So you've finished your latest opus, shipped it off to the editor and the editor has accepted it. You've submitted your invoice. Now you wait to get paid.
And wait.
And wait.
And. . .
In a perfect world you'd get paid as soon as the editor accepted the story. Since this isn't a perfect world, the process of getting paid eats and inordinate amount of the time and temper of freelancers. It saps your morale and makes it harder to get "up" for the next project.
So what do you do?
Recently Freelance Switch provided a link to a good summary of the problems of freelancers -- getting paid (why they put this under "humour" I have no idea, since it's not funny at all.)
Over the years I've developed a method of handling getting paid that is fairly straightforward. It requires a fair amount of work on my part, but I've learned that if I don't do the work I won't get paid anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of the time,.
First is record keeping. I know, I know, you hate it. I hate it. There's something about bookkeeping that's utterly antithetical to being a freelance writer. The only writer I know who doesn't feel that way is Robert Aspirin (he of the "Myth" books). But before he broke free Bob was a cost accountant.
So keep records. I know it sounds silly to say that you need to keep track of what work you did, who you did it for and how much they're supposed to pay you, but you'd be astonished how easy it is to forget that.
(You'd be astonished and your Significant Other would be appalled. I've often thought that the ideal combination in this business would be to be for a writer to be married to a CPA with an MBA. The fact that I don't know any couples like that may say something about how well such an arrangement would work.)
Then there is paperwork -- contracts, W-9 tax forms and such. Not everybody will send you a contract, but if they do, read it, sign it, date it, and send it back immediately. You can use the mail for this, but I tend to scan the contract into a pdf file and email it back unless the publication specifies otherwise.
Not everyone will send you a contract, but everybody will send you a W-9 the first time you work for them. If you don't get one, bug the editor about it. You most assuredly will not get paid until that paperwork has been filled out and returned.
Believe me, there is nothing like waiting a month after submitting an article, questioning the editor and then finding out "oh, we don't have a W9 for you" because the people in accounting didn't bother to send it. It may be their fault, but you're the one kept hanging for your money.
So, make sure you get the paperwork, make sure you send it in, and make sure the publication got it.
The next step is timely, accurate and consistent invoicing.
An invoice is a simple document, but it's got to include several items:
The name of the person the invoice is sent to. (Usually your editor, but sometimes not. Ask.)
The address of the business, which can be the email address.
The date submitted.
Your invoice number for this invoice. Make up a numbering system. I use a simple three digit sequential number starting with 001. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as each invoice gets a unique number.
The publication's invoice number, if you know it. If they give you one, be sure you get it right on the invoice.
The name of the work. This doesn't have to be exact, but it should be clear enough that the editor and others can identify the work instantly.
The kind of work (article, short story, tip, etc.).
The amount owing for each item.
Your name, mailing address, email, and phone number.
Your social security number or taxpayer ID number.
Be careful about business names. Some banks don't want to deposit checks with a DBA (I.E., "Kimball Kennison dba as Galactic Patrol") into a personal account. They want a business account, which is more expensive. Finding this out after you have the check in hand will also complicate getting paid.
Don't forget to put your tax or social security number on the invoice. Sure the publication has it on file, but you want to make paying you as easy as possible.
Make sure the invoice goes to the right people. Often that will be your editor and he or she will forward it to the appropriate person. Other times it will go to someone else, usually an accounting clerk. Find out how the publication wants to do it.
For many years I did my invoices on my word processor. However finally I encountered a particularly dense editor who made a practice of losing invoices. So I broke down and got an invoicing program.
I back this up with a spreadsheet where I record the date the project was submitted, the client name, the name of the work, the invoice number, the amount, the date the invoice was submitted, the date paid and a space for notes. The amount has two columns -- unpaid and paid with a monthly total for each column. When I get the check I move the project from the unpaid column to the paid one, which lets me see at a glance which invoices haven't been paid yet. The monthly totals provide a quick check on how I'm doing financially.
The complicating factor in all this is that, as far as I know, there really aren't any invoicing programs specifically for freelance writers. Most of what's out there is for businesses selling goods and services, accrual basis taxpayers, in other words. Those are unnecessarily complicated and often don't reflect what you really need. The invoicing modules in bookkeeping programs like Quicken, for example, don't really work.
Invoicing programs designed for service businesses are better, but they tend to be built around effort rather than product. That is, they focus on hours worked on a particular project and often try to schedule your day in 15 minute segments.
I use Invoice Service from BIS Software. My solution is a long way from ideal, but it works for me. The software doesn't have an automatic reminder feature to tell me when to bug editors, which is a bit of a pain. The program also costs about $100. Again, not ideal, but I can make it work.
All this is fine, but what happens when you still don't get paid?
Well, that's a subject for the next rock.
