Chasing payment as a freelance journalist

It’s always good to know what former colleagues are up to and yesterday I was having coffee with two of them when the subject of chasing payment came up. This is the bane of the life of a freelance journalist. The major publishers are usually okay – although I do remember waiting 13 months for one of them to pay me for an article during the global financial crisis.

But a story yesterday saddened me because it’s all too familiar. One journalist who was recently made redundant had carried out work for a publisher and they clearly liked what he did as they commissioned more work from him. In the meantime he sent his invoice in for the first lot of work and completed the second job. He sent his invoice in for the second lot and waited. And waited.

It’s been several months now and he’s too scared to chase his invoices because he doesn’t want to jeopardise any future work he may get from them.

You see the problem? He hasn’t been paid for any of his work yet so why is he worried about losing future work that he may end up not being paid for?

There could be a simple reason why he hasn’t been paid but unless he picks up the phone and makes that call he’ll never know what it is.

I’ve carried out work for publishers where I know they don’t even get the payment process started until the third invoice-chasing phone call has been made.

Freelance journalists tend to be very bad at asking for their money but as it’s the way you’re going to be supporting your lifestyle it’s something you’re going to have to get over. Here are a few tips to help you over this stumbling block:

Ask what you’re going to be paid before you do the work. (Some publications for example, don’t pay.) If this is the case then find out before you do any work. At the same time find out if there is a kill fee if your article isn’t published.

Find out when they pay. Maybe it’s on publication; maybe it’s 30 days after publication.

Invoice properly. Include all possible information an accounts department needs: tax file number, details of article, bank account, commissioning editor’s name. In some cases they may turn around and tell you how they want to be invoiced and you have to send it again.

Chase. This is the area where people tend to get stuck. It’s almost as if you’re doing them a favour by providing them with your copy. First of all ask the editor who commissioned you who you should be chasing in accounts. Then chase them – weekly at first and then if you’re getting the same excuse call in the big guns. This could be your media union if you’re a member, or in the case of one colleague, calling every hour and leaving a polite (always be polite) message, until the publisher finally paid her – I think just to get rid of her. But the squeaky wheel works.

But don’t think all publishers are intent on not paying you. The only time I didn’t get paid was when I did some writing for a start-up public relations company after a friend asked if I would help them out. I didn’t trust the owner when I met them and should have followed my instincts as their business didn’t survive six months.

But of course, most publishers do pay if they’ve commissioned you on that basis – it may just sometimes take a while unfortunately. However, if you don’t follow up late payments then you may be the one that slips through the system.