Boy, Does It Ever Suck Not Getting Paid!

[Eytan Bernstein]

This kind of thing has only happened to me once. I wrote a book for a company that I handed in early 2006. It was never released (having nothing to do with quality) and I was never paid. And this is over $1,000 worth of writing. There definitely needs to be a place where RPG industry professionals can talk freely about this kind of thing. I've thought about starting a google group or yahoo group, but I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble.

 

[John Cooper]

John, you are now the chump here. You've repeatedly let these deadbeats off the hook by repeatedly issuing ultimatums and then not following through.

You have three choices now.

(1) Pursue legal action to get your money.
(2) Forget about the money. Out the company here for satisfaction.
(3) Forget about the money and don't do anything else.

Continuing to issue toothless threats, however, is not accomplishing anything.

Actually, I'm in the midst of (2) on your list above, but our most recent agreement was that I would be paid in full (the $120.00 they still owe me) by the end of June. My previous post was a one-week-out reminder to the company in question that time was running out on our already-agreed-upon deadline. If I'm not paid by June 30th, then I "out" the company on July 1st. However, I feel honor bound to give them the full amount of time we jointly agreed upon to hold up their end of the bargain. And if they choose not to, then they already know the consequences of their actions (or, perhaps more accurately, their lack thereof).

Sincerely,

John Cooper
AKA "The Toothless Chump"

 

[John Cooper]

On a separate note, I've been looking back over your work, and the timing of this thread versus when some of your products were released. I now think I have a pretty good idea of who the company at fault is (I won't say it here though, in case I'm wrong).

That's a good call on your part, because I'm afraid I would neither confirm nor deny any guesses on your (or anybody else's) part.

Well, at least for another week.

 

[mikelaff]

This kind of thing has only happened to me once. I wrote a book for a company that I handed in early 2006. It was never released (having nothing to do with quality) and I was never paid. And this is over $1,000 worth of writing. There definitely needs to be a place where RPG industry professionals can talk freely about this kind of thing. I've thought about starting a google group or yahoo group, but I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble.

There are resources and discussion groups for fiction writers to visit that discuss which magazines, agents and publishing houses are good markets, which take forever to respond to a submission and which ones don't live up to their obligations or are actively running scams.

It'd be handy if there were something similar for RPG freelancers. It'd be great if there were a way to get the word out about companies and individuals to avoid - just in the interest of cutting down on some of the fraud and trampling of creator rights that (at times) appears too prevalent in this business.

 

[GMSkarka]

It'd be handy if there were something similar for RPG freelancers.

There is/was, sort of.

I started the mailing list RPGFreelance back in 1999, originally to be just such a group. It was just going to be restricted-access, confidential, for working freelancers.

Early on, somebody violated our confidentiality and forwarded emails from the list to one of the publishers being discussed (Last Unicorn Games). This resulted in 'blacklisting' and other reprisals by the publisher (and friends of theirs who ran other publishing operations).

I eventually gave up and opened the list to everyone, given that its original purpose was now impossible. It now functions (barely) as a place where publishers can post calls for freelancers, etc.

Sadly, I think that any effort to start up a place for Freelancers to share their experiences will be met with the same sort of resistance from some corners of the industry.

 

[mikelaff]

There is/was, sort of.

I started the mailing list RPGFreelance back in 1999, originally to be just such a group. It was just going to be restricted-access, confidential, for working freelancers.

Early on, somebody violated our confidentiality and forwarded emails from the list to one of the publishers being discussed (Last Unicorn Games). This resulted in 'blacklisting' and other reprisals by the publisher (and friends of theirs who ran other publishing operations).

I eventually gave up and opened the list to everyone, given that its original purpose was now impossible. It now functions (barely) as a place where publishers can post calls for freelancers, etc.

Sadly, I think that any effort to start up a place for Freelancers to share their experiences will be met with the same sort of resistance from some corners of the industry.

Ah - that's too bad it went down that way.

 

[Deset Gled]

Anybody else out there waiting anxiously for an update? This cliffhanger has been more suspenseful that half of the X-files' season finales!

 

[kcmopd1913]

Anybody else out there waiting anxiously for an update? This cliffhanger has been more suspenseful that half of the X-files' season finales!

Well yes. This story has got me waiting also. Just can't believe he waited thiis long! Though we probably won't hear anything until tomorrow the 1st (depending on time zones).

 

[Alzrius]

I figure we'll have to wait until after John checks his mail tomorrow, and since (as mentioned) we're not sure what time zone he's in, we might not know until the end of the day.

I still think I've guessed the company and the products in question. Since it seems impolite to say so before the name is revealed, I'll mention only this clue to my guess: the company's name has three words.

 

[Allensh]

ICE owed me $50 for an article published in Hero System Almanac #1 and to this day I have never seen that money, nor did I ever get any copies of the book.

Allen