Writer Beware? (a bit of a rant)

[Ghostwind]

There is a joke that runs through the industry that you are not a veteran freelancer until you are owed money by a publisher for more than a year and have at least one book that never saw the light of day because the project was "delayed indefinitely" (translation: the publisher shut down operations). Your woes are not uncommon in this industry, but to put this in perspective, for every one story like yours, a publisher has 10 just like it telling of freelancers stiffing them.


Good freelancers who can write on spec and hit a deadline are hard to find right now when you consider that most companies aren't exactly paying premium wage (many are down to .01 or .02 per word). Your rant is clearly one of frustration and, from the sounds of it, inexperience. Do you have written and signed contracts for this work you've done and never been paid for? Has your unpublished material actually been purchased (again, a signed contract) or has the publisher merely given you a verbable "we want it?" If it is the latter case and the agreement is verbable, then you still own the rights to the work. I would email the unnamed publisher and request that you be allowed to take back the work and shop it to another publisher who is more willing to publish it. There are steps you can take, but only if all of your ducks are in a row. And, it would help if we knew who you were upset with.

 

[Mark]

Kamikaze Midget - Get yourself a partner who can edit and do the layout work (and has the software to handle it) and start your own e-Pub. You've certainly shown you can put the material together. It might be a bit more work but then the reins are in your own hands. At the least, give it a try for a single project so that you can properly assess if it is a possible way to go for you.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I think the problem is that you're NOT calling them out.

Again, maybe I'm naive and inexperienced, but I wasn't aware that part of the author's responsibility was to remind the publishers of their responsibilities? I mean, when a publisher gives me a deadline, she doesn't expect to have to repeatedly contact me to ensure that I complete my end of the deal: I complete it, or I'm pretty well jacked. When I give a publisher the work, should I reasonably expect this lack of professionalism? This disregard for those who contribute?

Is there any reason not to name names? They aren't paying you NOW, so what harm would it do to tattle on them at this point? It's not like they can do anything other than what they've already done, which from what it sounds like is ignore you and not pay you. How much worse could it get if you specified the problem publishers?

The reason is mostly one of it not being relevant. If it was one publisher who did it over and over again, then I'd call them out. But this obviously isn't just a one-publisher, or even really a minority-publisher problem. It's spread pretty far. The problem is one with at least a certain percentage of the industry as a whole, ne? It's not about these specific publishers, it's about the entire trend. I'll deal with the specific folks privately (or not, as the case may be), but this trend seems to need some public attention, at least to make sure that other new writers know of this, or in the hope that this raises awareness. Who would know not to trust professionals to be professional? That part of a writer's job is to badger publishers into paying them? That there are contracts out there to prevent this sort of thing?

Good freelancers who can write on spec and hit a deadline are hard to find right now when you consider that most companies aren't exactly paying premium wage (many are down to .01 or .02 per word). Your rant is clearly one of frustration and, from the sounds of it, inexperience.

You're right. A lot of D&D fans want to write, and a lot of them don't have the ability to lock down to do what the publisher wants on time. I can only imagine how many publishers get the "my x is rich an inventive, better than any magic-loaded twinkish setting to date, and I'm offering it to you to publish as long as you do nothing to change it and promise me 50% of the profits!!" kind of talk.

And yeah, I'm frustrated that even the paltry value they agreed to pay me isn't worth the time it takes to remember I exist. And yeah, I'm inexperienced -- the existence of contracts has been a phantom to me (mostly it's been responding to open calls to build a base of published material that has given me the opportunity, but it's also been more in-deapth discussions about book lines and one-offs). I got rid of a lot of the documentation of the conversations with publishers. Since I haven't got a lot of experience, it's hard to know what to expect, and one thing I never really considered was that they would forget. I never expected my job to include constantly harping on them to get their stuff together.

There are steps you can take, but only if all of your ducks are in a row. And, it would help if we knew who you were upset with.

