From on spec to publication...without my knowledge!

[Christina Rebuffet-Broadus]

I submitted an article on spec to the Irish Times last summer, followed up asking if anything needed to be modified or if the editor had any questions, to which she responded "If I see anything that needs changing, I'll let you know." A few weeks later, I googled myself just for the fun of it, and there was my article, published on July 25, 2009 (and can be seen here http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/tra ... 92148.html just in case you're interested).

I was thrilled for one minute, then realized 1. The editor never told me she was going the publish the piece 2. Since the article was on spec, no payment had been discussed.

Is there any way that I can claim payment for this? I tried sending three progressively firm emails, and I'll let you guess how many responses I've gotten.

Any advice as to how I can collect payment for this article?

Thanks!

[Mike(2)]

It's an excellent article about a city I know and like.

It carries your name so they can't deny the source. I would do the French thing 'lettre recommande avec accuse de reception', which will mean that they can't deny having had your letter, I assume it works in Ireland.

I would simply send them an invoice for a fair amount, asking for payment within 30 days. It's worked for me (not with that particular newspaper but with other publications).

Bonne chance.

[J Repass]

Hi Christina, I thought it was a very good piece too, great sidebar info -- you obviously did a lot of work on it AND you deserved to be paid. But the reality is that if you never talked about $$, they may have assumed it was for free. Our creativity gets in the way of our business sense, let's face it. Did you mention rights by chance? Did you put what rights you were selling on the ms? That could change the picture considerably.

[Richard]

Christina... You definitely need to invoice them. It seems to me that the editor would have contacted you at some point and said she/he was going to use the article. You might want to check their editorial criteria sheet to see if they discuss article payment, but I can tell you this... they paid for the photograph from Getty Images, and therefore, shouldn't have a problem coming up with an appropriate amount for the author.

It was a great article.

Cheers
Rich
http://www.richarduhlhorn.com
http://www.photoshelter.com/user/richarduhlhorn

[Devin]

Hi Christina,

Nice article.

You might also want to check the publication's submission guidelines for any information about how, when, how much they pay for a story. Assuming that they work with freelancers all the time, there is probably something on their site.

Best of luck getting the issue resolved.
Devin

[Christina Rebuffet-Broadus]

Thanks so much for all your helpful advice (and compliments )

I went ahead and sent an invoice for 200 euros, requesting payment within 30 days. However, no acknowldegement of the invoice from the editor, and obviously no payment has come. At this point do I call the office and ask for an explanation?

I don't want to get aggressive too early on (maybe the email didn't get through, maybe the editor is on sick leave, etc.) but I would at least like some explanation, rapidly followed by a check in the mail.

Any advice on what to do next and how to go about it? I don't know if I've already mentioned this, but this is the first time I've had real payment problems with a pub, so I'm not sure how to best go about the process.

Thanks!