NPR reported Thursday on the Hollywood writers' strike, which hasn't changed very much since the last time I blogged about it. The report is an audio clip from NPR's Morning Edition, so be sure to click the "Listen Now" link.
What was interesting about the NPR report is the discussion of how the writers have used the Internet to get the word out about the strike and what they're asking for. The point was that the writers have done better with the PR work than the producers have, and as a result, only 4 percent of the public supports the producers.
Personally, I'm not at all surprised that the writers have succeeded in rallying the public via the Internet. While these are screenwriters and not PR writers, most writers (of any kind) understand the power of the written word, so it makes sense to me that the striking writers would know how to use words to generate support for their cause.
This situation reminds me a little bit of Laray Carr. (For those who don't know the situation, basically Laray Carr/LCP was hiring writers to write articles for 30-some magazines, which it seems they never had any intention of launching. To my knowledge, no one ever was paid, and at this very moment Quincy Carr is probably running a new scam under a different name.)
Although Laray Carr was obviously on a much smaller scale than the Hollywood writers' strike, it's another example of how writers use the power of words: We discussed LCP on forums and blogs, despite bogus legal threats, and eventually informed enough people that Quincy Carr had to shut LCP down (though he just set up shop under new names).
The message is the same in both instances: Don't mess with the writers.
Showing posts with label payment issues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label payment issues. Show all posts
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Podcasts and supporting strikes
Thanks to a MySpace friend request (one of the few useful friend requests I've received), I discovered a new podcast for writers: Will Write for Wine. It's recorded by two romance authors, Samantha Graves and Lani Diane Rich. You can download it on their site (maybe — I've been having trouble with it) or subscribe to it on iTunes.Michael and I listened to last week's episode — "Unscripted" — today. (I'm a writer, and Michael loves wine, so I figured it would be of interest to both of us.) In the episode, Lani gave the best explanation of the screenwriters' strike in Hollywood that I've heard yet. Basically, writers are getting the same royalties for VHS and DVD sales that they negotiated almost 20 years ago: 4 cents per $20 DVD. They were promised at the time that their percentage would go up, but the conglomerates apparently have conveniently forgotten their promise.
The writers, who are now striking, want a raise to 8 cents per DVD — not unreasonable, considering it's been two decades, and the conglomerates' excuse then was that they didn't know how well VHS (a new technology at the time) would sell. In fact, they are parroting that excuse now in their refusal to pay writers for online sales, such as downloads through iTunes and other virtual stores. The fact remains, though, that digital sales are pure profit — whether digital media takes off or not (which it will, of course, just as VHS did 20 years ago), they can certainly afford to give writers their cut.
To put this into perspective, this would be like you contracting a book to a major publisher, and having them turn around and start selling an ebook version without paying you any royalties for those sales. The ebook version competes with the hardcopy version, and since it is cheaper and easier to get, many readers might opt to go digital — which deprives you of the royalties you would usually get, at the same time as it saves the publisher considerable money on printing, storage, and shipping.
You'd be pretty pissed, I imagine.
In the podcast, Lani asks listeners to support the strike. She specifically asks us not to buy or download TV shows and movies online, since the writers are — as of this writing — not getting paid for them. I checked out the official site, and you can also support the strike by buying pencils: The pencils get sent to the conglomerate, and the money goes into a fund to help the striking writers.I'm joining Lani on this one. Although I'm not buying pencils as of right now, I am pledging to not buy or watch TV shows or movies online until the writers start getting their cut. As of right now, negotiations are to resume, but the strike is not over. The writers still need our help!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Clients who expect you to read their minds
I have had a couple of problems lately with clients who don't tell me the full story of what they want, yet expect me to know it anyway.
Client #1 was someone who hired me to work on a personal letter. Aside from the obvious problems that arise when someone else is writing a letter that is supposed to personal, this client was continually unhappy with what I wrote, but gave me little or no direction as to why or what could be done to fix it. Usually, the client simply said, "This doesn't work for me."
As you can imagine, after going through both of the two revisions I include in my project rate, I was mighty sick of hearing "This doesn't work for me."
