Happy Birthday to…

… me. And to anyone else born on this day (writer friend Pat Marcello comes to mind). That’s it. That’s all the fussing I’m doing. As the years pile on, I’ve decided it’s better to avoid and ignore. That I spent the morning in a doctor’s office for yet one more painful joint is enough to make me want to just eat the freakin’ cake and be done with the aging thing.

On to today’s topic. Contracts. What do you do when your client says they don’t have contracts for new writers and that they’re more apt to just say what they’re paying you? You push back – that’s what you do. And that’s what I’m about to do. I have a client who is pleasant enough, but who failed the “contract talk” portion of our relationship. I don’t work without a contract. Period. That this one spelled out in email what I’d be making isn’t quite good enough for me. It was too vague. Yes, there was mention of a rate – one rate for their new hires (me) and another, not-so-clear rate for “top” writers going forward. I need more clarity. I need to know how far “forward” we need to go in order for me to get that kind of cash. I also need to know what this person considers to be a “top” writer. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I’ve been at this long enough to avoid mentioning it for fear of sounding like a dinosaur. I’ve earned my stripes, basically. Why on earth am I now required to adopt a work-and-see attitude with this particular client?

I’ve been going back and forth in my own brain about this client for a few weeks now. The lack of clarity, the tunnel vision of the editor (if you can’t make a source talk, you can’t – that’s the story too, right?) and the sour taste left by one particularly involved assignment not yet being accepted (it’s been a month – the “right” source isn’t calling back, you dig?) makes me want to cut the cord. Why don’t I? That nagging doubt that another project will take its place. If my meetings go well on Monday, this project will be history. But without additional clarification on what constitutes payment, I’m outta there. Writers – professional writers – have standards. Time to enforce the boundaries.