Comments on: Upfront Payments: A Buyer’s Perspective

By: Words on a page » A few links for the end of the week

Words on a page » A few links for the end of the week — Fri, 08 May 2009 10:03:31 +0000

[...] Some good information about making and taking upfront payments [...]

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:18:54 +0000

While the publishing industry is notoriously slow to change, I really don’t think they have a choice in the grand scheme of things. With Web publishing becoming more prevalent and more respectable (and paying on par with print publications), they’re going to have to start re-thinking their payment policies before long if they want to attract the top writers.

By: Jennifer L

Jennifer L — Mon, 04 May 2009 01:42:04 +0000

Interesting to read this! I’d never really thought about asking for payment up front, but I’m mulling it over. It just seems like most publications have these “we pay upon publication” policies that are sort of hard to argue with. But man, it is frustrating to wait…and wait….and wait….to be paid.

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:26:53 +0000

I hear you on the hassle front. I write successful pitch letters all the time (including ones the get my clients in magazines and newspapers for feature pitches or interviews). I have no doubt I could write my own queries just as well. I just can’t feel motivated to do it – why spend time writing that query / pitch letter (something I usually get paid for in and of itself) just on the hopes of a “yes” followed by more work and then waiting? It’s just easier for me to come up with an idea, think about which of my clients it might apply to, and then propose a pitch letter for them to use instead – I get paid for the letter, they more often than not get the pickups and exposure, and it’s just a win-win. When what they’re pitching is a feature itself, I generally also get paid to ghostwrite it for them (and that’s something I get paid decently for – more than a lot of mags would pay at the moment for a writer without print bylined clips).

It’s funny that you mention books. I’ve been quietly working on a non-fiction project that started out as a potential blog post and became a book-proposal-in-progress. It’s on becoming a query-free freelancer (making a significant freelance writing income without having to subject yourself to the rules and query processes of magazines and similar publications). So at this point, giving in and querying print mags would even be hypocritical!

I’ve also been toying with creating a few ad-supported “silent” (not credited to me) static sites to use a few of my spare domains. Might be worth doing a small 5-page site or something on the complaint letter issue. Thanks for the thought. :)

By: Angela Booth

Angela Booth — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:57:57 +0000

Jennifer, it’s great that you got Western Union sorted. You ARE a genius at getting results. Good idea for a magazine query or two, maybe? Or even for a book.:-)

Re magazines, I still write for a couple of computer magazines every month because I’ve been writing for them for 15 years. But it must be at least a year since I’ve sent out any magazine queries to publications where I don’t have a on-going relationship.

Occasionally I get an idea for a magazine article which might work, and then think about the HASSLE of sending the query… so I weasel out and write the idea as a blog post, or start a new blog, or save it in a folder. I’m sure the money side has a lot to do with my ditching magazines, but it’s also the all-round hassle.

These days, I can’t think of any good reasons to build new relationships with print magazines. You can get the same name-building results with Web writing, and Web writing has a longer shelf life. :-)

By: Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:40:56 +0000

Angela, it’s funny that you mention that. One of my goals this year was to finally pitch some magazines (I’ve ghostwritten pieces for clients that are in trade mags, but I’d love a bylined print sample). Despite that goal, I just haven’t been able to bring myself to spend time querying to work for someone who won’t abide by the terms I set for what I’m offering – just doesn’t make sense with a regularly filled schedule with clients who will and with my own work paying well. The print appeal just isn’t enough, and I think the pay terms are something they’re eventually going to have to some compromising on more to compete with the growing number of print publications paying well (hell, you can get paid faster writing for a magazine’s website than the primary publication – which is what brings in much, if not most, of their own revenue still).

On a side note, my coder and I did finally get his payment dealt with – bitched very loudly at Western Union this morning for not releasing the funds yesterday as promised in order to re-process, got them to do it while I waited on hold (I’m good at getting companies to do what I want when they screw up on the customer service front – my mother used to joke I could make a nice living writing complaint letters for people), and then drove out to one of their locations to process it again. *sigh* At least it’s dealt with and I don’t have to think about it again. The coder was very apologetic and did offer to try to make up for the wasted time in additional work (not making him do that, but it was nice that he offered).

By: Angela Booth

Angela Booth — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:53:16 +0000

Great post with sensible advice.

I hope freelance writers take it to heart.

I don’t know what it is about writers, that they’re hesitant about asking for payment up front. On small jobs (under $500) when you know the writer can do the work it’s much more sensible just to pay up front and get it out of the way.

Writing without payment is a sure way to go broke. Magazine writers are trained to wait for payment when and if the mag is ready to pay them; that’s a great reason not to write for magazines. :-)

Many of the writers I talk to don’t even have a rates schedule, nor do they have a payment policy; both are essential.

Cheers

Angela