Just keep throwin' them rocks at me, people. Why should today be any different?
I'm not, of course, talking about all y'all who are reading this. You have been remarkably kind and supportive when I whine, with the occasional gentle slap -- usually deserved -- administered when you think it necessary.
But I still long for a day when nothing happens to throw me off stride.
I was happily pecking away at an article this morning, running up the word count with wonderful similes and crystal-clear analysis, when I was advised that there is yet more trouble with the major last-minute deadline-buster story that will fill the rest of my week. The shipment of some components absolutely necessary for photography has been delayed; they were supposed to be sent out five days ago; only today did I find they won't be en route until Wednesday.
What this means: barring a miracle, publication of the story will have to be put off for a month.
What it also means is that my checks for the story (it is to be published in two different magazines) will be delayed a month. I can't afford that.
Dealing with this -- calls to find out what, if anything, can be done to make this work within the rapidly closing time window, exchanges of emails with various people, and the like -- not only consumed much of the morning, but also put me in a mood that, to say the least, is not conducive to imaginative writing.
Such is the world of freelancing....
One very mild and more than slightly ironic source of amusement came when I was checking the stats for this journal. I found that one reader arrived via a google search. And this is what the reader was looking for:
scribbs commercial loans
Hell's bells, I'm closer to needing loans than making any!
I'll bet that's one reader who went away mad.
17 hours ago
7 comments:
That is such an odd system - paying on publication rather than on acceptance of the piece. I can't imagine that you are the only writer finding that difficult to manage. Who could? Unless you were a hobby writer or financially independant.
I wish I could read some of your stories, MrScribbler. Good luck to you.
Joan -- it's a system first used (I think) by magazines with shaky financial resources. They could hold off paying until some ad money came in. Now, it's a way for the publisher to keep his mitts on the money a little longer.
When everything balances out, it's survivable. But when you get into a string of assignments paid for on that basis, it puts you in the spot I'm in now.
Maybe you can squat on anything remotely "scribs", and use that as an advertising platform.
Sounds like the construction industry - do a job for a company and expect to get paid - withing THREE months many times. Whilst large companies may be able to weather that kind of storm, it invariably would be much more difficult for a small company that relies on that income to not only pay the bills, but buy the product for the next job they are doing. And even more odd - it's not like a small construction company can go to it's suppliers and say, "gee, I think I'll pay YOU in THREE MONTHS". Or two, or one.
I hope you can get this through before - another month passes by.
benb
That would be hard if your payments are delayed by publishers. I hope you get it all worked out, soon!
Sorry to hear about this Scrib. They can't give you a partial then the rest when it's published? Sigh, a round of shit for everyone it seems lately.
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