happened.

You don't have a lot of levers here, unfortunately. My strategy when things were slow was to look for dependable work even if that work was not at my usual rate or not my usual beat, etc. If at all possible, focus on how you might make up the difference now and when the check comes in at the beginning of 2019 you have a little breathing room if all goes well.

I had a lot of colleagues who pursued the larger-ticket things like white papers that paid well, but were harder to land, took longer to get approved and published, and chewed a lot of time -- and put them in deep shit they booked it and then it vanished for some reason. (Which happens all too often.)

I always favored shorter work that was easier to land, took less time to complete & get paid for, and wasn't as likely to disappear if somebody left the organization. Even in lean years, I had few problems with that strategy.
posted by jzb at 9:53 AM on October 17, 2018


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