Just Keep Chasing Payment
I finally received royalties for a book I finished in 2003. It's very nice to get the money, but I doubt I'll see any more unless I want to go through the same amount of hassle again.
Next time remember to:
Read the contract very carefully.
Keep a copy of it safe - I can't find it now! (In my defence, I was living and travelling in a camper van at the time.)
Don't give up easily.
Get others (legal, fellow authors) in to help. (I think that's what eventually got me somewhere.)
Chasing payment:
Thomas Higgins
Better Payment Practice
And now, my current thinking…what to charge! I have read an awful lot of posts about this, but I always find them very frustrating. They say things like, find out what they expect you to charge. How? And how do you quantify your experience, how does the scale go up? And of course, a lot of them are US-centric.
I do have some idea, as I already work for a magazine. Here are two other sources of useful info so far:
NUJ Rate for the Job (almost the only one you need, I think)
NJ Creatives Network - US, but a start
And checking the job boards (read trawling) to get an idea.
I didn't get any reply from the 'perfect client' which is a shame, but I've got others to apply to. I'm going to the Dominican Republic for two weeks on Sunday, so I won't be updating, although I will be writing (and surfing) a lot.
Next time remember to:
Read the contract very carefully.
Keep a copy of it safe - I can't find it now! (In my defence, I was living and travelling in a camper van at the time.)
Don't give up easily.
Get others (legal, fellow authors) in to help. (I think that's what eventually got me somewhere.)
Chasing payment:
Thomas Higgins
Better Payment Practice
And now, my current thinking…what to charge! I have read an awful lot of posts about this, but I always find them very frustrating. They say things like, find out what they expect you to charge. How? And how do you quantify your experience, how does the scale go up? And of course, a lot of them are US-centric.
I do have some idea, as I already work for a magazine. Here are two other sources of useful info so far:
NUJ Rate for the Job (almost the only one you need, I think)
NJ Creatives Network - US, but a start
And checking the job boards (read trawling) to get an idea.
I didn't get any reply from the 'perfect client' which is a shame, but I've got others to apply to. I'm going to the Dominican Republic for two weeks on Sunday, so I won't be updating, although I will be writing (and surfing) a lot.
posted by surfergrl at 4:18 AM
1 Comments:
Mmmm, chasing payment, sending off applications - the hidden hard work of a real writer.
Years ago, I decided to just write online and see if the adverts around my work paid.
It has lots of negatives, mainly the constant search to build readership base that suddenly disappears when the one eyed spiders change their algorithms.
But at least the focus of my day is on writing and not on trying to sell it which I can see is hard work indeed.
However, instead of earning money at 20p a time, it must be nice to get a client worth £1,000s.
Um, I'm almost envious for a moment.
Nah, I couldn't take the rejection :-)
Nice blog, I'll be back.
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