This yells out what it is

Re: the board

I would not give out my bank account information, etc. if you were you. I would request the payment be sent in checks.

Maestrowork::::read the entire thread

You'll see that for some posters, cashing checks can be problematic.

Re: Maestrowork::::read the entire thread

I have a solution. Go to you bank and open up a free checking account with the minimum balance (some requires $0). Then give that info to the publisher. Ask them why they need your passport number -- and that you don't feel comfortable giving that out, especially over the internet.

* Still, the fact that this "publisher" scouted the internet for your piece is somewhat suspect.

Re: Maestrowork::::read the entire thread

Read the damn thread. Then you'll know that I [and some of the posters] are outside the US and can't just "go to their bank."

I wasn't the one who was asked for a passport number.

I've had reputable companies wire money into my US account for years, with no problem whatsoever. If I thought a company was suspect, I wouldn't work for them--let alone give them my bank info.

Re: Maestrowork::::read the entire thread

This appears to be a magazine that publishes specialized non-fiction (on mountain climbing). The editor apparently found an article on someone's webpage on mountain climbing, and wanted to publish it in his magazine.

If it's that much of a hassle, just give the editor one-time reprint rights for free and call it a day. I mean, the article was already published on a webpage. Go non-commercial. Ask for a by-line. Where's the problem?

Re: Maestrowork::::read the entire thread

Why are you so hostile? I was just trying to state my opinion. You can simply ignore me. Yes, I have read the whole DAMN thread so back off.

I am not responding to you. I was responding to Dave K who asked the question.

And what kind of country do you live in that you can't go to your bank? A remote village in Africa?

I am speaking of experience here. Bank fraud is not a trivial problem -- and I just had someone trying to charge $9560 on my credit card. If Dave K did not know the publisher and the publisher "solicited" him and asked for bank info AND passport number, etc. there IS a reason to question it. I don't care if other countries only do bank wires. The point is, if he doesn't know the other party, he should not hand in the info. Period.

I have done wires before. Many times. Both incoming and outgoing. I know what it's about. But fat chance if I would give out my bank and ID info to someone I DO NOT KNOW.

If Dave K knows the other party, it's another matter. I suggest you read the damn thread again yourself. Dave K does not know that publisher. Read the damn thread again.

Re: Maestrowork::::read the entire thread

I live in Costa Rica, where ineptitude and bureaucracy is a way of life. CR banks take over 1 month to process out of coutnry checks.


I also said to only give this info to someone you trust.

banks

"I live in Costa Rica, where ineptitude and bureaucracy is a way of life. CR banks take over 1 month to process out of coutnry checks.:

For Americans, if we were given checks from foriegn banks, particularly if they weren't US funds it would take over one month to process here as well.

I'm a screenwriter, and for the most part, I deal with American prodcos. However, I have submitted to British, Canadian, and Australian prodcos, and people from these countries are considering hiring me for commissioned screenwriting work. Or I may sell them one of my specs.

And even if takes over a month for the check to clear at my bank here (probable if from a foriegn bank), I do not care! If don't have a long business relationship with someone, giving out your bank account information like this is extremely risky.

If you want to do it, be my guest.

hmmm

"sfsassenach" you just want whatever funds you are owned paid directly to your US account. And you don't want the funds in your bank in Costa Rica.

A lot of people in some poor countries have issues trusting their local banks (and with good reason, loook at the 2001 freezing of bank accounts in Argentina).

So yes, depending on what country you're in, I can understand why you would want funds wired into an US account. Beats having the check mailed to you, and then you having to mail it to your US bank, which would be a long and tedious process.

Your route of doing things is not necessary because you live in another country, it is necessary because you live in a country with a poor financial/bank system. In any developed country, people would just have them mail a check to them, and they'd personally deposit it in their local bank.

Almost all of us here are Americans, or from other developed countries, so what you said just sounds weird to us.

thanks Justino

fyi, I've gotten funds wired to my acct. from fly-by-night firms like Nat Geographic and Random House.

Obviously, I wouldn't give my info to ST Literary, etc.

Re: thanks Justino

Sassenach, if Nat Geographic or Random House misbehave, you know where to go to protest and try to collect.

I don't know how this outfit is at publishing, but as a new variety of scam I think it's brilliant. Find people who've posted substantial articles on their websites. Tell them you want to give one of their old articles broader exposure, and pay them for it as well. Who wouldn't think that was fine? Then ask the authors for information they wouldn't give out to a stranger under any other circumstances. After all, they're not a stranger; they're someone who wants to buy your writing.

Do you publish them? Do you pay them? Publish them, you might. It's easy enough; and it gives the enterprise a veneer of respectable. After that it's a matter of dodging collection ... and you could string the thing out for months without seriously violating the standard profile of small undercapitalized publications.

Me, I wouldn't give them that info on a bet. They need all that information, and make money transfers no other way? Malarkey. Anyone who's genuinely dealing with publishing types is perforce going to use a variety of methods and formats, because they're a wildly irregular lot. I used to know a Managing Editor who sent some of her manuscripts to be proofread to a freelancer care of a certain bar in Greenwich Village. She was never sure what the deal was; she'd inherited him from the previous Managing Editor. For all she knew, her proofreader slept under the bar there at night.

Re: the board

Especially if it's just for a freelance project. Considering that freelance projects are probably going to be what, a few houndred dollars at the most?

Click to expand...

You seem to know nothing about freelance journalism.

I've had projects that pay a few hundred; some that pay $10K+.

well

"You seem to know nothing about freelance journalism.

I've had projects that pay a few hundred; some that pay $10K+. "

So if you're making that much money, why not move to a country that has a functional postal system and banking system?
:lol :rollin arty

Justino

So if you're making that much money, why not move to a country that has a functional postal system and banking system?

Click to expand...

That comment (as well as the accompanying smileys) was rude and uncalled-for. Next time maybe you should think twice before posting the first thought that enters your mind??