I don't feel right calling them out when (a) they gave me an opportunity to get my work out there, even if they later changed their minds or didn't give me the promised compensation, and (b) I don't know what a proper row of ducks looks like. Because this is frustration and inexperience -- it could be entirely my own fault for thinking that the job of publishers was in part to pay contributors and that they would do it because they're businesses who enjoy contributions. Mostly, I find the fact that this happens over and over again with a lot of different publishers a lot more disturbing than one "Mystic Eye Games has had some illness." That's understandable. But if Mystic Eye Games, Mongoose, EN Publishing, and Mom and Pop PDF.com all had issues with this communication, if half of them stopped talking to me and the other half never paid me, that seems tobe a problem that's beyond my specific circumstances (it wasn't them, that's just an example). Regardless of my row of ducks, it seems like *they* don't know what to do, and, theoretically, it's their *job* to know what to do, right?

Yes, I could tenaciously run them down and corner them and politely bear my teeth and request the money or the book. That's my affair. But shouldn't that be mentioned in the discussions? "Oh, and if we don't pay you, it's your responsibility to track us down and make us pay you, because frankly we have better things to do." Even if that is the accepted way of doing things, in what bizzaro-world is that right, or should it be expected?

I'm not looking to burn any bridges and I'm finding out through this thread that it's nothing to give up on. I can accept my naievete and inexperience as a reason to have things vanish into the aether thus far. But at the very least, I'd hope that publishers who don't intend to pay those who don't badger them might hear of this and warn the writers. Or that someone else who's just starting out will see this and know that they'll have to do some legwork and some extra pressure to get their check. That if you want to get published or make ANY money, you may very well have to find where they live and annoy them into it. You don't just have to write something that sells them books, you have to constantly harp on them until they remit. On the best side, maybe some publishers who have allowed that to happen will recognize the problem and try to fix it.

 

[philreed]

There is a joke that runs through the industry that you are not a veteran freelancer until you are owed money by a publisher for more than a year and have at least one book that never saw the light of day because the project was "delayed indefinitely" (translation: the publisher shut down operations).

I must be a pro (owed money for six years from one -- that still publishes today) and several dead projects (and other money issues).

 

[Ghostwind]

Education of a freelancer

KM, judging by your responses I am going to go out on a limb and make some assumptions which may or may not be correct. If I am wrong, no offense. I work both sides of the industry. I am a freelancer and I am co-creative director for a publisher. So understand, I know what I am talking about. One of the most basic errors I see freelancers make is to work without contract or to not sign and mail in the contract to the publisher. The first is the most prevalent and usually goes something like this:

Publisher X: We like your manuscript and would like to include it in our schedule after you've made these required changes.

Freelancer: Fantastic! I'll make those changes and have it back to you by Friday.

Publisher X: That will be great. We will then add it to the development schedule and get back to you.

Note that no terms were discussed. Before the completed/revised manuscript is turned over, the freelancer should be asking about:

• rate of payment (is it a flat fee, royalty or a per word basis?)
• terms of payment (payment upon acceptance of manuscript or X days after publication?)
• expected date of publication (this can be narrowed to month or quarter easily enough by the publisher.)
• full rights or first-printing rights (99.9% of RPG publishers purchase the full rights from you. However, there is a very small contingent who are willing to buy first rights only, meaning they can only print the book once. If they want to do a second printing, they must renegotiate for them.)

Now let's look at reason number two:

Publisher X: We have decided to accept your manuscript. Attached is our standard work for hire contract. Our rate of payment, terms and expected date of release are listed on it. Please read it carefully, sign it, and return it to us when you've completed making the modifications that we've requested. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Freelancer: Great. I'll sign it once I've made the changes. Expect it on Friday.

What usually happens now is that the freelancer makes his changes, emails them to the publisher and then forgets to send in the contract. If this is an open call submission, then a lack of contract is quickly lost to the multitude of entries until the time comes for the publisher to write checks.

Publisher: Let's see, here's Joe Gamer's contract but I haven't gotten one from Susie Gameresque yet. Now I have to contact the lead designer to see if her work was used and if so, how many words. Then I need to contact her to see if she sent in her contract. I hate these unnecessary delays.

