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10 WAYS TO MAKE DEADBEATS PAY UP...FAST! By Angela Hoy, WritersWeekly.comThese days, publishers and editors can be pretty creative when coming up withreasons to not pay writers. We've heard it all at WritersWeekly.com Warnings!"That article was horrible. Sure, I ran it, but my readers hated it. So, I'm notpaying!""Yeah, I published it, but the article was two days late. That's a violation ofcontract, so I'm not paying for it.""I don't have any money so I don't have to pay you.""This is a non-profit organization. We've decided to stop paying writers.""The editor is in the hospital and the payment is being sorted out.""I was in the hospital.""My dog was in the hospital.""My aunt is on her death bed and I can't do anything until she passes.""We never sent you a contract, so we don't have to pay.""I filed for bankruptcy. Now I don't have to pay you!""Sure, I sent a contact, but I never signed it!""I'm broke. Can't I just send you a free book or something?""I'll pay you half your invoice. Take it or leave it.""Yeah, I owe you money, but if you say anything about me online, I'll sue you."Some publishers even include a clause in their contract that states the writer hasto sue them in the publisher's state for any grievance. Some say the writer has toattend mediation in the publisher's state before they can sue. This usually meansthe writer has to travel in order to collect or sue, which pretty much eliminatesyour chances of ever getting paid.Think it's impossible to get revenge and your money? Think again!Print this article and hang it by your desk. The next time an editor hassles youabout payment, do these things:STEP 1:Let's face it. Email goes awry. People get sick. Building burn down. Things dohappen. Before you take drastic collection efforts, send a certified letter to theeditor. Five days later, email that letter to as many email addresses at thecompany as you can find. To get a firm's mailing address and even an alternativeemail address, look at their website or search for their domain at:http://dns411.com/Include a note telling the editor that if you don't hear from them about thismatter 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 namethe attorney general in the letter. You can find a listing of all the attorneygenerals at: http://www.co.eaton.mi.us/ecpa/proslist.htmSTEP 3:Report them to the Better Business Bureau. Reports can be filed online. You canfind a list of BBB sites at: http://www.bbb.org/complaints/aboutResolution.aspSTEP 4:Report them to the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center (only if they owe you $5Kor more). See: http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.aspSTEP 5:Report them to the National Writer's Union (you must be a member). See:http://www.nwu.org/alerts/alrthome.htmSTEP 6:Report them to the Absolute Write Bewares Board at:http://pub43.ezboard.com/fabsolutewritefrm11STEP 7:CONTACT THE PUBLICATION'S ADVERTISERS: A publication's advertisers are their mainsource of financial survival. When a media giant (television show, magazine, etc.)does something to harm their reputation, advertisers start pulling the plug todistance themselves from the offender. This works with small publication, too! Ifa publisher owes you money, their advertisers deserve to know what type ofpublication they're attaching their product's name to.STEP 8:USING EMAIL BOMBS AS COLLECTION TOOLS: Awhile back (several months ago), we ran aletter here about email bombs that was quite a hit. What's an email bomb? If apublication owes you money and refuses to pay, have everyone you know on everywriting 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, theeditor knows that word about their unethical, non-payment practices has gottenaround online to thousands of freelance writers. And, they will usually pay youquickly in an attempt to save their already quite tarnished reputation. Thisdrastic yet very effective method usually works.STEP 9:Join some of the largest freelance writing discussion lists and post messagesabout the firm to warn other writers about that firm!One of the largest usenet groups is:http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&q=misc.writing&meta=An excellent group is MomWriters at:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/momwriters/More lists can be found at:http://www.yahoogroups.comhttp://www.topica.comSTEP 10:
 
Report them to WritersWeekly Warnings. See:http://www.writersweekly.com/warnings/warnings.htmlSAMPLE LETTER:For illustrative purposes, I'm going to pretend the publication is in New YorkCity.DatePublisher nameAddressNew York, NY 99999(You can usually find this info. on their website, in their publication, or at:http://dns411.com/)This letter serves as written notice that your firm owes me $________ and isignoring my emails. If I do not hear from you within 10 business days concerningthis matter, I will be forced to notify the following:1. Eloit Spitzer, New York State Attorney GeneralDepartment of Law - The Capitol / 2nd FloorAlbany, NY 12224P 518-474-7330F 518-473-99092. BBB of Metropolitan New Yorkhttp://www.newyork.bbb.orgbbb@bway.netP 212-533-6200F 212-477-4912257 Park Avenue SouthNew York, NY 10010 -73843. FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Centerhttp://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp4. WritersWeekly.com WarningsWritersWeekly is the largest freelance writing ezine in the world serving 67,000freelancers every Wednesday. Their warnings page has successfully put deadbeatpublishers out of business. http://www.writersweekly.com/warnings/warnings.html5. National Writer's Unionhttp://www.nwu.org/6. Absolute Write Bewares Boardhttp://pub43.ezboard.com/fabsolutewritefrm117. Your advertisers[Insert a brief list of the biggest advertisers/partners you find on their websiteor in their print publication.]8. My peersThere are hundreds of thousands of writers online that can easily be accessedwithin one hour by the click of my mouse.
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