Napftor said:
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.
Bret is right that freelancing does involve the aspect of you being responsible for making sure you get paid. Many publishers ask that you invoice them (meaning you type up a bill and send it to them). Others take it upon themselves to send out the checks. Either way, you need to keep records to that fact.
Kamikaze Midget said:
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).
This sounds an awful lot like an open call. Open calls generally result in somewhere between 100-200 individuals submitting material for consideration. The fact that no contract was issued makes me wonder if your material was later cut from the book for editing reasons. Have you picked up a copy and double checked that your material is actually in it? Something else to strongly consider (depending on the subject matter) is that it is possible that more than one person submitted the same idea. I can tell you from first-hand experience that this does happen quite often. The number of people who submitted some kind of acid weapon for
Arms & Armor was quite amusing.
Another thing about open calls harkens back to what I said earlier regarding contracts. You said the publisher never sent a contract? Yet without a signed contract he should not include the material in the book. In this situation, I would go back through all of my email correspondances with him and make sure a contract wasn't sent as an attachement (very common thing). If there was no contract, my next action would be to confirm that my material was used by checking it out for myself (this may mean buying a copy of said book). If it is there and payment was based on word count, start counting. Next, compose a new letter to the publisher stating you have a copy of the book in hand and by your count, you show X number of words and at Y cents per word, you show them owing you Z dollars. Remind them that by publishing your words without a signed contractual agreement, they have left themselves open to legal action. Then follow that with a statement like, "I do not wish to be forced to pursue that course of action and feel that this matter can be handled responsibly and efficiently so we can both focus out attention elsewhere on other important matters. If you would be so kind as to email me a copy of the contract immediately, I will sign it and mail it to you right away. Once you receive the contract, you can remit payment." Obviously at this stage, you will send the contract via registered mail with confirmation of delivery. That way you avoid the "it hasn't arrived yet" line.
Now if the publisher actually has sent the contract and you just missed it, then you should do the following (again, confirming your material has actually been published first), compose an email to the publisher saying something to the effect of "First of all, I want to offer you an apology. I have gone back through my records and found that I missed your email that contained the contract. I have signed it and mailed it via registered mail. You should have it in your hands within a day or so. According to my records, the amount owed for this project is X dollars. I have attached an invoice for that amount for your bookkeeping convenience. With contract and invoice in hand, you should be able to remit payment whereby both of us can focus on other matters."
Kamikaze Midget said:
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!"
This is normal for publishers. Understand that with the exception of a few companies (Wotc, White Wolf, AEG, Steve Jackson Games), most publishers are very small operations (1 or 2 man) and are juggling all aspects of the business. When they say they are busy, that's because they likely are. How much time has passed since your submission? If it has been more than 3 months and they are still giving you the runaround, then simply email them and explain that you have dealt with them in good faith, but feel that sufficient time has elapsed for them to make a concrete decision. Therefore, you would them to release the manuscript back to you (this is more of a formality because you own the manuscript and its rights until you sign a contract saying otherwise). They will either get serious about it or give it back to you. Plain and simple.
Kamikaze Midget said:
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.
While it may not be right, it is a reality of the world we live in. Many people are under the mistaken opinion that publishing roleplaying games is a lucrative business (partly because of Wotc's high profile). Most game manufacturers are literally one bad release away from bankruptcy. Quite often, this means the freelance writers and illustrators suffer the most. After all, the printer requires payment up front before doing the job (there goes $12,000) and if you are paying someone to do layout (most publishers are doing this themselves) that's another expense that gets paid first. Next comes paying the editor (usually .005 to .02 cents a word) and the artists before the writers get paid. Oh, did I mention that distributors get a 60% discount on the retail price when they buy and place their orders? When it's all said and done, the average book only nets about $4.00 profit which is what he uses to pay his development expenses to the above parties.
reanjr said:
I gotta ask, cause it's something I've wondered about for a long time. Does anyone pay royalties? It seems like the most sensical thing to do for a small publisher.
It's a very rare thing for a publisher to pay royalites because of the paperwork involved in writing checks to you every month for a very small sum (less than $20). Like Wulf said, it's more work than it's worth. However, if you strongly believe you have the next biggest hit on your hands and it will sell better than Eberron, the royalty route can be a wise choice. But let's be practical about the odds of that happening. Pretty slim at best.
Whisperfoot said:
My recommendation is that if your name appears in print, take this to the big publishers who are less likely to stiff you, and hit them up for some work. I think you'll be happier with the end result.
This is so true. Having your name in a print credential will help you with future publishers as long as you are consistently writing to spec and hitting your deadlines.
jmucchiello said:
Actually it is businesslike not to pay on time. Ask anyone who works in a large company's accounts receivable department.
Bingo. That's why you see big companies use terms like net 90 which means payment due within 90 days from date of invoice.
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