Client #2 has been an ongoing issue. They hired me many months ago to write some web copy for them. As they were a new client, I requested 50 percent of the project fee up front, and they agreed. I did everything right, yet they still have been a pain in my you-know-what.
First it was nonpayment. The project stalled at 80 percent completed, because they were supposedly waiting for keyword research they'd ordered in order to complete the remaining web page. I clearly stated that I was willing to wait a few weeks, but if it took longer than that I would need to be paid for the work completed so far. They completely ignored that email — no response whatsoever.
Some time passed, and with no word at all about the project, I emailed them again. And again. And again. Finally, I sent an email letting them know I expected payment for the work already done, and that if I did not receive it by a certain date (two weeks out, I believe it was), I would report them as nonpaying clients — and the first place I would contact would be the company they are affiliates of.
That finally received a response: I had an email from them within just a couple of days. They claimed they were "on holiday," and whined about why I had to be like that. They said they'd pay me when they got home, which was supposed to be in less than a week. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it didn't happen.
What is surprising is that a week or two later, they unexpectedly did pay me. I had been too busy to follow through on reporting them, so imagine my surprise when I received payment! It was in full, too — I had told them that, in light of the payment issues, if they wanted me to finish the project they would need to pay me for the remaining work in advance.
At last they sent me the keyword research and asked me to write the final page of copy. I did, as per what they had told me about what they wanted and the keywords they had given me. When I turned it in, however, they informed me that it was not what they wanted. I explained that there was no way to change the copy to what they wanted and still use the same keywords, as the two targeted entirely different markets.
This is when it gets really fun: They decided that they wanted to make the page a "double" page. Basically, they wanted to use the copy I'd already written and have me write what they'd originally wanted, and put it all on the same page so that they could get double the copy for the same price.
In hindsight, I could have refused. I could have stated that I had written the copy as per the information that they had given me at the time, and that giving me different information entailed a change in project scope. I could have charged them for the additional work, or refused to do it altogether. But I didn't. Instead, I told them I would write the additional work at no charge, but that any future work would need to be renegotiated.
Here's a big surprise: When I turned in the new copy, they didn't like it. They want me to rewrite it, but are only giving me vague directions on what it should include. They might be offering to pay me to fix it, but then again they might be demanding their money back — their English is so atrocious I can't tell. (The line says, "send me the pay for this page!" and in the context I can't decide whether they meant "payment" or "invoice.")
I decided to say NO. I really don't want to work with these people anymore, not even if they do pay me to fix the page. I had taken the job assuming — from their description — that it would be fairly quick and easy, and priced it accordingly. Months down the road, the job has entailed much more of chasing payment and waiting for the client than actual writing. A big fat NOT WORTH IT!!!
The moral of the story: Before providing a quote or accepting a gig, make sure you get complete details about what the client wants. Ask them to clarify anything that seems ambiguous, and don't take the job if they can't.
Furthermore, never assume a project for a new client is going to be "easy" — always build a "pain-in-my-a$$" fee into quotes for new clients. You can always adjust your quotes later if the work does turn out to be exceptionally easy.
Update: After receiving my email declining further work, Client #2 responded, calling me "moody and emotional." (Oh, is that what it's called when you "fire" a client who has been nothing but trouble?) With that in mind, I'd like to update the moral of the story to say: Never work with a client who patronizes you!
Client #1 was someone who hired me to work on a personal letter. Aside from the obvious problems that arise when someone else is writing a letter that is supposed to personal, this client was continually unhappy with what I wrote, but gave me little or no direction as to why or what could be done to fix it. Usually, the client simply said, "This doesn't work for me."
As you can imagine, after going through both of the two revisions I include in my project rate, I was mighty sick of hearing "This doesn't work for me."
Client #2 has been an ongoing issue. They hired me many months ago to write some web copy for them. As they were a new client, I requested 50 percent of the project fee up front, and they agreed. I did everything right, yet they still have been a pain in my you-know-what.
First it was nonpayment. The project stalled at 80 percent completed, because they were supposedly waiting for keyword research they'd ordered in order to complete the remaining web page. I clearly stated that I was willing to wait a few weeks, but if it took longer than that I would need to be paid for the work completed so far. They completely ignored that email — no response whatsoever.
