Words on the Page

Coming to a Journalistic Head

Posted on by lwidmer

Done! It took all day, but I finished my article. I wanted to make this one as good as I could – there were some conflicting study results and I wanted to present all the evidence clearly and with no implications as to whose study was correct. It seemed like a quiet little topic, but…

Pitch Perfect

Posted on by lwidmer

Great work day yesterday. I managed to get a good chunk of work done on my article. If my day hadn’t been interrupted by an appointment, I would have finished it. Today, for sure. I worked a little later than usual – 6 pm – because of the interruption. I spent an hour trying to…

Avoiding Ethical Dilemmas

Posted on by lwidmer

Nice, busy day yesterday. I managed through a small project in the morning, a large section of an even larger project, then spent the afternoon putting together a press release. I did a bit of research for my article, and today I’m ready to write it. That in itself is an event. I have this…

Terseness on the Edge of Town

Posted on by lwidmer

Yesterday was nice and busy. I got in a large chunk of an annual project, and I made decent headway on it. It’s a huge document, and the client is hoping to have things proofed and formatted by August 15th. I hope that’s possible. In the past, things have taken much longer (it’s really big)….

Guest Post: Now What?

Posted on by lwidmer

Remember that little Twitter tweetup Anne Wayman and I hosted a few weeks back? Turns out there are more great ideas coming from those 140-character conversations than I ever expected. Today’s post is no exception. Andrea Altenburg, technical writer extraordinaire, has provided a superb primer for writers new to the profession. She’s graciously agreed to…

Beautiful Day

Posted on by lwidmer

Forgive me now – I’m working on about 5 1/2 hours of sleep. If I ramble more than usual it’s because I’ve nodded off mid-sentence. The U2 concert last night, in a word, was magnificent. Truly. Only one other time have I left a concert feeling deeply moved, and that was Santana, whom you might…

Working With PR

Posted on by lwidmer

Busy day again, amen. I finished a large project (just a section – more on the way), and got some smaller stuff accomplished. I worked on a personal project, then it was off to the pool to relax. Finally. I feel like I’ve been running through my week. It’s going to get worse before it…

Finding Work Through Prompts

Posted on by lwidmer

Check out Wade Finnegan’s Quality Writing blog: he’s interviewed yours truly. Thanks, Wade! Yesterday was nuts. I spent the morning on a large project, then headed off to get some medical tests done. A communications foul-up had me taking a different test than the one I’d scheduled. It also meant my quick 45-minute trip turned…

Guest Post: Following Your Muse

Posted on by lwidmer

I love when random conversations evolve into a learning experience. Such was the case last week when Anne Wayman and I hosted our second Twitter tweetup (#writingsquared if you want to read). Anne Maclachlan joined the conversation, and she said something that intrigued me. In an email conversation afterward, she told me she was “an…

Invoicing and Butt Kicking

Posted on by lwidmer

I was reading a post over on Anne Wayman’s site on preparing invoices. One of the commenters posed the predicament of collection. He wondered aloud (and then said what he’d do) how one goes about collecting. While I love his response: “…kick his butt” it has some impractical applications in the real world. Figuratively, though,…

Devon Ellington

The contract needs to spell out, in no uncertain terms, the consequences of non or late payment, such as the 20% cumulative late fee.

Late clients sometimes try to get you to settle for less than the agreed=upon fee, contract or no contract.

The plumber wouldn't — why should you?

We are word plumbers. We clean the psychological septic systems to potential customers are open to the company's product.

Lori

The psychological septic system – there's a image! LOVE it. 🙂

Agreed. Get it in writing at the start and enforce it.

Kimberly Ben

Thankfully I haven't had to chase payments very often. When I have, it was usually the final confirmation I needed to not do business with them again, so there have been no repeat offenders.

I have been too nice to an editor who avoided paying me for months until I put nice away and had to get tough. He was taking advantage of the friendly relationship we'd built during the three years I'd written for his publication.

Once I realized what he was doing (and that he was doing it to other writers) I got tough and sent him an email demanding payment within 10 business days clearly spelling out the repercussions if he didn't comply. I received a phone call the next day from the editor profusely apologizing and informing me of the projected date that I would his payment in the mail. It arrived as promised, but learned soon after I was the only writer who received payment.