Let's say that you signed and mailed a contract for every piece of work you did. Did you keep a copy? Contracts exist to protect both the publisher and the freelancer. Everything is spelled out in plain black & white on a contract. Have you read your contracts before signing them? Another common mistake that freelancers make because they don't read their contracts is the assumption that every job pays the moment they turn in the manuscript. Very few companies pay upon acceptance anymore. Most make payment 45-90 days after publication. If you don't read your contract, then you aren't going to know this and calling the publisher up to demand money two weeks after you've made your submission makes you look unprofessional and silly.

Let's say that you have a copy of your signed contract from Publisher X, the book has been published and it's 120 days past the agreed upon date of payment. What are your options? This really depends upon the amount involved and your previous history with that publisher. If you have had good relations with them in the past and worked with them before, a simple but polite reminder email is likely all that is needed.

Dear Publisher X:
I am going through my records and I show that I have yet to receive payment for "Work Z". Was a check issued or has there been a delay? If you can double check and let me know, I would appreciate it.
Thank you.

If you've sent the email and gotten no response after two weeks, send another one. If after one week, there is still no response, pick up the phone and make a polite and professional courtesy call to that publisher. Always keep a written record of these attempts to contact. Document everything. If no resolution can be reached after a reasonable amount of time, say 30 days, then you have some tough choices to make:

• compose an email that reminds the publisher of his contractual obligations to you and politely inform him that should non-payment continue, legal action may be taken.
• file a claim in small claims court against the publisher (this is a last ditch move only and may cost more than what you are owed, so investigate it thoroughly first).
• wait it out to see if the publisher finally comes through.
• attend a convention where the publisher is exhibiting and on the last day of the show, go up and ask how business has been. When the publisher replies, "Great!" introduce yourself and gently remind him that you are still owed X dollars and that perhaps he could just pay you now. (this is a trick that has worked for more than one freelancer. the key is being professional throughout the whole exchange, even when the publisher says he can't pay you right then.) What this tell the publisher is that you are serious about your money and it also puts a face to a name in his memory. How you conduct yourself will also determine whether he actually does pay you when he gets back to the office.
• offer to accept product in exchange for payment. The key here is not to accept an equal exchange of retail value vs. the money you are owed. The publisher should be willing to give it to you at distributor cost vs. money owed. Negotiate for it if he offers less.

This is just a little bit of education concerning freelancing. There's a whole lot more to it and if I knew your circumstances better, I could guide you a little more. If you want to talk privately, feel free to drop me an email at ghost.wind@verizon.net and I'll see what I can do.

 

[Napftor]

I think a lot of freelancers feel your pain, KM, but airing this kind of dirty laundry isn't doing anyone a public service because freelancers know this happens more than it should. You need to go after these people who owe you at least once a week. Even if a publisher responds to your polite email for money owed with, "Stuff it, word-boy," I'd still be happy just to get a reply depending on the publisher.

Are you a member of any freelance forums? You may have wanted to direct this rant there instead of this public forum where everyone mingles. At least in a freelancers-only venue you run less of a risk for a publisher to see this and cross your name off a "potential writers" list. I'll admit this is unlikely, but not out of the realm of possibility.

In regards to it being your job to track down your pay, well it kind of is. Freelancing is like no other job you'll have. Each boss is different, with his or her own quirks and needs. Each job pays something different with varying methods and times of such payments. My suggestion is this: establish a folder for each company you work for. For every company you work for, place inside the folder any scrap of information pertaining to the work you do for them (contracts, important emails, project notes, whatever). This has worked well for me to keep everything organized.

If you still want to be in the d20 biz, great! You've had your rant. Now get over it.

 

[FraserRonald]

KM, judging by your responses I am going to go out on a limb and make some assumptions which may or may not be correct. If I am wrong, no offense. I work both sides of the industry. I am a freelancer and I am co-creative director for a publisher. So understand, I know what I am talking about.