Some time passed, and with no word at all about the project, I emailed them again. And again. And again. Finally, I sent an email letting them know I expected payment for the work already done, and that if I did not receive it by a certain date (two weeks out, I believe it was), I would report them as nonpaying clients — and the first place I would contact would be the company they are affiliates of.
That finally received a response: I had an email from them within just a couple of days. They claimed they were "on holiday," and whined about why I had to be like that. They said they'd pay me when they got home, which was supposed to be in less than a week. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it didn't happen.
What is surprising is that a week or two later, they unexpectedly did pay me. I had been too busy to follow through on reporting them, so imagine my surprise when I received payment! It was in full, too — I had told them that, in light of the payment issues, if they wanted me to finish the project they would need to pay me for the remaining work in advance.
At last they sent me the keyword research and asked me to write the final page of copy. I did, as per what they had told me about what they wanted and the keywords they had given me. When I turned it in, however, they informed me that it was not what they wanted. I explained that there was no way to change the copy to what they wanted and still use the same keywords, as the two targeted entirely different markets.
This is when it gets really fun: They decided that they wanted to make the page a "double" page. Basically, they wanted to use the copy I'd already written and have me write what they'd originally wanted, and put it all on the same page so that they could get double the copy for the same price.
In hindsight, I could have refused. I could have stated that I had written the copy as per the information that they had given me at the time, and that giving me different information entailed a change in project scope. I could have charged them for the additional work, or refused to do it altogether. But I didn't. Instead, I told them I would write the additional work at no charge, but that any future work would need to be renegotiated.
Here's a big surprise: When I turned in the new copy, they didn't like it. They want me to rewrite it, but are only giving me vague directions on what it should include. They might be offering to pay me to fix it, but then again they might be demanding their money back — their English is so atrocious I can't tell. (The line says, "send me the pay for this page!" and in the context I can't decide whether they meant "payment" or "invoice.")
I decided to say NO. I really don't want to work with these people anymore, not even if they do pay me to fix the page. I had taken the job assuming — from their description — that it would be fairly quick and easy, and priced it accordingly. Months down the road, the job has entailed much more of chasing payment and waiting for the client than actual writing. A big fat NOT WORTH IT!!!
The moral of the story: Before providing a quote or accepting a gig, make sure you get complete details about what the client wants. Ask them to clarify anything that seems ambiguous, and don't take the job if they can't.
Furthermore, never assume a project for a new client is going to be "easy" — always build a "pain-in-my-a$$" fee into quotes for new clients. You can always adjust your quotes later if the work does turn out to be exceptionally easy.
Update: After receiving my email declining further work, Client #2 responded, calling me "moody and emotional." (Oh, is that what it's called when you "fire" a client who has been nothing but trouble?) With that in mind, I'd like to update the moral of the story to say: Never work with a client who patronizes you!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
You can't win them all!
A few days ago, I wrote about a potential client whose idea of "modest" rates was $1 per article. In the middle of telling them off via email, I had an epiphany, and changed my email to a sales pitch explaining why they need quality writing at my rates.
Unfortunately, the sales pitch didn't work, as I haven't heard back from them. However, I'm guessing that sort of email has a better chance of being read than one that tells someone off.
Lately, I've also been dealing with a lot of requests for what I call "custom" writing samples - when clients request that you prepare a writing sample on their specific topic. There are several problems with this, but I think one of the major ones is that these requests usually are made in a form letter that was obviously sent out to everybody that replied, rather than just a few likely candidates. As a result, the writer would be taking a lot of time to prepare a custom sample that is going to compete with 200 other custom samples. The odds just aren't good enough to justify taking that time away from paying work.
The other problem is, of course, that many of those requests for "samples" are actually scams - the "client" asks every respondant to write or edit a different piece, and as a result gets a lot of work performed without having to pay for it.
The risks are just too many, as far as I'm concerned, so I always very politely redirect them to my online portfolio (which they already received a link to in my initial email and on my resume).
