"Show me the money!...Please? Could you? When you have a moment?"
litmagnews.substack.com
Welcome to our weekend conversation! Last week a reader contacted me with a question. (Fun fact: I love when readers contact me with questions, and especially when they allow me to share their questions with everyone else!) The question was this: What should I do about a lit mag who said they would pay me for a piece, went ahead and published the piece, did not pay me, and now is not responding to my emails?
I've had about two dozen essays and stories anthologized here and abroad and the editors have with just one exception been great to work with and my payments were on time (and welcome!). The exception was for a wonderful anthology to be used as a textbook and the $250 (maybe more--it's been a while) just never arrived despite my emails. I finally wrote an actual letter stating that I would have to work with my attorney to resolve this issue. I cc'd the attorney though I really wasn't planning to seek legal action. The check arrived quickly. I was pissed off that I had to resort to a threat, but relieved that I was finally paid.
This happened to me. I worked for about 2 years at a religious magazine and left to start a graduate program--and because I had some issues with the work environment. I had a book review due that I couldn't get in before my last day, with everything else I had to do. The managing editor (my boss) assured me by email that I could submit it later and would be paid the freelancer rate ($75). Good thing I had this in writing. I emailed the review to my former boss a couple weeks later, along with an invoice. No response to either one. Keep in mind, this was someone I'd worked under, not a complete stranger I had pitched once. In good faith, I waited a month and a half for the check. When nothing came, I emailed her again and asked if she could follow up. Still no response. After another month, I emailed the accounting manager, forwarded her the ghosted emails, and included a screenshot of the original email telling me I'd be paid the freelance rate. The accounting manager replied right away and said she hadn't received my invoice (which it would have been my former boss' part to do) and asked me to send it to her. I was finally paid, thanks to her. As for my former boss, I never received an apology or explanation. Because the review I'd sent her was published, I have no reason she simply missed my emails or that it was an oversight.
For a long time, I worried if it was too petty for me to be upset about or to even pursue. Yeah, it's "just" $75. But since I wasn't working at the time (I ended up picking up a retail job for $12 until I could get something better), $75 actually meant a lot to me. It could cover a utility bill for a month, or a week's groceries for me, or food for my pets. It also bothered me that someone heading a religious mag, writing and running articles about social justice and fair pay and the like (and posting such pronouncements on her own Twitter account), was attempting to ghost and stiff a former employee behind the scenes.
My advice to anyone feeling embarrassed about pursuing payment of any amount is don't be. But for any editor who's put someone in the position of having to beg for $75 (or any X number of dollars), if you aren't embarrassed about that, you should be.
Thanks, Becky, for asking this question and inviting discussion.
The other thing I do is play drums. Yesterday I had a $250 gig in the morning (a memorial service) and a 3 hr gig last night at the Elks Club for the Lions Club seeing-eye-dog program that paid another $200. Dogs on the dance floor! It was wild. Anyway, I studied seriously for about 5 years and have played semi-pro for 35 years. Yesterday was a super good money day. Normally I'll get $80 or $100 for a 2 or 3 hr gig while the club or restaurant brings in $$$ hand over fist. No one wants to pay artists (what they're worth). It's endemic and ubiquitous. I've never had a club or band leader stiff me, though. It's like an honor thing. Esp. among players. We all know how much time and effort has gone in to learning the craft--not to mention the time driving to and from gigs, gas, etc.
Now, let's say a poem of mine earns $50 or $100. I've probably worked on that poem for years. Maybe even a decade. Like, the time and effort that goes in to producing a literary artwork is so far beyond anything a journal is going to pay me, it's laughable. I've never been shorted from a journal. I have had the experience of one place paying me $5 and then saying I could buy the copy it was in for $7. The whole thing of paying writers is a joke. I mean, we should be paid bigly but, I don't know, can the world of small publishing support and sustain paying contributors if they lack a massive endowment a la Poetry or ginormous readership a la The New Yorker? I don't think so. We're never going to get paid what we're worth. It's already humiliating to be offered $20. It's symbolic, right? It's not a serious payment. It's a token. So dying on the hill of $20 is also humiliating. That said, $20 is $20.
But what do you do? What can you do? The OP is right--you can't go to small claims court. I think the best you can do is write strongly worded emails. To stay on them about it. Be a burr. The poetry world already stinks of cancel culture, so I don't know that I'd go public and try to destroy their reputation--because you never know what is going on--editors get ill--and it's easy to leap to conclusions when communication is poor. But you could threaten it haha. Paying writers is a good faith agreement that shouldn't be broken and when it is, it's almost shittier than someone reneging on a big dollar contract precisely because the payment is symbolic. My $.02.
