Contract question

Don't know the answer to your question, but let me just say ... congratulations! Very well done.

We don't say that often enough, I find.

Is it a paying market?

They need your SSN# in order to report on their taxes that they sent you $.

And they'll need it to issue a Form 1099 Miscellaneous Income so you can report the money on YOUR taxes.

Technically, in many cases, the total amount of $ is under the you must report this money threshold set by the IRS, but most editors I've worked with will request the SSN# or more commonly, ask you to complete a W-4 just to be safe.

Shadow_Ferret said:

Yes. It's a paying market. And thanks, Lisa, that all makes sense.

I guess the fact that they are so new made me second guess everything.

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If you're still feeling odd, write them a courteous letter in which you explain that you're worried about identity theft; it might be helpful if they're new to publishing and don't realize that they need to protect that data.

Shadow_Ferret said:

So for those who are more experienced: is this standard operating procedure and I have nothing to worry about or should I be worried about fraud and identity theft?

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It's a sign that they conduct business in an orderly manner.

The SSN is for reporting your payment to the IRS, if it's over $600. If it's not, they may still need it if they're audited by the IRS at some later date, to prove the payment was made to a real person and not simply drawn from cash by someone in the company.

If you want paid, they need your social security number. Remember that the magazine has to report its own earning to the IRS, and they also have to tell the IRS who they paid money to, which means they have to give the IRS your SSN as proof.

If you received money from magazines in the past, and didn't have to provide your SSN, something was seriously wrong.

Contracts are also the norm at paying magazines. I haven't received a contract for every sale, but I have for at least ninety-eight percent. The others provided what was, essentially, a contract without being called such, usually rolling everything together in an acceptance letter.

One magazine, The Writer, just sent me a check along with the acceptance letter.

But all the paying mags have asked for my SSN. So much so that I started putting it on the manuscripts long ago.

Shadow_Ferret said:

Thanks, everyone. You've all been very helpful.

Not sure I'd be comfortable putting my SSN on my manuscripts, James. But then, as you can see, I'm pretty paranoid.

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Well, look at it this way. I only submit stories to reputable magazines, which means that if they want the story, I am going to sell it to them, which means I will give them my SSN when they ask, so why not save everyone time and trouble?

I'm not concerned with anyone opening the package along the way, simply because anyone who works at the post office has much easier access to my SSN.

There really is no way to protect your SSN, however much people would like to think there is. Even if you aren't a writer, hundreds have seen your SSN in connection with your name.

Think how many times you've had to give it to this agency, or that business, or some employer.

In any case, they will need the SSN when they provide payment. If they pay without doing this it suggests a dangerously under-the-table approach to doing business.

Shadow_Ferret said:

Thanks, everyone. You've all been very helpful.

Not sure I'd be comfortable putting my SSN on my manuscripts, James. But then, as you can see, I'm pretty paranoid.

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Put it in the contract, not on the manuscript. And send the contract certified mail.

BethS said:

Put it in the contract, not on the manuscript. And send the contract certified mail.

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If you get a contract. Sometimes I don't. And I always get the check one heck of a lot faster when they have the SSN going in.

... now if they'd have asked for your credit card number --

Congrats on the acceptance.

Shadow_Ferret said:

Thanks, everyone. You've all been very helpful.

Not sure I'd be comfortable putting my SSN on my manuscripts, James. But then, as you can see, I'm pretty paranoid.

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Don't put it on the manuscripts. They get passed around too much. The proper form, in the US, is a W-9, which provides the recipient with all the information they're entitled to. The W-9 should go straight to the accounting department and be separated from the manuscript.

You can get the W-9 from the IRS here:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

Shadow_Ferret said:

Thanks, everyone. You've all been very helpful.

Not sure I'd be comfortable putting my SSN on my manuscripts, James. But then, as you can see, I'm pretty paranoid.

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Paranoia is bad for business. You can't conduct business without trust (or as they say, 'trust but verify').

I have a business consulting with clients from California to New Zealand on gas sensing instruments. In 16 years of business, I've been screwed three times, probably about 0.05% of my total business over that time.