I got paid!...and then...

[MommyHawk]

I wrote two award-winning (IMO) articles for a local publication and soon they will be in print - yeah!!!

And then I got paid for them...only, the publisher cut my check of what she'd say she'd pay in half! HALF!!! As if it was a lot of $ to begin with!?!?...these were heavily researched articles that both took over a month to compile the information and contacts...I'm almost embarrassed to say what she did pay me for each...What's the norm for a local publication for a 1600 word article, if anyone knows?

[ceilydhmama]

Do you have a contract? Or an email that states what rate you agreed too?
It's not important what other mags pay in your situation as you already had an agreement. Rates are all over the map though - local pubs are often in the 20-35 cents per word range with some paying up to $1.50 a word...

Were you given a reason for the cut in pay?
Diane

[MommyHawk]

yeah, her reason is: "it's a small publication still in it's infancy stage"...BUT I did have an earlier email stating a higher pay per article...so I sent that back to her and she is sending me a check for the rest with apologies - she didn't realize she said that much. Growing pains or not, that is just not very professional IMO

[allgirls]

Originally Posted by MommyHawk

yeah, her reason is: "it's a small publication still in it's infancy stage"...BUT I did have an earlier email stating a higher pay per article...so I sent that back to her and she is sending me a check for the rest with apologies - she didn't realize she said that much. Growing pains or not, that is just not very professional IMO

Good for you. When I worked at a paper we had contracts with our columnists. We paid a pittance. I'm glad you got what she originally offered

[PJsmomma]

Good for you for reminding her

[midnightwriter]

Originally Posted by MommyHawk

yeah, her reason is: "it's a small publication still in it's infancy stage"...BUT I did have an earlier email stating a higher pay per article...so I sent that back to her and she is sending me a check for the rest with apologies - she didn't realize she said that much. Growing pains or not, that is just not very professional IMO

Though it WAS very professional of her to send you the rest! Good for you and good for her!

[dharmama]

What a nice resolution. Congrats!

[kimiij]

I'm really glad you were able to get your money! That's great that you had it in writing and that she was willing to rectify it immediately.

[confustication]

That's fabulous! I accepted very low pay for my first articles, but once I began to build a name/portfolio I was able to leverage more.

The newspaper I was writing for also gave up on paying me by the article and hired me as a staff writed after a short while, so I have that as 'steady' income to help support the rest of my freelancing.

Standing up for yourself really is so important in this sort of work, it's easy to be taken advantage of.