Although this happens periodically, a few incidents in particular caught my attention recently. One was a response to my email that stated:
In lieu of reading dozens of resumes, I am really just interested in seeing how you write. If you want to apply for this position, write a short ad of 200 words or less pitching the following program...
He then described a very specific ad that he wanted written, including the intended audience and a special sale. His email ended with, "The best ad gets the job!"
This irritated me in several ways. One, he doesn't bother telling me how many other writers are taking the "test," leading me to believe that probably all 200 or so respondants are being requested to write a sample. There's a lot of potential for a scam there, especially since there's no mention in the email of who he is, what his business is, etc.
Two, his choice of words screams "Liar!" He claims that he doesn't want to read "dozens of resumes," yet he's basically setting himself up for reading dozens of 200-word ads. Seriously - how long does it take to look at a resume, skim the first section (which is all that usually gets read), and move it into the "keep" or "discard" pile? Certainly not any longer than it does to read a 200-word ad and decide where it ranks.
Basically, either this guy is extremely inconsiderate by making every applicant write a sample, whether or not they're truly suited for the job; OR he is running a scam and asking each applicant to write something different. I resent him the link to my portfolio, and offered to do a paid trial run - basically telling him that I'll write any sample he wants if he pays me for it. I never heard back.
But although you can't win them all, you can definitely win some. I responded to an ad the other day with a price quote and an explanation of why I'm the perfect writer for the job. I got the job, as well as the right to quote future work as it becomes available (rather than tying me into my present rate, which is slightly lower due to the the project being an easy one). Although it's not as stunning a success as the first example would have been, it's still good to know that my sales skills aren't the problem.
Unfortunately, the sales pitch didn't work, as I haven't heard back from them. However, I'm guessing that sort of email has a better chance of being read than one that tells someone off.
Lately, I've also been dealing with a lot of requests for what I call "custom" writing samples - when clients request that you prepare a writing sample on their specific topic. There are several problems with this, but I think one of the major ones is that these requests usually are made in a form letter that was obviously sent out to everybody that replied, rather than just a few likely candidates. As a result, the writer would be taking a lot of time to prepare a custom sample that is going to compete with 200 other custom samples. The odds just aren't good enough to justify taking that time away from paying work.
The other problem is, of course, that many of those requests for "samples" are actually scams - the "client" asks every respondant to write or edit a different piece, and as a result gets a lot of work performed without having to pay for it.
The risks are just too many, as far as I'm concerned, so I always very politely redirect them to my online portfolio (which they already received a link to in my initial email and on my resume).
Although this happens periodically, a few incidents in particular caught my attention recently. One was a response to my email that stated:
In lieu of reading dozens of resumes, I am really just interested in seeing how you write. If you want to apply for this position, write a short ad of 200 words or less pitching the following program...
He then described a very specific ad that he wanted written, including the intended audience and a special sale. His email ended with, "The best ad gets the job!"
This irritated me in several ways. One, he doesn't bother telling me how many other writers are taking the "test," leading me to believe that probably all 200 or so respondants are being requested to write a sample. There's a lot of potential for a scam there, especially since there's no mention in the email of who he is, what his business is, etc.
Two, his choice of words screams "Liar!" He claims that he doesn't want to read "dozens of resumes," yet he's basically setting himself up for reading dozens of 200-word ads. Seriously - how long does it take to look at a resume, skim the first section (which is all that usually gets read), and move it into the "keep" or "discard" pile? Certainly not any longer than it does to read a 200-word ad and decide where it ranks.
Basically, either this guy is extremely inconsiderate by making every applicant write a sample, whether or not they're truly suited for the job; OR he is running a scam and asking each applicant to write something different. I resent him the link to my portfolio, and offered to do a paid trial run - basically telling him that I'll write any sample he wants if he pays me for it. I never heard back.
But although you can't win them all, you can definitely win some. I responded to an ad the other day with a price quote and an explanation of why I'm the perfect writer for the job. I got the job, as well as the right to quote future work as it becomes available (rather than tying me into my present rate, which is slightly lower due to the the project being an easy one). Although it's not as stunning a success as the first example would have been, it's still good to know that my sales skills aren't the problem.
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