You do the job, you send the invoice and … nothing happens. You contact the client again. Some excuse or reason is given, or you resend what apparently hasn’t arrived and …. again, nada. It’s a song-and-dance you’re forced to shuffle along to, and you don’t like it one bit.
I’m tapping out this particular two-step myself right now. The invoices (all three of them for one invoice period) were sent weeks ago. According to the contract, payment is bi-weekly. This client wants this ongoing work delivered on time, yet my payment is lost in some “Gee, I don’t see a W9” (I sent three of them) or “The fax hasn’t made it to my in box yet” (and yes, I sent three of those). Will I panic? Hell no! For I have a few fancy dance moves of my own.
See, I’m still working for this client. If they expect this next project to be delivered on time, they have to do the same with payment. Otherwise, I halt all work until the current invoice is cleared. It’s only fair. I’ve held up my terms in the contract by delivering the project not only on time, but a few days early. If they aren’t going to honor their responsibilities, I’m done.
Also, the work I sent is useless to them unless they pay up. Why? Because this girl’s been burned before, and she now adds the following phrase in bold at the top of all work: “Copyright is the property of the writer, and will transfer to the client upon full payment of all invoices.”
I used to be trusting, but I’ve been squished way too many times by Mister Hand. My bills have gone unnoticed and unpaid, and a few unscrupulous putzes have tried to discredit me or impune my work or my honor in an attempt to skip out of payment. All have failed. All of them. That’s because covering my butt has become as important to me as the job itself.
When all of this fails, I threaten litigation. To date, no one’s needed to be sued, but there were two or three who came mighty close. But it’s a case of Mister Bill no longer afraid of sticking it to the Hand.
It’s what we’re reduced to sometimes as writers. We can’t just write and let the details take care of themselves, for there are plenty of people who are itching to take advantage or “forget” to pay us. If we map out a strategy for CYA before we start, we stand a much better chance of enforcing our rights later.
I HATE this dance too! I freelance only for one client at this point in time. Mainly because it is seasonal, so on my off-seasons I can focus on my novel. They do this same thing to me ALL the freakin’ time about my pay and it absolutely drives me crazy! They want my copies on time. They print my copies and I have to wait for three weeks to a few months for my pay.
I often feel like I need a new client and I should leave this one in the dust, but A) clients are hard to find who can offer a steady source of work and B)I will probably still deal with the same BS anyway! Sorry for the hostility, but you really hit a nerve for me.
My other frustration with freelancing is I am the last to know about things since I am not in the office. For example the senior copy writer stepped down. I had no idea. They hired back a copy writer who’s been on an 8 month maternity leave. I had no idea. A simple email could have been really nice, but again, we freelancers have so little rights. We are on a need–to-know basis and usually they think we do not need to know – that others have been hired, when you will be paid, etc… ARG!!!
I hear you, Sheri! I think you’re right – it’s time to leave this one and find another!
Whew. I feel the heat through the computer! I think it’s great that you’d halt work until payment. I’m sorry you’re going through this. :'( If only people realized how hard writing is….
Here’s to getting paid!
Smiles,
Michele
The thing about it all is this: Freelance writers are small business owners. Every small business has to deal with unpaid invoices, “lost” faxes, etc. In fact, I think it’s the business side of things that causes so many talented writers to fail – they just have no head for business.
I am fortunate enough to have some long-standing clients with whom I have a decent relationship. With my biggest clients, I have no problem calling them on the phone and saying “Hey! I need to feed the kids tonight. Are you sending me a check, or what?”
Sherri, I think it’s time you wave goodbye to the dance partner. 🙂
Sophia, that’s very true. We have to form relationships with people who understand it’s a partnership, not a situation in which we are considered to be grunts doing the work and we may or may not receive payment.
Michele, I’m just thankful I have more work than this. I wanted to clear my schedule for them, but I’m very glad I didn’t.
Sheri, get a different and varied clients. As long as you allow this client to treat you this way, the client will continue to do so. Take a page from Lori’s book — halt all work until past invoices are paid.
You can also do what I do, which is add a late fee clause into contracts. At least 20%. AND halt work until all past invoices are cleared up.
If you don’t hold the line, you’ll always be treated this way.
I have clients from all over the world AND I work on several fiction projects at a time. It can be done.
Don’t let this client walk all over you like that.
I’ve also found it’s usually the lowest paying clients that are the worst about paying and the ones who try to make you jump through the most hoops. High paying clients, who understand this is a business arrangement, B2B, not dealing withe someone who “writes on the side” are more likely to pay fairly and on time.
Yeah, I’ve been accused of being hard-edged, and I guess in regard to business I am. I don’t think I could have made it almost 10 years in this profession if I weren’t. And in that time, I’m proud to say that I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been stiffed.
Whenever I push for my payment, it makes me “hard to work with.” Ha clients are such a pain in the a$$.