I think this would be a good question to bring to The Authors' Guild. They have lawyers on staff who would know what the legal possibilities are for responding.
I interviewed Girls actor Jemima Kirke for Flaunt magazine in 2012. I invoiced (I was only getting $50) in July 2012 and the editor said “Got it!” I sent many follow-up emails and a snail mail letter and never got a response and later my emails bounced. So all I got to show for it was a print copy of the magazine and a profile I’m proud of, but I felt stupid for never being able to successfully get that payment. Ultimately, the time I spent trying to get the payment was probably worth more than $50. On the upside, I learned to only work for reputable publications going forward. I thought they were reputable (they approached me for the article) but I was wrong.
I don’t chase these things down, which is the real problem. Now I resent someone I respected. I also resent myself. The emotional burden of these kinds of problems has been the real expense I didn’t agree to pay.
On those rarest of occasions when I have succeeded with a paid journal, I've never had any difficulty, especially with those who use Paypal. However, a related issue was one I had with a Canadian publisher who insisted on paying by cheque. Australian banks no longer accept international cheques and so began a saga of them trying to find a method of payment (apparently their bank account didn't allow international direct debit or transfers). It took a month of back and forth to eventually get payment. However this is not an isolated problem. Several publishers now advise that they only pay writers from their own country; if your story is published the best you'll get is a PDF of that issue (not even a print copy).
I had that happen to me once. I didn't bother to email them because it was $15. I frankly felt awkward doing so, and also was happy to just be published. When I ran my publication, I started paying contributors. I would pay them after I accepted their work to be published. I would recommend doing that so no one forgets along the way. And to keep a check list of contributors who got paid, who didn't. It's actually simple, even just inputting tags on gmail.
I published a chapbook through a university press in 2019. Contract stated I’d get 10% of sales but at the book release, an editor told me that I’d be getting a promotional poster to use at readings and to receive full payment, I’d need to return the poster to the press by the end of the year. I never returned the poster and that is on me, but the cost came out of my royalty check. I didn’t do my due diligence through the whole thing, but I was left pretty jaded nevertheless. Worked on the book for 3+ years to get a poster and $70. Truthfully, I think I could have fought it since nowhere in the contract was there mention of a poster but who has the time?
Thanks for the reminder that a journal hasn't paid yet for a recent publication. I found a "request payment" option on PayPal, and sent the editor a query. No reply yet.
I've had about two dozen essays and stories anthologized here and abroad and the editors have with just one exception been great to work with and my payments were on time (and welcome!). The exception was for a wonderful anthology to be used as a textbook and the $250 (maybe more--it's been a while) just never arrived despite my emails. I finally wrote an actual letter stating that I would have to work with my attorney to resolve this issue. I cc'd the attorney though I really wasn't planning to seek legal action. The check arrived quickly. I was pissed off that I had to resort to a threat, but relieved that I was finally paid.
This happened to me. I worked for about 2 years at a religious magazine and left to start a graduate program--and because I had some issues with the work environment. I had a book review due that I couldn't get in before my last day, with everything else I had to do. The managing editor (my boss) assured me by email that I could submit it later and would be paid the freelancer rate ($75). Good thing I had this in writing. I emailed the review to my former boss a couple weeks later, along with an invoice. No response to either one. Keep in mind, this was someone I'd worked under, not a complete stranger I had pitched once. In good faith, I waited a month and a half for the check. When nothing came, I emailed her again and asked if she could follow up. Still no response. After another month, I emailed the accounting manager, forwarded her the ghosted emails, and included a screenshot of the original email telling me I'd be paid the freelance rate. The accounting manager replied right away and said she hadn't received my invoice (which it would have been my former boss' part to do) and asked me to send it to her. I was finally paid, thanks to her. As for my former boss, I never received an apology or explanation. Because the review I'd sent her was published, I have no reason she simply missed my emails or that it was an oversight.
For a long time, I worried if it was too petty for me to be upset about or to even pursue. Yeah, it's "just" $75. But since I wasn't working at the time (I ended up picking up a retail job for $12 until I could get something better), $75 actually meant a lot to me. It could cover a utility bill for a month, or a week's groceries for me, or food for my pets. It also bothered me that someone heading a religious mag, writing and running articles about social justice and fair pay and the like (and posting such pronouncements on her own Twitter account), was attempting to ghost and stiff a former employee behind the scenes.
My advice to anyone feeling embarrassed about pursuing payment of any amount is don't be. But for any editor who's put someone in the position of having to beg for $75 (or any X number of dollars), if you aren't embarrassed about that, you should be.
Thanks, Becky, for asking this question and inviting discussion.
