I’m dealing with a deadbeat client at the moment who is hurting my business and am still trying the honey for flies tactics before I turn to vinegar. I’m real close to my limit though and this client is acting like the metallic green fly! They did this once to me in the past but redeemed themselves so I let my guard down. Shame on me for letting it happen again.

I’ve sent a few writers to Angela Hoy and they’ve all seen results from it. She does offer a great service.

As a Canadian though, I understand what you are saying though in general!

It’s the lack of universality in a virtual world that irks me most of all. Every time I see a “U.S. readers only” post, it’s exclusionary. I mean, I’d love to turn my blog 100% Canadian, but how many readers would love me then?

Please visit her website and do a search for the article on the website for further info.

James and Kathy – I am Canadian but I write for mostly US publications … therefore, this approach can be used. You can adapt this approach to Canadians as well – by just using the organizations that are applicable to Canadians.

Since we’re all writers, maybe we should practice what we preach and not steal it.

@James, yeah, I admit that as an American my suggestions are skewed toward us USians. I haven’t had a need to explore my collection options in Canada or elsewhere, but I know if anyone can dig up some solid advice it’s you. And I live and (hopefully) die by principle, so these efforts are definitely worth it to me. If we’re talking purely economic benefit here, then yes, your point is well taken.

@Ann, I don’t like to get the police involved unless it’s a substantial amount of money, but from personal experience, I can tell you that an FBI Internet Fraud complaint will result in a call from your local sheriff. How much effort s/he then puts forth on your behalf is questionable. As for Laray Carr, I believe he was using a false identity. Most clients reveal their real names and are therefore much easier to track down.

@Laurel, YES, an upfront deposit is the smartest move you can make as a freelancer.

@Matt, The BBB advice is more a scratching-the-back-of-future-dupees strategy. Some BBBs will take action on collection issues; others will not. They will, however, put all complaints into the company’s file (assuming, as you point out, they have one). Then when someone else investigates that company, s/he at least knows another person experienced trouble. I love your alternative suggestions though and will be taking note of them.

@Ann G., Excellent advice for instances where you can track down your work online!

@David, I haven’t regretted a single “Screw You!” yet, but to each his own. What I will concede to is that it’s not smart to badmouth people until you’ve run the full course of common courtesy tactics.

Thank you, Scribette, Erika and David, for seeing that my motivation with my hardnosing isn’t purely self-centered.

@Scribette, I had no idea Angela advocated many of the same techniques I do. It’s good to know I’m on the right track because I consider Angela an expert in this field.

Let’s face it. Email goes awry. People get sick. Building burn down. Things do happen. Before you take drastic collection efforts, send a certified letter to the editor. Five days later, email that letter to as many email addresses at the company as you can find. To get a firm’s mailing address and even an alternative email address, look at their website or search for their domain at:
dns411 dot com

Include a note telling the editor that if you don’t hear from them about this matter within 10 business days, you’re going to do the following:

STEP 2:
Report them to the Attorney General’s office in their state. It is best to name the attorney general in the letter. You can find a listing of all the attorney generals at:

STEP 3:
Report them to the Better Business Bureau. Reports can be filed online. You can find a list of BBB sites at:

STEP 4:
Report them to the FBI’s Internet Fraud Complaint Center (only if they owe you $5K or more). See:

STEP 5:
Report them to the National Writer’s Union (you must be a member). See:

STEP 6:
Report them to the Absolute Write Bewares Board at:

STEP 7:
CONTACT THE PUBLICATION’S ADVERTISERS: A publication’s advertisers are their main source of financial survival. When a media giant (television show, magazine, etc.) does something to harm their reputation, advertisers start pulling the plug to distance themselves from the offender. This works with small publication, too! If a publisher owes you money, their advertisers deserve to know what type of publication they’re attaching their product’s name to.

STEP 8:
USING EMAIL BOMBS AS COLLECTION TOOLS: Awhile back (several months ago), we ran a letter here about email bombs that was quite a hit. What’s an email bomb? If a publication owes you money and refuses to pay, have everyone you know on every writing list send that editor an email that says,

“Please pay [insert your name here].”

And, have them sign their name with “Freelance Writer” after it. This way, the editor knows that word about their unethical, non-payment practices has gotten around online to thousands of freelance writers. And, they will usually pay you quickly in an attempt to save their already quite tarnished reputation. This drastic yet very effective method usually works.

STEP 9:
Join some of the largest freelance writing discussion lists and post messages about the firm to warn other writers about that firm!

One of the largest usenet groups is:

More lists can be found at:
Yahoo, Topica

STEP 10:
Report them to WritersWeekly Warnings.

SAMPLE LETTER:

For illustrative purposes, I’m going to pretend the publication is in New York City.

Date
Publisher name
Address
New York, NY 99999

(You can usually find this info. on their website, in their publication, or at:

This letter serves as written notice that your firm owes me $________ and is ignoring my emails. If I do not hear from you within 10 business days concerning this matter, I will be forced to notify the following:

1. New York State Attorney General

2. BBB of Metropolitan New York

3. FBI’s Internet Fraud Complaint Center

4. WritersWeekly.com Warnings
WritersWeekly is the largest freelance writing ezine in the world serving 67,000 freelancers every Wednesday. Their warnings page has successfully put deadbeat publishers out of business.

5. National Writer’s Union

6. Absolute Write Bewares Board

7. Your advertisers
[Insert a brief list of the biggest advertisers/partners you find on their website or in their print publication.]

8. My peers
There are hundreds of thousands of writers online that can easily be accessed within one hour by the click of my mouse.

[your signature]

Your name
Address
City/State/Zip
Phone
Fax
Email

Remember…when an editor owes you money and ignores your letters and emails, they are WRONG. They are unprofessional deadbeats and the freelance community deserves to know about their actions!

Angela Hoy is the co-owner of WritersWeekly.com, a FREE emag for writers featuring freelance jobs and new paying markets, and Booklocker.com, an epublisher that helps self-published authors turn their books into a business.

I then follow up this letter with a short email every day until I get paid.

It works and does not take up too much of your time!!

You aren’t going to work for that person again anyways, and I doubt most editors would be afraid to hire someone who has a reputation for wanting to be paid.

That’s exactly right, especially newer folks who might not catch some of the red flags more experienced folks would see.

All good points

James makes a similar point — is it worth the time? Especially if correction of the issue is unlikely. Though sometimes it may be good to spend hte time for one’s own sanity.

The best bet, I think, is to check out potential clients in advance. That doesn’t mean they won’t go under, but it limits the risk. Also, don’t take on too much work from any one client, particularly at the beginning of a relationship.

I have a client now who “desperately” needs some more work, but they’ve fallen too far behind in payments. Though I fully expect them to come through — there were personnel and administrative issues and it’s a client who could be hurt by a negative rap — I won’t be doing anything more until they come current, even though I could use the extra income.

db

The other two times, the host company took the sites down. I was out the money still, but the person who didn’t pay was out a Web site, so I figure it was a bigger lesson for them. When you contract with a host site, it often says in the fine print that you agree not to post any plagiarized material. If they don’t pay you and use that content, they’ve broken their contract.

Cutting your losses is usually the way most of us proceed in instances where the contract is small. However, I’d be very careful about assuming you have copyright rights if you signed a “work-for-hire” agreement. Under this type of contract ownership of all rights is automatically transferred to the person for whom you are doing the writing upon signing the contract. That’s usually when most people look for legal redress, because you can get anything for your work except from the person who commissioned it.