GETTING PAID -- 2

If you keep proper records, filed the right paperwork and invoiced your client in the right way (see last post) you've got a good chance of getting paid more-or-less on time. However it doesn't always work that way.
In some cases the check doesn't arrive even after all that. Then you have to other, stronger, measures.
Understand, in most cases you're not being cheated. Often the procedures for paying freelancers are pretty slipshod and it's easy for thing to fall through the cracks, if you let them.
So don't let things fall through the cracks. Know the publication's payment schedule, respect it, but hold the publication to it.
As a general rule, it takes 30 days or less from editorial approval of your invoice until the check shows up in your mailbox. Some pubs take more, some less. Remember that's from when the editor signs off on your story and gives the okay to pay you. If there are rewrites or other considerations it can take two or three months from the time you submit your invoice.
I keep track of when I invoice a story and when I receive payment on my spreadsheet. If payment hasn't shown up in 30 days, I send a brief, polite note to the editor asking him to check on the status of the invoice. I attach a copy of the original invoice on the theory that it might have gotten lost.
The editor is almost always your point of contact, even if you have an email address for the person in accounting. The editor is almost always on your side and he or she knows the ins and outs of the publication. The editor is in a much better position than you are to navigate those shoals. There is also the fact that a lot of the time the crack the payment has fallen through is that the editor hasn't forwarded the invoice and payment authorization to accounting.
There's a psychological factor as well. To the accounting department you're just a nuisance. To the editor you're a colleague.
Keep in mind this is a polite note, no matter how panicky you are. You want to keep the editor sympathetic, not antagonize him or here. Don't apologize for wanting your money, but don't be obnoxious either.
Usually you'll get something back in the next day or so saying the clog has been cleared and the check is on the way.
9 times in 10 this is all it takes. However don't stop there. Give a reasonable time for the check to arrive and then sent another note to the editor, saying that you haven't gotten paid yet and will the editor please check further.
Sometimes the editor has to use some office dynamite to get the check released. There's almost always a certain amount of tension between accounting and editorial and sometimes there's a state of near-war. Dealing with that can be unpleasant, but sometimes the editor has to push on your behalf.
Throughout this sequence the editor should be communicating with you. At the very least you should get a note saying the editor will check on it. If you don't get a response, or if two contacts with the editor and appropriate waiting haven't produced a result, then it's time to escalate.
The first step in escalation is the top editor at the publication (assuming that's not who you're dealing with). Again send a brief businesslike note, giving the date you originally submitted your invoice and the dates of your contacts with your editor. Ask the top editor to please look into this and attach a copy of the original invoice.
If that doesn't work, or if it doesn't produce results, the next step is to contact the publisher, again with a polite, but firm note with dates of contacts and a copy of the invoice. It's also a good idea to attach a copy of your contract, if any, and a copy of your W-9 form to make sure the publisher has all the paperwork.
If the story has already appeared (as it well might, considering the amount of time this process takes) you might mention to the publisher that since you have not yet been paid, you still own the copyright to the work. (The work-for-hire agreement in the contract doesn't apply if you haven't been paid.)
Understand that every step beyond contacting your editor makes it less likely you'll ever work for that publication again. However that's not likely to be a consideration since you haven't gotten paid.
What's next? Unfortunately not much. If you're a member of a writer's organization related to the field of the publication, you might contact them and see if they can exert any pressure. Similarly, the folks at WritersWeekly have a section of their weekly newsletter called "Whispers and Warnings". If you explain the circumstance to them they can at least publish a warning for other freelancers. Sometimes they can also pressure the publication into paying up.
Beyond that, you've got a decision to make. You can sue in your local small claims court, and there's a good chance you'll even win. However it's likely to be a hollow victory since it costs some money and you'll have to try to enforce your judgement in another state. Sometimes filing a suit will make the publisher cough up payment, but often not.
There's also the possibility that at some point you'll get a notice from the bankruptcy court that the publisher has declared bankruptcy and you're now an unsecured creditor. The notice will include a form you can fill out to make a claim against the publisher's assets.
You can file as a creditor if you want, but the chances that you'll see anything out of it are slim. Unsecured creditors are the low class on the totem pole in a bankruptcy and they seldom see a penny. If you do get something, it's likely to be a tiny amount a year or so later.
So what can you do to protect yourself against a situation like this?
Fortunately it doesn't happen often. Almost always the first or second note to the editor shakes loose your money. (This assumes you're careful to deal with non-flaky publications. The risks go way up with a new pub, or one that pays on publication.)
By the same token it does happen. It is a fact of life that in a few cases you will not get paid and in somewhat more cases you will not get paid in a timely manner. This is a fact of life in the writing business and if you can't handle it, don't freelance.
Your real protection is diversity. You never want to get into a situation where a publication's non-payment can seriously damage you. This is another reason for having a varied client list. If one of them does the publication equivalent of dropping dead, you've got others to fall back on.
This is the 'ugly' part of being a freelance writer.