The other thing I do is play drums. Yesterday I had a $250 gig in the morning (a memorial service) and a 3 hr gig last night at the Elks Club for the Lions Club seeing-eye-dog program that paid another $200. Dogs on the dance floor! It was wild. Anyway, I studied seriously for about 5 years and have played semi-pro for 35 years. Yesterday was a super good money day. Normally I'll get $80 or $100 for a 2 or 3 hr gig while the club or restaurant brings in $$$ hand over fist. No one wants to pay artists (what they're worth). It's endemic and ubiquitous. I've never had a club or band leader stiff me, though. It's like an honor thing. Esp. among players. We all know how much time and effort has gone in to learning the craft--not to mention the time driving to and from gigs, gas, etc.
Now, let's say a poem of mine earns $50 or $100. I've probably worked on that poem for years. Maybe even a decade. Like, the time and effort that goes in to producing a literary artwork is so far beyond anything a journal is going to pay me, it's laughable. I've never been shorted from a journal. I have had the experience of one place paying me $5 and then saying I could buy the copy it was in for $7. The whole thing of paying writers is a joke. I mean, we should be paid bigly but, I don't know, can the world of small publishing support and sustain paying contributors if they lack a massive endowment a la Poetry or ginormous readership a la The New Yorker? I don't think so. We're never going to get paid what we're worth. It's already humiliating to be offered $20. It's symbolic, right? It's not a serious payment. It's a token. So dying on the hill of $20 is also humiliating. That said, $20 is $20.
But what do you do? What can you do? The OP is right--you can't go to small claims court. I think the best you can do is write strongly worded emails. To stay on them about it. Be a burr. The poetry world already stinks of cancel culture, so I don't know that I'd go public and try to destroy their reputation--because you never know what is going on--editors get ill--and it's easy to leap to conclusions when communication is poor. But you could threaten it haha. Paying writers is a good faith agreement that shouldn't be broken and when it is, it's almost shittier than someone reneging on a big dollar contract precisely because the payment is symbolic. My $.02.
I think this would be a good question to bring to The Authors' Guild. They have lawyers on staff who would know what the legal possibilities are for responding.
I interviewed Girls actor Jemima Kirke for Flaunt magazine in 2012. I invoiced (I was only getting $50) in July 2012 and the editor said “Got it!” I sent many follow-up emails and a snail mail letter and never got a response and later my emails bounced. So all I got to show for it was a print copy of the magazine and a profile I’m proud of, but I felt stupid for never being able to successfully get that payment. Ultimately, the time I spent trying to get the payment was probably worth more than $50. On the upside, I learned to only work for reputable publications going forward. I thought they were reputable (they approached me for the article) but I was wrong.
I don’t chase these things down, which is the real problem. Now I resent someone I respected. I also resent myself. The emotional burden of these kinds of problems has been the real expense I didn’t agree to pay.
Let the rest of us know who's stiffing writers so we can avoid submitting.
On those rarest of occasions when I have succeeded with a paid journal, I've never had any difficulty, especially with those who use Paypal. However, a related issue was one I had with a Canadian publisher who insisted on paying by cheque. Australian banks no longer accept international cheques and so began a saga of them trying to find a method of payment (apparently their bank account didn't allow international direct debit or transfers). It took a month of back and forth to eventually get payment. However this is not an isolated problem. Several publishers now advise that they only pay writers from their own country; if your story is published the best you'll get is a PDF of that issue (not even a print copy).
It may not help even a majority of writers, but there is some recourse if you live in New York state or the business/individual you're working with is in New York: https://www.freelancersunion.org/community/freelance-isnt-free/
I had that happen to me once. I didn't bother to email them because it was $15. I frankly felt awkward doing so, and also was happy to just be published. When I ran my publication, I started paying contributors. I would pay them after I accepted their work to be published. I would recommend doing that so no one forgets along the way. And to keep a check list of contributors who got paid, who didn't. It's actually simple, even just inputting tags on gmail.
I published a chapbook through a university press in 2019. Contract stated I’d get 10% of sales but at the book release, an editor told me that I’d be getting a promotional poster to use at readings and to receive full payment, I’d need to return the poster to the press by the end of the year. I never returned the poster and that is on me, but the cost came out of my royalty check. I didn’t do my due diligence through the whole thing, but I was left pretty jaded nevertheless. Worked on the book for 3+ years to get a poster and $70. Truthfully, I think I could have fought it since nowhere in the contract was there mention of a poster but who has the time?
I never received payment from H*ppocampus or any response at all when I followed up multiple times. They say they pay an honorarium of $40.
Thanks for the reminder that a journal hasn't paid yet for a recent publication. I found a "request payment" option on PayPal, and sent the editor a query. No reply yet.