Wade Finnegan

Does the invoice structure have any bearing? I put together a generic invoice using googledocs and was wondering if having a program generated invoice is more authoritative? Do most freelancers have payment plans? And do you require an upfront payment? I'm full of questions this morning, but I'm always curious how other people do it.

Hey Lori, did you find a pic you could send me? Thanks!

Paula

The one or two clients I've had who've played fast and loose with their own payment terms (as stated in the contract) share one common trait: They assume freelance writers all have other sources of income. I make it clear that they are dealing with a professional, not a dilettante. My freelance income is 100% of my household income, so I can't mess around with late-payers.

One thing I'd like to know, though, is how to figure out late fees that are compounded daily (or whatever). What percent and how do you calculate it? (Remember, I stink at math.)

BTW – Lori: Massive bow echo blew through before 7 AM, knocking out power to more than 660,000 people in N. Illinois. We had an 80-mph gust reported in my part of town. I was lucky. One small branch off a huge tree and my power, phone, and cable are still working!

Lori

That's emotional blackmail, Kim (on his part, not yours), and you're smart not to fall for it. Friendship is valid until the check bounces or doesn't arrive. LOL

Wade, I use my own Word document. Just a simple file with my name, address and contact info (NEVER the SS#), and To, Deliverables, and Amount Due. I include a note at the bottom to pay upon receipt to avoid late fees. That changes if they are late to a litigation notice.

Paula, here's Lori's really simple-yet-accurate calculation for compounded interest (really simple – I'm not a math whiz, either) — say they owe $1,000. Your late fee is 20 percent, so they now owe you $1,200 (.20 X 1,000 on the calculator). If in 60 days they haven't paid yet again, you'll assess the late fee on top of that new total (.20 X $1,200). That's what they owe you to avoid litigation. 🙂

Wow! You guys have seen the weather this year, haven't you?

anne wayman

my contracts actually say 'if you stop paying, I stop writing.' They also say 'if I stop writing you stop paying.' I don't have collection problems… my clients seem happy to pay me… are happy to pay me.

And thanks for the link!

Lori

I think that's fantastic, Anne. No room to misinterpret that!

Wendy

Wade,

For the bigger projects, there should be an upfront fee or deposit fee, which says that nothing gets done until you receive that payment. If I'm doing something like an eBook, there's usually a mid-way payment and a final payment along with the deposit. Plus, I retain the rights to it until the final payment is received and clears the bank. It's stated in the negotiation stage and laid out in the contract that they sign. Of course, it's up to you, but I learned from being burned.

Wade Finnegan

Thanks Wendy, this is something I need to consider.

Lori

Sorry Wade – I missed all your questions. I was wrangling with Blogger again. 🙁

Thank you, Wendy, for helping Wade out. 🙂 I'll add this – for that final payment, put an end date to it. I had a client once who took a year to get the project done in his mind. Because I hadn't stipulated that payment came at say March or May, I had to wait a year for final payment.

Devon Ellington

Wade,

I created my own template. On the bottom, it reinforces the relevant contract terms, such as the 20% late fee, the cumulative nature of the late fee, and, if needed, the payment schedule.

Depending on the project, I either ask for 50% up front and 50% upon delivery of the finished project (which usually includes two rounds of revisions). Additional revisions or change of direction are billed at my regular hourly fee. That's both in the contract and on the bottom of the invoice. Larger projects are 1/3 up front, 1/3 at a PRE-AGREED, contracted midpoint, and the final 1/3 at the end.

Paula — I use Lori's formula. I'm not credit card company, so I don't compound daily interest. At the end of 30 days, it's X fee, wait another thirty days, the next 20% is tacked on to the original amount + original 20%, and so on.

Usually one late fee tacked on does the trick.

Paula

Lori & Devon, thanks for explaining how you handle the late fees. On your invoice (or in your contract) how do you refer to, as Devon said, the cumulative nature of those fees?

Lori: I ordered myself a weather radio. Same one that was so hard to find my brother for Christmas. It was even on sale – $5 less than his cost. I had to get the same color (pretty metallic cranberry red) since the other colors weren't on sale. Free shipping too! (You know how I love free shipping.)