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Independent Ink Magazine (Andrew Holt)

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See post 8.

See Post 7 for the latest.

Website: here

In 2011 I submitted The Journey through Nanking to several places. The first to respond was the one to accept: Independent Ink Magazine.

Here is their acceptance email:

Dear William Lee,
Thank you for sending us "The Journey Through Nanking". We love it and would like to publish it in a near future issue of Independent Ink Magazine. We will be in touch shortly with a more formal letter and details.
Congratulations, and Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Andrew Holt
Independent Ink Magazine

The story was published in issue 3, September 2011. I was excited to finally make a sale. After all, unlike websites I'd written for in the past, Independent Ink Magazine pays their writers. But don't take my word for it:

INDINKMAG pays ranging from $0.01 to $0.05 USD per word based on circulation distribution (indinkmag’s income). You can help out by promoting your Story. We make every effort to pay writers as much and soon (after publication cycle w/ rationale being that is when we get paid) as fiscally possible (and honestly we are slow). We are only as good as our Contributors and are graciously indebted.
Source

So I waited, and come March 2012, I had not received any payment. It's important to note the above quote is not exactly what I read back in 2011; the "and honestly we are slow" part seems to be a recent addition.

I have sent the editor several emails. He has not responded. I wanted to solve this through email, and to be honest, I made excuses for them -- miscommunication? Misunderstanding? -- but after he didn't respond to the latest email, I decided to create this thread.

Do any of you have experience with Independent Ink Magazine? Any suggestions as to what I can do? The only email I have is their official submissions email. My hunt for the editor's own email has led nowhere.
 
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I've done some checking, and I have learned that I am not the only writer Independent Ink Magazine has treated this way. Another writer never received payment for his work, and like me, editor Andrew Holt ignored his emails.

I assumed I would get paid. It's a reasonable assumption -- after all, they say they're a paying market.

I strongly encourage you not to submit material to Independent Ink Magazine. And to Andrew Holt: how dare you make money off other people's hard work without compensating them.

If you have dealt with Independent Ink Magazine before, please share it in this thread, especially if they used your hard work without compensating you.
 

Bicyclefish

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The story was published in issue 3, September 2011. I was excited to finally make a sale. After all, unlike websites I'd written for in the past, Independent Ink Magazine pays their writers. [...]

So I waited, and come March 2012, I had not received any payment. It's important to note the above quote is not exactly what I read back in 2011; the "and honestly we are slow" part seems to be a recent addition.
Thanks to the Wayback Machine on October 15th, 2011:
INDINKMAG pays a flat fee for Short Stories, ranging from $0.01 to $0.05 USD per word, plus one print copy of the issue in which the work appears on request. Rate is based on circulation distribution (indinkmag’s income) so that each is paid justly. You can help yourself by promoting your Story! Contributors are paid after the publication cycle of the issue in which the author’s work will appear, with the rationale being: that is when we get paid. We make every effort to pay writers as much and soon as fiscally possible. Writers come first. We are only as good as our Contributors and are graciously indebted.
[EDIT] They have a second website, http://journal.indinkmag.com/

Welcome to INDINKMAG's JOURNAL ONLINE. Don't worry, our Writer's site at INDINKMAG.COM is still online and in full swing. We just wanted to create a more dynamic space to share posts, a blog, and other information that we are getting into as we go. This site gives us a format to offer more publication for stories that we like without changes to Independent Ink Magazine.
And they are "a digital imprint" of MoBot Publishing. (http://mobotpublishing.com/works/)
 
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Andrew Holt responds

I had been using the [email protected] email, which they say to use for inquiries. Source

Turns out that when Andrew Holt wanted my bio, three years ago, he used a different email: [email protected]. I tried it out. Here's his response:

Travis,
Please send your current address so that I can be sure that you receive a letter. I'll follow up with you shortly.
Hope that you are well.

Best Regards,

Andrew

I sent him my address, he responded with:

Excellent. Thank you.

That's where we stand as of now.
 
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Further contact (update)

We've had further contact, and Andrew has been very forthcoming about the situation with his magazine.

In short: Andrew has had personal problems putting him deeper behind. He told me he is setting a contract soon and has reassured that I will get paid.

Although I was (understandably) angry, once I was able to get a hold of him, Andrew Holt acted very professionally. While it does suck not to get paid for your work, I can understand where he's coming from.

When I'm paid, I'll update this thread again. Here's hoping everything gets worked out with Independent Ink Magazine, especially for the other writers who need to be paid.
 
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After a further correspondence, I recently signed a contract stipulating what I will be paid.

Considering the lengthy email correspondence and the details, I more or less consider the matter resolved. I'm glad the editor and I were able to communicate, and figure everything out.

If you've written for Independent Ink and haven't been paid, let the editor know. He got back to me and we solved our problems, so perhaps the same thing will happen to you.
 

Project Deadlight

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I'd like to add that, although not completely the same level of problem at all, I had a submission with these guys that was unopened on Submittable for 3 years. I'm used to long waits, but not to even look at it during that time... I queried politely on a number of occasions but heard nothing. I'd just avoid this magazine completely, they seem all over the place.
 

CaoPaux

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Last issue was Oct '14. Tw/FB are active, but looks like the mag is on hiatus.