First, I had already decided this submission would be my last, so I'll save you the trouble of advising me not to work with "C" again.
I'm clashing with an editor, C, over her rewrites of my story for a community newspaper. This is the third I've written for her, very low pay ($60). FYI she's screwed up the past 2 stories by not running them when they were supposed to run, even though they were timely, for no other reason than she just spaced out!
She sent me her rewrites for approval and I didn't approve. We seem to disagree about what the story is about. However, I thought I could slant the lede a little better so I rewrote it and reworked the rest of the story, and I told her if she wanted to turn it down, so be it, but I don't authorize her to rewrite it (other than minor edits).
Her reply was snippy. She still wants to rewrite the story. She said I accepted the assignment (actually I had proposed the story, then she begged me four times to write it before I was going out of town, I declined, but since she's got no other writers, once I came back she offered me to do it and I said OK), and I can't withdraw it and as the editor she has the right to make whatever edits she wants. She CC'd her publisher (I used to work for him, doesn't scare me).
Am I wrong that until she has paid me, she does not own my intellectual property? My position is I fulfilled my end of the bargain, but if she doesn't like my work, I'm releasing her from the contract.
By the way, other than emails we had no written contract. I know, I know. No lectures please.
This is small potatoes moneywise, but since it's about a public figure, it could be googled and I don't want a badly edited story to come up with my name on it.
In case you think the editor is always right, I sent my rewrite to a picky friend to gauge her opinion before I went further on it, and this was her exact reaction:
LOVE IT!!!!!@!!!!111!!!
She couldn't imagine what complaint anyone could have about it!
My other friend says C routinely takes all the personality out of the column she writes (and also occasionally forgets to run them). I know my friend's lively writing style and I was appalled at how dry her column was -- especially the lede!
I want to send one last email with her publisher CC'd to ensure she doesn't change my story beyond minor edits. Do I have a leg to stand on? I'd love to quote some legal principles.
I'm clashing with an editor, C, over her rewrites of my story for a community newspaper. This is the third I've written for her, very low pay ($60). FYI she's screwed up the past 2 stories by not running them when they were supposed to run, even though they were timely, for no other reason than she just spaced out!
She sent me her rewrites for approval and I didn't approve. We seem to disagree about what the story is about. However, I thought I could slant the lede a little better so I rewrote it and reworked the rest of the story, and I told her if she wanted to turn it down, so be it, but I don't authorize her to rewrite it (other than minor edits).
Her reply was snippy. She still wants to rewrite the story. She said I accepted the assignment (actually I had proposed the story, then she begged me four times to write it before I was going out of town, I declined, but since she's got no other writers, once I came back she offered me to do it and I said OK), and I can't withdraw it and as the editor she has the right to make whatever edits she wants. She CC'd her publisher (I used to work for him, doesn't scare me).
Am I wrong that until she has paid me, she does not own my intellectual property? My position is I fulfilled my end of the bargain, but if she doesn't like my work, I'm releasing her from the contract.
By the way, other than emails we had no written contract. I know, I know. No lectures please.
This is small potatoes moneywise, but since it's about a public figure, it could be googled and I don't want a badly edited story to come up with my name on it.
In case you think the editor is always right, I sent my rewrite to a picky friend to gauge her opinion before I went further on it, and this was her exact reaction:
LOVE IT!!!!!@!!!!111!!!
She couldn't imagine what complaint anyone could have about it!
My other friend says C routinely takes all the personality out of the column she writes (and also occasionally forgets to run them). I know my friend's lively writing style and I was appalled at how dry her column was -- especially the lede!
I want to send one last email with her publisher CC'd to ensure she doesn't change my story beyond minor edits. Do I have a leg to stand on? I'd love to quote some legal principles.
