Fool me once - Should I write for them again?

Here's my story: A magazine for which I very much wanted to write actually invited me to write for them last summer. I was very flattered and jumped at the chance. It was a small piece and didn't pay all that well. But I like the magazine and I'm fond of the owners plus the audience is filled with my people.

So it was all good. My contribution appeared in the September issue and I found myself on their email list of writers to contact with content requests. I haven't contributed since but I know that I can almost anytime.

But the problem is (and I'm sure many of you have already anticipated this) they haven't paid me yet. I didn't let myself worry about it to the point that I actually forgot about it. When I remembered it I compared notes with another contributor and he told me that they neglected to pay him for over a year once. In the meantime he wrote other articles and was paid for them but this one piece went unpaid until they noticed it and contacted him. (He is in a situation where he doesn't even need to keep track of such things, lucky so-n-so!)

Well, I emailed them last month and asked for the check. I was passed through three people before I got a promise that it would be mailed the next week. Clearly it wasn't. I've followed up with no response.

Now the editor, who remains studiously separate from payables, has asked for another article from me. It's a specific assignment for a specific topic.

Here's my sad little question: Should I do it without complaining about the check? Should I bring up the payment with him even though he's previously made it clear that he's not involved in that end? Should I mention the new article to payables on the off chance that they care? Should I exploit their deadline (2 weeks from now) and squeeze the check out of them before sending in the article after agreeing to write it? (Bad option I know, but evil and satisfying.) Should I just turn them down and look for an actually paying market despite my fondness for them?

OK, as much as I feel compelled to please the editor and just submit what was asked I've followed your advice. I sent a polite but stern email explaining that I'd very much like to get started on the new project but not until the current payment is cleared up and I get some sort of assurances about future payments.

Why do I feel so bad and like such the jerk when it is they who have created this situation? Augh!

Oh, and I also wrote an email saying what I really thought but I didn't send it. It was a very satisfying exercise!

espresso said:

Just curious . . what happened?

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Hey guys. Thanks everyone for your thoughtful responses. This community is such a valuable resource for all of us. I really need to spend more time here; I always leave inspired.

Anywhooooo....

It turned into quite a tightrope walk so I didn't want drag you through the minutiae as the drama unfolded. But, finally, here's how it turned out.

First, I got paid. The check is still sitting here on my desk.

Second, my article will be in next month's magazine. I had a variety of reasons for going ahead and writing it. My portfolio is probably the biggest reason. I've written for this magazine before but this was my first full feature. It might seem silly but I always felt a little illegitimate to claim them on my resume without having yet written a full article. The other reason was that I learned they've changed their payment method - basically they brought it in-house. For reasons that were never entirely clear to me a third party is who paid me but that relationship ended in January. Presumably things will go smoother hereafter.

In a previous life I was a credit manager. I worked in both consumer and corporate credit and this experience served me well here. As the deadline came closer I had to work the editor and the payables person at the same time. In the end I made one enemy (the payables person at the third party so no real worries there - just hope that doesn't come back to bite me in the future) and still managed to get paid while feeling good about submitting a new article.