(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Hi Anne,
I sold an article to a trade magazine. They published it a couple of months ago, but I haven’t been paid yet. How do I ask for payment without seeming tacky?
cs
Hi cs,
What’s tacky about asking for what you’re owed? I’m still not at all sure why many writers seem to be embarrassed about asking for money owed them.
I’m assuming the trade magazine’s terms were pay on publication. If anything, it’s the magazine that’s being tacky by not paying you promptly. The magazine contracted with you to write an article for $xxx – they owe you plain …read more

I suspect that it seems I have my writing life pretty well together. After all, if you’re a regular reader, you know that I usually post a couple of times a day, six days a week. I talk about contracts and successes quite a bit. All of which is true.
I also have my moments. Well started on the third chapter of a ghostwriting project, I had to look up the terms of a ghostwriting contract to see when I was supposed to send an invoice. I wrote the contract so you’d think I’d know I set it up to invoice …read more

With most of my projects, I try to set up either regular payments or pay per benchmark. For example, I’m ghostwriting an ebook on cats. We agreed I’d be paid 20% when the first chapter was complete. (I blew getting up front payment, but that’s another story.)
As often happens in a writing project, I’ve completed a draft of the first chapter, but am waiting for the client to give me some additional information to really get it done. Meanwhile, I’ve drafted most of a second chapter and a bit on a third.
In other words, I’ve written way more than …read more

Arghhhhh… I’m trying to renegotiate a writing contract and I’m having real trouble understanding the numbers involved… I sent what I thought was a clear proposal to the client and he’s replied, but his understanding of the dollar amount is quite different than mine.
After spending yet another half hour on this I realized that I need someone to help me… so I’ve placed a call to a friend and we’re going to have coffee later today and go over what I thought I was trying to do, how the client’s numbers fit or don’t, and decide what I’m really offering.
It …read more

Lori Widmer, freelance writer, has a nifty article on establishing a routine for invoicing clients. She’s right, however you get the billing done, it should be automatic.
I don’t keep many paper files, so although my plan is similar, it’s all on my computer. For example, I blog twice a week for Senior BofI; I invoice them twice a month, on the first and 15th, more or less. I place the invoice dates on my calendar. When I create the invoice, I file it in a folder called strangely enough “invoices.” This client has their own folder, and I …read more

I don’t know about you, but I’m not always too sharp about tracking invoices. At the moment, I set up a tickler in my goal/calendar program (GoalPro) to remind me when an invoice is due.
When it’s time, I create the invoice in Word and file it in my invoice folder with a filename that reflects both the client and the date of submission. I’ve got one client who wants to be billed in advance on the 1st and the 15th. Since the 15th falls on a Sunday, it was time to send out the bill for the second half of …read more