Wow Debbie, that’s rough! Been there myself (two of them at relatively the same time). Hate that you had to learn that one the hard way, but it sounds like you recovered well! Good for you.

I kicked it into gear and started sending out a ton of LOIs, and thankfully one client I hadn’t heard from in about a year reached out shortly afterward. I’m on track to make the same amount of money this year as last, only with a bunch of smaller clients instead of one big client and a few small ones. I definitely learned my lesson, and I’m so thankful it turned out OK!

And this is something ALL freelancers should memorize and repeat when needed: “He called back. When one of the editors learned I’d spoken to the accountant, he called me and whined about how ‘I thought we were partners…’ I said something like, ‘If that were true you wouldn’t have ignored my past due notices.’ I fired them that day, too.

Exactly what that client earned, frankly. Thirteen months is inexcusable.

Wow! Twelve sources in one small article? Good for you for telling her what you did, particularly when it was $60 on the line. Some decisions are easy, aren’t they? And I’d say that’s about the only easy part of that assignment.

The funny thing was, around the same time a marketing & advertising newsletter that was great for those quick turn-around/quick-pay pieces at 50-cents a word was bought by an outfit that fired the amazing editor and cut pay rates to 10-cents/word, then acted like I should be grateful for that pittance. When the new editor tried assigning me a 600-word article and wanted 12 sources, I laughed and told her their titles alone would eat up most of the word count, and it certainly wasn’t worth the $60 she was offering. She tried defending the low pay rate by saying how simple the assignment was, so I told her to do it herself.

Also around that time, one of my first regular clients—a bi-monthly sales & marketing trade magazine—replaced their trio of smart, professional, female editors with two former sports writers. They paid on publication. I hated the terms, but was used to it. Then they kept pushing one of articles back issue after issue. Even after they finally ran my story they dragged their feet on paying. After past due notices were ignored, I called every week, then every day. Always told the guy I needed to speak with was at lunch, but they’d have him call me back. After a couple weeks of that, I responded to the poor receptionist with, “That must be the longest lunch in history.” He called back. When one of the editors learned I’d spoken to the accountant, he called me and whined about how “I thought we were partners…” I said something like, “If that were true you wouldn’t have ignored my past due notices.” I fired them that day, too. From the day I turned in that article until I was paid: 13 months. Unprofessional and utterly inexcusable.

Firing two bad clients at the same time was not easy after losing two really good clients. I still had a couple of clients, but things were really tight there for a year or two. Yet I never once regretted firing those two clients.

Last year I lost one of my key clients. Another one with quick-turn-arounds and quick payments. A fair rate, too. They’re still around but the powers that be decided to slash the freelance budget. I’m still in touch with the editor there, who says if/when they have a freelance budget again she’ll be in touch. I still haven’t quite made up the lost income, but I have landed one new regular client and expanded the scope of work I do for another long-time client.

And I am STILL marketing. Over the past two weeks I’ve been sending LOIs to yarn companies to see if any of them need the skills of a freelance writer who knits, crochets, and is obsessed with yarn.