<tons of good advice snipped>

I haven't done a ton of work, but I also haven't had a problem with payment. Maybe because of the companies I've worked with (thank yous to Dark Quest Games, Alternate Realities Press and RPG Objects . . . oh, and me and Dean at SEP), I've dodged that bullet. However, I also have an interest in freelance writing outside of RPGs. One of the things that often comes up in freelance writing discussions is the invoice. If your payment is overdue, invoice the company. Any other contracter (the guy who builds your house or the gal that fixes your car) presents an invoice when the work is done. Maybe you could do the same. I think the advice of a simple note asking about payment is a good one. If it remains in arrears, send another more strident note. Always be polite and professional, but remind the individuals for whom you have worked about their responsibilities to you. I don't know if this will help, but it doesn't cost anything save time.

Should a letter(s) not suffice, and you would like to pursue the matter, there is always small claims court. IANAL, but I believe you can bring an action in the jurisdiction in which the company is licenced. If the amount is enough, you may want to retain a lawyer to help you bring the action to court.

Anyway, there are avenues. I would suggest you pursue them. Also, I would suggest that you continue to work in d20, but do so carefully and with due dilligence. Few can make a living in the d20 industry, but plenty can make some beer money. You deserve that beer money and I hope you get it.

Mmmmm, beer.

Good luck. Take care. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

[Vigilance]

I must be a pro (owed money for six years from one -- that still publishes today) and several dead projects (and other money issues).

WOOT! Me too, I am officially a writer lol.

Mine is going on 3 years I think... not bad

Chuck

 

[I'm A Banana]

KM, judging by your responses I am going to go out on a limb and make some assumptions which may or may not be correct. If I am wrong, no offense. I work both sides of the industry. I am a freelancer and I am co-creative director for a publisher. So understand, I know what I am talking about.

Thanks a lot for the advice, it will go a long way...where were you before?

The closest situation to mine has been the first one, except terms were discussed, but no contract was issued. In the cases where I'm missing actual money, the terms were right there on the table at the submission stage. Those scenarios basically were:

Publisher: "Hey, world, we're looking for X, we're gonna pay Y, it's due by Z, go for it."
Me: "Oh boy, I can do X by Z!" *writes and submits*
Publisher: "Thanks, this kicks ass, we're gonna use it." *goes to print, sells some copies*
Me: "Okay, that rocks. Now about payment...?"
Publisher: "Yep, we're working on it!"
And then.......silence (for the most part).

Combo this with a few instances of the following:

Publisher: "Hey, your stuff looks interesting! We'd like to publish this! We'll pay you Y, give it to us by Z. Give us your material!"
Me: "Okay, here you go!" *writes and submits*
Publisher: "Awesome, looks great, we'll look it over and get back to you!"
Me: "Super!"
*waits*
Me: "Hey, about that getting back to me....?"
Publisher: "We're working on it!"
*waits*
Me: "Uhm, guys....?"
Publisher: "We've been busy! DOO DEE DOOO!"

Individually, nothing to get excited about, but when it happens over and over again, well, it's time to look for the cause behind the effect, y'know?

I think a lot of freelancers feel your pain, KM, but airing this kind of dirty laundry isn't doing anyone a public service because freelancers know this happens more than it should....In regards to it being your job to track down your pay, well it kind of is.

Well, I, as a freelancer, had no frickin' idea. Was there a memo? Because no one told me about this!

...and here I was expecting businesses to be businesslike....hmmm, silly me.

That's part of the reason I felt a post here would at least do some good -- call attention to the issue that it seems a majority of writers face that was really not anything I was aware of.

But I really do thank everyone for the advice, and it won't be wasted. It still irks me a lot that publishers can get away with that on a semi-regular basis by the sounds of it, and maybe in the future I'll be a little bit hyper-sensitive to such things, but I don't think it's gonna push me totally away.

It just ain't right that they can do that to people. :\ Ah, well, I think I'm gonna take some good advice from this thread and:

get over it

Badgering and paranoia, here I come.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

If it makes you feel better, Isaac Asimov had the same problems when he was a young writer. (The editor in his case was a man named Martin Greenberg - not to confused with Martin Harry Greenberg. Asimov's advice to Martin Harry Greenberg: Change your name!)

The Auld Grump, been there too...